People, I don’t have much of anything I want to blog about today, so I’m just gonna sit here and deliberately stir up trouble.

What I am about to reveal here is the complete, objective truth.

For example:

Who was the best Green Lantern?

Answer: Kyle Rayner.

No, definitely not Hal Jordan. He’s always been a shallow, generally uninteresting character. “Fearless test pilot” isn’t a personality all by itself, and the people out there who seem to freakin’ worship Hal strike me as some of the weirdest people on earth. Yes, that includes the “Hal’s Emerald Attack Team” fanatics and Geoff Johns. As for the rest of them, Guy Gardner’s generally fun, but he’s mostly a gag character. I like John Stewart, especially in the Justice League cartoons. Simon Baz is too new. But Kyle, the last Green Lantern, uncertain, awkward, crab-masked, completely aware of his own fears, freelance artist with the no-yellow-impurity power ring? Kyle was the best.

Who was the best Flash?

Answer: Wally West.

Definitely, definitely not Barry Allen. Having a crew cut and a bow tie makes him the *worst* Flash. Wally was funnier, cooler, more interesting in every possible way — and of course, he was far, far, far faster.

Who was the best Robin?

Answer: Dick Grayson.

Really, I guess the best answer would be “Anyone but Jason Todd.” Because I really like all of the Robins. But Dick was the first Robin, he was Robin for the longest time, and he eventually ended up being the best possible Nightwing, so I’m giving the circus kid the crown.

Who was the best Batgirl?

Answer: Stephanie Brown.

Not to take anything away from Barbara Gordon or Cassandra Cain, because they were pretty cool, but as grim and gritty as the Bat-verse generally is, it was just plain awesome to get to read a Bat-title every month where the lead character wasn’t an emotionally-crippled basket case. Steph was fun and funny and had the best dialogue.

Who was the best Aquaman?

Answer: Bearded, hook-handed Aquaman.

Because I don’t care who writes him, the clean-shaven, orange-shirted nonentity from “Super Friends” just sucks on every possible level.

Who was the best Hawkgirl?

Answer: Kendra Saunders.

Mostly because I liked the idea of a Hawkgirl who, at least initially, didn’t want to be the back half of “Hawkman and” — she didn’t love Hawkman, and she wanted to be her own person. She was even in relationships with people other than Hawkman. Eventually, she fell in love with Hawkman in a way that felt more organic, realistic, and worthwhile, and that was fine with me. She certainly didn’t deserve to get exit-stage-lefted the way she did…

Who was the best Green Arrow?

Answer: The one with the beard.

I liked Connor Hawke, but he’d never be the equal of his dad. And Ollie without a beard just looks like a dork, so he’s gotta have the ridiculous beard.

Who was the best Hulk?

Answer: Angry green stupid Hulk.

I liked the Professor Hulk, actually. And the Green Scar was cool. Joe Fixit is always fun. But angry green stupid Hulk is the strongest one there is.

Who was the best Spider-Man?

Answer: The Peter Parker married to Mary Jane Watson.

Because Spider-Man isn’t Otto Octavius, and he doesn’t make deals with the Devil.

What are the best zombies? Fast or slow?

Answer: Slow zombies.

To quote Max Brooks: “Ha ha, there are no such things as fast zombies!”

So there we go, friends and neighbors, all the mysteries of life cleared up. Go on about your business, please.

Batgirl #17

In the aftermath of the just barely completed “Death of the Family” crossover, Barbara Gordon is busy identifying members of the Joker’s gang through a bunch of mugshots, her mother is in the hospital with a finger sliced off, and her psychotic brother James Jr. is looking to get his own twisted revenge on Batgirl. While Batgirl and the cops put the hurt on the Joker’s stooges, someone starts targeting them with rockets, all while James Jr. taunts his sister. Who’s behind these new attacks?

Verdict: Ehh, thumbs down. Sorry to say, this one just wasn’t all that interesting. Even James Jr., usually an awesomely evil character, just comes across as bland.

Ame-Comi Girls Featuring Supergirl #5

Supergirl has just arrived on Earth, already too late to keep Brainiac from attacking. The Manhunter robots agree to pardon Supergirl and Power Girl if they’ll help stop Brainiac, but they’re vastly outnumbered by Brainiac’s drones. Some other heroes, including Steel, Robin, Catwoman, and Flash, arrive to help, but Power Girl must head for the center of the planet to shut down one of Brainiac’s secret computers. Supergirl heads for Brainiac’s ship but gets contaminated by Black Kryptonite. Can anyone stop her from destroying Earth’s heroes?

Verdict: Thumbs down. The story was just plain loopy-weird, and the artwork was the exact kind of manga-inspired artwork that I really, really dislike. Sorry, but I just didn’t enjoy reading the story.

Batgirl #16

Well, the Joker wants to marry Batgirl, and he’s got a horde of henchmen holding guns on her to make sure she goes through with the ceremony. But once he pulls out a chainsaw and announces his plan to cut off her arms and legs, she thinks better of it and starts trashing his lackeys. And then James Gordon, Jr., Barbara’s psychotic brother, shows up, brandishes some hand grenades, and tells Batgirl that he’s already freed her mom. That leaves Batgirl free to really cut loose on the bad guys. Will she be able to keep herself from killing the Joker? Or is she about to get hit with a double-dose of betrayal?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Excellent action, drama, suspense, characterization, so very many double-crosses, and a completely nerve-wracking cliffhanger. Is it any wonder why Gail Simone is DC’s most popular writer?

Freelancers #3

Val and Cass have discovered that the kung-fu orphanage where they grew up, the House of Little Fortunes, has been taken over by the unscrupulous Drachmann and their rival Katherine Rushmore, who’ve turned it into a fast-track ninja factory. Our heroes are outmatched — until Drachmann raises the stakes by telling them what happened to their old sensei…

Verdict: Thumbs up. The action is really good. The humor is really good. It may be a bit predictable, but to be honest, I didn’t mind too much. It’s a kung-fu epic — one does not expect the old sensei to make it to the final reel.

Captain Marvel #9

It’s a very, very busy day for Carol Danvers — and most of it involves perfectly mundane chores. At least until a crisis with dinosaurs on the loose derails her To-Do list, forcing her to reschedule everything…

Verdict: Thumbs down. I guess it’s a kinda cute “Day in the Life” story, but it’s really just a bit too mundane. And worse than that is the art. Ye gods, the artwork is horrific. I haven’t seen art this bad in a mainstream comic from the Big Two in a very, very long time. Bad form, Marvel.

Batgirl #15

Well, we now know that we’re looking at the last few months of enjoying Gail Simone’s take on Batgirl — or apparently, on anything else DC Comics is publishing. Ya see, DC is run by stupid people. And either they don’t like phenomenally-popular and extremely-talented creators who are producing critically acclaimed comics that sell well — or they just don’t like yucky girls. I know where I’m placing my bets. And I also know that Gail is going to land on her feet — she’s just too good not to get more work from more intelligent comics publishers.

So in this issue, Batgirl is facing off against the Joker — with her mother’s life on the line. The Joker has her mom tied to a chair with a five-pound nail bomb strapped underneath, and the price for Barbara’s mom is — Batgirl’s hand in marriage? Can Barbara keep him from killing her mother? Can she keep herself from killing the groom-to-be? And what other horrific surprises does the Joker have in store for her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A wonderfully dark, suspenseful story. For once, Batgirl is the one dispensing the savage beatings — even if, ultimately, she’s not in control of the situation at all. I still hate the Joker’s stitched-on face, but he’s as crazy and dangerous as he ever has been. We also get a short appearance by Barbara’s psychotic brother, who may actually be on her side for once.

Love and Capes: What to Expect #5

Thanks to the kind of accident that’s only too common in comic books, Mark and Abby have switched bodies. That’d be a problem any time, but it’s particularly rough now, since Abby is now the most powerful male superhero in the world and Mark is now pregnant. A lot of adjustments have to be made — Mark has to get used to food cravings, being unable to sleep comfortably, and being panicked about the potential for having to give birth, while Abby… well, Abby gets to drink coffee again. Will they ever get back into the correct bodies again?

Meanwhile, Darkblade and Amazonia have a serious crisis in their relationship. Amazonia is being named queen of her interdimensional homeworld — and that means she can never go to Earth again. And Darkblade knows he’d never be able to live on Amazonia’s mostly crime-free world. Is their relationship doomed?

Verdict: Thumbs up. This was a really, really good comic — both storylines are really strong, with the bodyswitching as the more comedic and the Amazonia/Darkblade story being, obviously, a lot more dramatic. But there’s a lot of story here, it’s all enjoyable and satisfying to read, and you won’t regret coming along for the ride. This is really one of the best comics out there.

Ame-Comi Girls Featuring Duella Dent #3

Most of this issue is devoted to the origin of Duella Dent, the Ame-Comi universe’s version of the Joker. The daughter of a career criminal, his death spurred her to embrace chaos as a lifestyle. Batgirl tries to stop her, but she’s vastly outnumbered by Duella’s supervillain allies. But when they learn that Duella is working with Brainiac to destroy human civilization, Cheetah takes a powder, and Catwoman tries to help Batgirl escape. Meanwhile, Steel and the Flash are about to enter the battle, too, but will they be too late to save Batgirl?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Duella’s origin is really pretty good — probably the most enjoyable part of the whole story. One doesn’t often see an origin in which the death of a genuinely loving parent inspires someone to turn supervillain instead of superhero. In addition, the action is good, the dialogue is good, and the whole thing is pretty entertaining.

Today’s Cool Links:

• There’s a brand new Filmography 2012 video from GenRocks. The others have been great — so go watch the new one.
• DC wants to turn Captain Carrot into a Rocket Raccoon ripoff. No thanks, guys, just give us the Zoo Crew Showcase instead, please.
• There are good ways and bad ways to shut down an MMO. Glitch showed us how to do it right.

Batgirl #14

Barbara Gordon’s mother has been kidnapped, and Babs has now gotten a mysterious call from someone who claims to know the inside story. He keeps her occupied on the phone long enough for the kidnappers to come after her, too — and then she unleashes maximum pain on the trio of thugs. After that, the caller, who knows her secret identity, tells her where to find her mother… and the Joker. Can Batgirl save her mother and stop the Joker? Or does the Clown Prince of Crime have something terrible in store for her?

Verdict: Thumbs up. The Joker is thoroughly twisted (though I really can’t stand his new “Oooh, lookit us, aren’t we dark and hardcore” tattered-and-stitched-on face). The mysterious caller (who isn’t that mysterious, if you’ve been paying attention to the last few years of Batman comics) is wonderfully menacing. And Batgirl gets to be an absolute badass, which I’m always in favor of.

Punk Rock Jesus #5

As Chris, the supposed clone of Jesus, continues his infuriated tour as the lead singer of the Flak Jackets punk rock band, he earns angry denunciations from the New American Christians and meets up with Thomas, the former IRA terrorist turned security goon — and he offers to serve as the Flak Jackets’ new security manager, because he’d promised Chris’ late mother that he’d keep him safe. So the Flak Jackets get more and more popular, the protests get more and more vehement, and the potential crisis point gets more and more explosive — Chris decides he wants to take the band and his atheist message to Jerusalem.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Beautiful art, great storytelling, wonderful action. It’s great to see even more of Thomas’ backstory — as interesting as Chris’ story has been, Thomas really has felt like the real star of this book.

Captain Marvel #6

Carol Danvers is still traveling through time, now with her old idol Helen Cobb reluctantly tagging along. And they’ve just arrived at the event where a battle between a Kree supervillain and the original Mar-Vell ends up giving Carol her own superpowers. Will Helen end up stealing Carol’s powers and taking her place?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Good action, good dialogue, and some seriously freaky time-travel stuff. This is just a grand series — I hope you’re enjoying it as much as I am.

Happy #2

Former cop and current hitman Nick Sax is drugged and trapped in a mob hospital while a crew of sadistic torturers close in on him — and his only ally is a tiny blue cartoon pegasus named Happy, the imaginary friend of a little girl who’s been kidnapped by a serial killer. Happy wants Nick to help rescue Hailey, but Nick doesn’t do any favors for anyone, and even Happy’s help during a high-stakes poker game may not convince Nick to help out.

Verdict: Thumbs up. A thoroughly bizarre series so far — part hard-boiled crime thriller, part — well, something with a little blue horsie in it. I don’t really know how to classify it, but it’s good violentastic fun.

Batgirl Annual #1

So we get a big teamup with Batgirl and Catwoman. Selina helps the female Talon from an earlier Batgirl story escape from jail and makes friends with her when she learns she has no family and no friends of her own. When Catwoman delivers her to what’s left of the Court of Owls, they order the cat burglar executed, but Batgirl comes to the rescue. But can either of them handle fighting off not just one, but another half-dozen of the near-unstoppable Talons?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Excellent action and dialogue. Gail Simone loves writing about female heroes, and she manages to fit three absolutely awesome ones in this story. Heck, if Catwoman had been written like this instead of Judd Winick’s useless sexpot, that comic would’ve been more worth reading.

Today’s Cool Links:

• This may be the best Family Circus cartoon ever. Heck, it may be the most purely HEAVY METAL comic strip ever.
• I love movie mashups. Here’s one with every film from the IMDB’s Top 250 movies list.
• This article — about the reporter’s close call with a serial killer 20 years ago — is incredibly powerful storytelling.

Batgirl #13

Okay, first of all, I liked this story. But there were some serious problems entirely outside of the control of the writer and artist.

First of all: Hey, you like that cover? It’s pretty sweet, ain’t it? Well, they actually cover it up with a big gruesome Joker image. In fact, it’s an actual die-cut cover. Yes, just like in the ’90s! WHO COULD POSSIBLY IMAGINE THAT THE REBOOTED DC COMICS WOULD USE SOME TIRED GIMMICK FROM THE ’90S?!?

Second, there’s a die-cut Joker cover, there’s a label that says this is part of the Joker-centric “Death of the Family” crossover, but the Joker isn’t in this issue at all. I don’t mind that too much, because I wasn’t really looking forward to this crossover. But if you’re gonna roll out the bells and whistles for the Joker, don’t frustrate the folks who are looking forward to the crossover by not including the Joker.

Third, ya know the problem with interrupting an ongoing storyarc with an unrelated #0 issue? Everyone who was reading the comic before has two months to forget about the ongoing storyarc. That’s just a rude thing to do to the folks who are spending money on your comics. At least give us a “What happened before” page to remind us what happened before, okay?

Okay, as for the story itself: Batgirl has been stabbed by a villain named Knightfall who wants to clean up Gotham by killing anyone who commits any crime, no matter how minor. Barbara manages to fight her off and learns her backstory — she was poor little rich girl Cherise Carnes, whose boyfriend killed her family for kicks. And she decided to accept blame for the murders so she could get into Arkham Asylum and learn the skills she needed to torture her murderous boyfriend. Can an injured Batgirl beat the lunatic villain who has enough wealth to walk out of any prison in Gotham?

Verdict: Thumbs up. Yes, even with all those problems I mentioned before, it’s still a good story. It’s nice to see Barbara kick a little ass, and Knightfall’s backstory makes her an even more twisted villain than she’d already appeared. And I like the multitude of future storylines that are being set up. So yes, a thumbs up. It’s not Gail Simone’s or Ed Benes’ fault that DC editorial are nincompoops.

Ame-Comi Girls Featuring Wonder Woman #1

I almost didn’t get this, but I’d heard positive reviews before, so I decided to take a chance. The series is based on a bunch of collectible statues put out by this Ame-Comi company that feature DC’s female characters wearing skimpy costumes and looking more anime-inspired than normal. They often look, well, a little trashy, but this series, which has previously been available in digital format only, has gotten fairly good reviews — and it’s written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, and partially illustrated by Amanda Conner, all of whom are really pretty awesome.

So the first issue focuses on this alternate version of Wonder Woman. She’s still just Princess Diana of Themyscira, the furious, haughty daughter of Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons. Diana’s an outstanding warrior, but her mother is very protective, and when the island is invaded by troops from Kasnia, Diana has to sneak out to participate in the battle. Angry that her daughter defied her orders, Hippolyta decides to agree to a pact with America to protect them from future invasions — and orders Diana to become Themyscira’s official ambassador to the world. And her first appearance at the United Nations is interrupted by an attack from a feline assassin called the Cheetah.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Aside from the usual excellent writing by Palmiotti and Gray, and the excellent art by Conner and backup penciller Walden Wong, I’m pretty much going to enjoy any comic in which the lead character complains angrily about the stripperiffic costume she has to wear. It’s funny, it’s action-packed, it’s clever, it’s aware of its own craziness. I believe I approve.

No time or interest in doing any reviews this week (suffice it to say that Batgirl #0, American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #4, and Punk Rock Jesus #3 are all solid winners), but I do think it’s probably important to, once again, point out that DC is listing their first appearances wrong again.

Of course, Barbara Gordon made her first appearance as Batgirl in Detective Comics #359, way back in January of 1967.

None of these zero issues have mentioned who actually created these characters, but I’d like to mention that Batgirl was created by Gardner Fox and Carmine Infantino. That’s an awfully nice pedigree — two of DC’s most important creators got together to create this character, and it seems a bit like a slap in the face for the company to pretend that Batgirl wasn’t created until 2011. I do think that DC should show a bit more respect for their past than they do.

And on a related note, DC is now retconning their histories from the very beginning of the Reboot! They’ve now edited the trade paperback of the new “Teen Titans” to say that Tim Drake was never one of the Robins, and that there have never been any previous incarnations of the Titans — again, despite the first issue of the comic saying the exact opposite.

As we talked about previously, it’s just really weird how focused Diane Nelson, Dan DiDio, Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, and Bob Harras are on declaring that past continuity is no longer in effect. It’s irritating when it comes to rewriting characters’ personalities (Starfire), appearances (Amanda Waller), or relationships (Clark Kent and Lois Lane) or just erasing some characters completely from the company’s history (Wally West, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Donna Troy, and who knows how many others). But when they start doing that for things that really just don’t matter, like whether or not a kid calling himself Red Robin was ever one of Batman’s Robins (instead of his “Boy Wonder,” whatever that creepy little turn of phrase is supposed to mean), that it just gets… well, weird.

I don’t know if it’s some “It’s my sandbox now” fan fiction thing, if it’s a badly thought-out marketing ploy, or if it’s just the company’s new enthusiasm for trolling their own readers (and creators, I guess). Maybe they’re delusional enough to think that they’re the only people in the history of comics who really know what’s best.

Maybe they’re just idiots. Depressing to think that so many idiots could take over all the top rungs of the company’s ladder, but it’s not like it’s never happened in the past.

The thing is, it’s making me less and less angry every time they pull something like this. They’re rewriting things almost at random now, seemingly desperate to manufacture some fan outrage and/or mainstream media coverage, and it’s looking more to me that they’ve completely lost control of things. They’re fairly lucky that the real bigwigs at Warner Brothers don’t care much what happens in the not-exactly-profitable comics division… but at some point, they’re probably going to do something that the bigwigs will care about, and then there’s going to be some serious trouble.

And hey, DC freelancers, writers, and artists — I do hope you’re taking notes. The tell-all memoir about this amazingly messed-up period of the company’s history is probably going to be a best-seller…

Batman #12

This issue introduces us to a new supporting character in the Bat-family, one who we’ve actually seen a few times in the background of previous stories. Meet Harper Row, a young lady living in a rough neighborhood. She works as an electrician underneath Gotham City, trying to keep the city’s aging infrastructure functioning. She lives with her brother, who has to deal with gay-bashing thugs at school and on the streets way too often. Harper gets to briefly hobnob with Gotham’s elite after winning a ticket to a Wayne charity event. Soon afterwards, she gets a punk-rock haircut (in response to bullies beating up her brother and slashing his hair). And soon after that, she and her brother have a close encounter with the Batman after he saves them from an attack. This sets off Harper’s own obsession with the Dark Knight, as she goes on to use her job skills to discover how Batman moves about the city. Will she be able to aid Batman, or is her adventuresome spirit going to get her into more trouble?

Verdict: Thumbs up. A nice change-up and a focus on a new character — Scott Snyder had hoped to use either Cassandra Cain or Stephanie Brown, but of course, they got nixed by DC (the DiDio/Johns/Lee machine has reasonlessly decided it hates both characters), so he came up with this new character. She’s extremely likeable and fun, and I look forward to seeing more of her. And kudos to Becky Cloonan, the first woman to ever draw an issue of either “Batman” or “Detective Comics” — she does a great job — very expressive, fun artwork, and I’m hoping we’ll see more of her, too.

Batgirl #12

Barbara is visiting Detective McKenna, a dirty cop with an obsession with Batgirl, hoping to get a lead on Knightfall and her crew of superpowered murderers. But they get a visit from Batwoman, who has been put on the trail of McKenna by the D.E.O. She has no trouble cleaning Batgirl’s clock — of course, Batgirl seems to spend every issue getting her ass kicked. But they team up when Knightfall calls McKenna and demands Batgirl return to them so they can kill her. Can they handle the superpowered lunatics in the Disgraced? And will they learn the secrets Knightfall is hiding?

Verdict: Thumbs up. I am getting tired of everyone using Babs Gordon as a punching bag, but this was mostly an excellent issue. Good dialogue and action, good character work for both Batgirl and Batwoman. And it’s nice to see Babs’ psychotic brother, James Jr., still keeping his hand in the game.

Today’s Cool Links:

• Some sad news to start the week off: Joe Kubert has died at the age of 85. The man drew the best dang war comics the world has ever seen — and seriously, if you’ve never done so, go out and read as many of Kubert’s Sgt. Rock comics as you can — and he founded the Kubert School to teach people how to make good comics. Hats off for one of the best guys in the comics biz.
• Dang, Fantagraphics, this is just low-class. Not even DC or Marvel go casually dissing independent comics creators, especially ones as successful and interesting as Molly Crabapple. It’s deeply disappointing that the foremost independent comics publisher thinks it’s okay to treat any comics creator this way.
• A great essay by a deaf man who gets a new hearing aid and is able to hear music for the very first time.
• We all need more laughter in our lives.

Punk Rock Jesus #1

Well, yes, I had to get it. I’m at least 98% evil, after all.

Here’s the basic gimmick: in the near-future, a mega-wealthy TV network hires a genius genetic engineer to harvest DNA from the Shroud of Turin and clone Jesus Christ. Then they hire a telegenic new Virgin Mary to be the baby’s surrogate mother, tweak the baby’s DNA to make sure he looks Caucasian and not like some awful brown person, and put the whole thing on TV as a reality show. Holy urine-soaked crucifixes, that’s downright sacrilicious!

Having said all that, it’s not nearly as evil as it sounds. Nearly all the players here people I’d classify as good guys. There’s the razor-edged security expert who’s working off the bad karma of years as an IRA terrorist, the genetic expert who’s doing the job mainly for the funding she can use to help save the oceans, the teen mother who’s going through this mainly to pay off her family’s debts and who worries that she’s a bad mother for even agreeing to all this. Our one serious villain is the TV network exec who thought up the whole scheme and who seems to have a completely nonfunctional moral code. To list all the awful things he does would constitute some major spoilers, so you can discover those for yourself.

The story is pretty brainy, too. If you know anything about the Shroud of Turin, you know it’s almost certainly not Jesus’ burial cloth — carbon dating places its age at around 750 years old. And this is actually addressed in the story — a scientist and a very excitable preacher debate that, and several of the “J2” project members admit that they don’t think the baby is actually the Son of God.

My primary objection is that there’s a certain level of strawmanning going on for most of the religious folks. They range from the furiously angry near-terrorist group that protests the J2 project to the excitable preacher in the debate who has no grasp of either theology or science — he’s really only there to get slapped around by the scientist.

Verdict: Thumbs up. Yeah, seriously, not saying that just to be a contrary little cuss. It’s a great little concept — how would Jesus — or a clone who’d been raised as a Jesus substitute by the mass media — grow up? It’s a pretty sure bet that he’s not going to be the blond mild-mannered martyr from “Baby’s First Bible” — after all, the comic is called “Punk Rock Jesus.”

I enjoyed the initial focus on Thomas McKael, the ex-IRA terrorist/security chief. We get a glimpse of his terrible, terrible childhood, then meet him all grown up and razor-edged.

I like all the other characters, too — with the very, very notable exception of Slate, the utterly rotten TV executive. He’s definitely someone you’re going to love to hate.

I love Sean Murphy’s art, probably more than I do his writing. It’s all black and white, amazingly expressive. If there’s a single moment that really strikes me as remarkably good art, it’s when Gwen, the baby’s mother, having an anxiety attack just before she gives birth, sorrowfully frets that she’s a bad mother. The next panel features razor-edged security goon Thomas McKael with just a very subtle hint of sadness on his face. It’s a beautiful moment, considering his childhood, and a great piece of characterization.

All that, plus the twist in the final pages is pretty amazing.

Batgirl #11

Batgirl faces off against a team of supervillains called the Disgraced — winged warrior Katharsis, acid-secreting Bleak Michael, superstrong Bonebreaker, and the leader, Knightfall. They want her to join them, and of course, she says no. They attack, and she does pretty well for a bit, but they get her down, they get ready to kill her — and she gets rescued by Det. Melody McKenna, a Gotham cop who actually hates Batgirl’s guts. She gives Batgirl the low-down on socialite Charise Carnes, Knightfall’s alter ego — and she reveals that there’s another member of the Bat-family who’s coming after her.

Verdict: Thumbs up. For once, I didn’t even mind Barbara not being able to beat up her attackers — after all, there were four of ’em, so she did alright. Good action, good dialogue, some very, very ominous stuff happening back at her apartment, and a very interesting team-up on the way next issue.

Today’s Cool Links:

• This is the only way to get me to enjoy baseball.
• This is definitely a sentiment you won’t see from Marvel or DC anymore…
• Pee-wee Herman meets Batman (for the first time since “Batman Returns”)