BATMAN & ROBIN The Boy Wonder Volume One

There is a reason why Frank Miller doesn't suck when it comes to writing comics. Most of those reasons are amply displayed in Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder. Take Miller, add celebrated artist Jim Lee and allow them to retell the story of Batman's sidekick and you have what might simply be one of the great comics of all time. Yes. I. Said. It. One of the great comics of all time.

For someone who has nothing left to prove, it's gratifying to see an artist continue to push the envelope. It would be easy for Miller to live off of 300 or Sin City. Sort of like Steinbeck in the 1930's. But he continues to take chances and expand our views of what a great graphic novel can be. Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder is art. Pure and simple.

This compilation was first published in 2008, so some of you may have been familiar with the earlier single issues. Lucky for me I've not read any of them before now, so this was my first exposure to this story. I'm glad it came to me like this. If I would have started reading from the beginning, I might have been forced to storm the DC offices and go all Tom Cruise in the first Mission Impossible and read the pages right off the editors desk at night, with a flashlight taped to my forehead.

There are so many "Oh My God" moments in this book it's nearly impossible to list them all. First, you can start with Batman who is the darkest of knights under Miller here. We all know the story of young Dick Grayson and the tragic death of his parents. How Bruce Wayne takes the young boy under his bat-wing to become his loyal sidekick. But here, to say that Miller puts his own unique spin on the story is the biggest understatement since Pacino sat across from DeNiro in Heat. The fact that I can't come up with a better metaphor is one of the reasons that Miller is Miller and I'm well...me. The Informant.

What Miller does is make the Bat the least sympathetic character in the book. His tough love approach to young Grayson is cringe-worthy at times. But it works. And he throws in so many surprises and guest appearances and twists along the way that this collection becomes almost a mini-encyclopedia of the DC verse. Let's just say young Robin opening up a can of whoop ass on The Green Lantern is worth the price of the book alone.

Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder would be good enough and worth reading if all you had was Miller's words. It could be a novel. But throw in Lee's art and you're talking a classic. Which all they seem to do these days. Lucky for us and nice work if you can get it.

This is one we recommend takes a permanent spot on your shelf.

Buy/No Buy: Definitely buy. In fact spring for the hardcover. It's a keeper. (And you could do us both a favor and buy your copy through one of our affliates by clicking on one of the links above. We got eat to you know! Just sayin').

KINGDOM COME SPECIAL Superman One Shot

This Justice Society of America one shot, written and illustrated by comics virtuoso Alex Ross picks up after the events of JSA #20. Earth 1 has been destroyed and whatever caused it's destruction, be it man made, or prophetic, it sent Kal-El, Earth One's mightiest hero, through space and time where he lands on Earth 2. Of course, as the story unfolds, we find Earth 2 already has it's own Superman and in truth, doesn't really need a second one.

Feeling alone and out of place. Kal tries his best to fit in, talking over his problems with Cyclone and other members of the JSA. But when he intervenes in an attack on the Daily Planet nearly causing injury and deaths by his own recklessness, he realizes he is a man without a country. One of the best scenes in the book is when Lois Lane of Earth 2 seeks to speak to Kal-El about her doppelgangers death on Earth One. It is here, where Ross' artwork really shines. The emotions betrayed on the face of Kal are palpable.

Some would argue and their position would be a strong one, that Ross is best served by drawing and leaving the writing of the books to others. In many cases they would have a sound argument but in fairness, he does a very decent job here. This is a story full of pathos and regret and perhaps his art helps make the words as much as the words help make the art.

KINGDOM COME SPECIAL: Superman also offers a terrific bonus section where Ross shows his pencils, inks and takes readers through the process of bringing his version of Superman to life. He has few peers when it comes to art and this time he's written a story that comes close to measuring up to his skill at the drawing board.

Buy/No Buy: Solid buy. It's worth it for the bonus material alone.

Also, this is a one shot and the story will be continued in MAGOG #1 picking up with new writers and new artists going forward. This is probably a book you should have in your permanent collection.

DARK REIGN: WAR MACHINE Vol. 1 & 2

There is much to like in the launch of this new mini-series in Marvel's Dark Reign saga. For one a lot a stuff gets blown up and that's always a plus. Greg Pak has done a good job of creating instant tension and action. The art by Leonardo Manco is first rate. In many panels you can almost believe for a moment that you're sitting in a theater watching a movie. It's that good. Impressive attention to detail and the action sequences are especially well done.

In Volume One, we revisit War Machine, reborn for the post Tony Stark world. In the opening sequence, James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Starks former ally and best-friend, launches an attack from his space born satellite on a group of murderous mercenaries in Santo Marco. Let's just say that he wreaks total havoc on the bad guys and the action is superlatively spread out over several pages.

We here at The Informant try very hard not to reveal spoilers which would detract from the surprise and enjoyment you deserve when reading a comic we recommend or even one we don't recommend. After all, Captain America died so you could have the right to read even bad comics if you want. So as the story unfolds, Rhodey meets up with some old friends, old enemies, new enemies and enemies who used to be friends. All the while getting blown apart and put back together like a Transformer on acid.

The current trend in Multi-verse spanning comic stories, is one I've found myself enjoying on many occasions. However, in character universes as broad and dense as Marvel and DC, it can be a challenge to keep all the divergent plots and characters straight. Who is fighting who? Is she a good girl or a shape-shifting bad guy? And while the Dark Reign concept is off to a good start in most of the verse spanning issues I've read, I'm hoping it doesn't fizzle out like Civil War.

And so far I will say that the first two volumes of War Machine offer a good beginning and I think, if you're a true comics fan, when you see the final panel of Volume 2 you might just wet yourself. The story really gathers momentum in the second book and when you arrive at the end you realize this moment is one of the reasons why we love these books so much.

Problem 1 with War Machine Volumes 1 & 2: It's a good launch of what promises to be a an interesting mini-series. And if you're wondering, it offers no clues nor answers any questions regarding the whereabouts of Tony Stark or Iron Man.

Problem 2 with War Machine Volumes 1 & 2: It's a problem not necessarily specific to this book, but to these types of 'event' publishing in general. It's sometimes difficult to keep everything straight as you move from character to character and world to world.

Buy/No Buy: Definitely buy. I can't wait to read Volume 3 and I'll be adding this to my permanent collection when the trade is published.

OUTREMER: Saga of The Knights Templar

For those of you who love a taste of classic comic story telling then I urge you to visit TemplarComics.com and order your copy of Outremer: The Saga of the Knights Templar. If you have an interest in the Knights Templar, the Crusades or simply a great story well told, this is a comic for you. All I can say is that by reading it I was taken on a pleasant journey back to my youth when I spent hours pouring over the Classics Illustrated line of graphic novels. Outremer harkens back to those books, only it does them one better.

Stephen Dafoe is the author of numerous books on the Knights Templar, or "The Medieval Marines" as I like to call them, and has told the fascinating tale of the founding of the order in Outremer. Started as a monastic order, the knights were first given the charge of defending religious pilgrims on the roads to Jerusalem. In gratitude, King Baldwin of Jerusalem gave them shelter in Solomon's Temple and they became known as the Poor Fellow Soldiers of Christ and King Solomon's Temple. Later, simply, the Knights Templar. Over time, their numbers and reputations grew until they became perhaps the most powerful military force in the Christian world.

Outremer: The Saga of the Knights Templar is told in a fast, furious and action packed manner. Never do you feel as if you're being given a history lesson. In this post Da Vinci Code world, the truth and legend of the Knights has become more blurred than ever. And if you recently viewed the nearly unwatchable mini-series The Last Templar on television, then you're used to a visual medium so I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Outremer and try to put The Last Templar TV show out of your mind.

Outremer: The Saga of The Knights Templar isn't just a great story for the comics lover. The art is exceptional as well. Bob Prodor contributed pencils, inks and letters and Stephen McKim has created a beautiful cover that will not be done justice by your computer screen. I think it should be sold as a poster or print. It's that stunning. Dafoe also did the colors for the comic. Overachiever.

Don't wait. Order a copy today.

Buy/Don't Buy: Definitely Buy. Highly recommended!

BATMAN: The Battle For the Cowl, Volume One

This week marks the beginning of a promising new mini, in Batman: The Battle for the Cowl. Let's all agree that DC has pulled a fast one in the whole 'death of Batman' thing they've been funneling to us. It's an interesting idea, it's probably the only Batman story that hasn't been done, and it will be intriguing to see how they figure it all out. But we all know the Bat ain't dead. We all knew going in to the Batman: R.I.P.

Artist and writer Tony Daniel has taken the opportunity presented by the death of Batman and run with it. He's done it by using the writer's stand by of asking the question "What if?" In this case what would happen to Gotham City if the Batman were truly dead?

As you can imagine with Bats gone, chaos reigns. Once again the turnstile known as Arkham Asylum is immediately overrun. Most of the major criminals escape. (Although the Joker is mysteriously missing). And into this breach a group of super-heroes who call them selves "The Network" take up the mantle of Batman in practice if not in name. Nightwing, Robin, Wildcat, Catwoman, the Birds of Prey and a few others step in to hold back the tide of crime and corruption that swells exponentially with no Caped Crusader to hold it back.

What works best here is Nightwing. We here at SOC have said it before. We feel Nightwing is one of the most underused heroes in the DC verse. In Batman: The Battle for the Cowl he takes center stage, leading the network in it's fight to protect Gotham and at the same time trying to track down a lone vigilante who is impersonating Batman and creating a sense of false hope for the citizenry.

Daniel does a remarkable job with the story and the art in this book. He asks interesting questions of the characters, the foremost being: in a life or death struggle on the streets of darkness, how do you replace someone who is irreplaceable. This is the emotional battle Nightwing deals with and the first volume in this three volume mini is well done and will certainly keep me reading the next two.

My only tantalizing question is we see Poison Ivy, Killer Croc, Bane, the Riddler, we hear about Two-Face and Penguin and we see Scarecrow.

But where is the Joker? I have a feeling he'll be showing up before it's all over.

Well done Mr. Daniel.

Problem No. One with Batman: The Battle for the Cowl: There really are no major problems here, except for the pet peeve of the ease of which Super Villains escape from Arkham.

Buy/No Buy: Definitely buy

Bound by Law

There is more to comic books, dear reader, than capes and tights and inexplicably chiseled features.

Yes, yes, I know. You're already grimacing. You're wishing the Informant would stick to Marvel and DC and maybe Vertigo, perhaps Image Comics. But, reader, has the Informant steered you wrong? The answer - no - will be proven again in branching out a bit here.

Add Duke University Press to the ranks of esteemed comics publishers. Bound by Law by Keith Aoki, James Boyle and Jennifer Jenkins deserves a piece of the spotlight. (Download the PDF to sample the work, if you like)

In 81 pages, a historically arcane and outdated - but necessary - legal protection is effortlessly taken to task, flayed, autopsied and resuscitated. This is a book about law that is fun to read, and you'll leave its pages smarter than you entered. Bound by Law is one of those books that dry, smarmy academics should carry around and emulate.

The subject is one that both puzzles and intrigues the Informant: US copyright law. Has there ever been something so overused and tragically, fatally misunderstood?

The creators cover a range of topics: fair use, copyright, trademark, insurance, creative commons, and a whole range of bureaucratic excesses. Akiko, the star of the show, is a documentary filmmaker in NY; she is slowly and tortuously alerted to the subterranean mess she has entered (no, not NY, but the tricky minefield of what is and is not public domain). You can feel yourself going crazy right along with her.

Landmark cases are presented so succinctly that you wonder why judges need to write 21 page opinions. Historic and recent documentaries are given equal treatments and are equally as interesting.

Problem one: One single caveat, dear reader. There are hints of a lawyer behind these pages. To my mind, there is an overemphasis on history and precedent, whereas a more suitable ending would have looked not only forward but also the "muddled sort of future/present" as I like to think of it. I left these pages with nowhere near as much knowledge on Creative Commons as I did about Copyright. An asterisk to my caveat: it's not a comic book about creative commons. I'm aware of this. But creative commons is where it all seems headed.

Problem two: couldn't find a problem two.

Why you should buy the book: If you're an artist, or if you're simply interested, you can't really do without this book. Plus, come on, it's like $9.00 or something; the recession isn't that bad yet.

I'd be surprised if the lawyerly creators ever came out on the wrong side of litigation. The "firm" of Aoki, Boyle & Jenkins have such a skill with the sentence, as well as an intuitive understanding of visual metaphor and artistic sequence, that it's a good comic even if you'd rather eat your own hands than read about copyright law.

Superman & Batman: The Search for Kryptonite

When I saw the first issue of Superman & Batman: The Search for Kryptonite on the shelf a few

months ago, I was excited and tempted to pick up the first issues. But as they say, so many comics, so little time. I decided to delay gratification (and sometimes I can't even wait to do that!) and read the book when it was collected. Then the hardcover came out and I told myself I'd wait for the paperback and save a few bucks, but eventually I caved like you knew I would and bought the hardcover.

And I'm glad I did.

It's hard to think of any two Superheroes who have a more complex relationship than Big Blue and the Bat. (Maybe Reed and Sue Richards, but who cares?) Mad at each other half the time, on the same side but pursuing different methods, but

getting the same results. When they're together in a story, it offers up the writer a tremendously rich area of ground to cover. They're so different, yet alike in many ways and when the writer understands that concept and uses it well it makes for a great story.

Luckily, the writing Michael's, Johnson and Green get it. And Superman & Batman: The Search for Kryptonite is all the better for it. Here we find Superman doing some serious self-analysis. He's thinking about his destiny. His role as savior of the world and the many times that the Big K has nearly taken him down. So he asks Batman to help him. Gather up all of the Kryptonite in the world. In other words, make the world safe for Supes.

So Batman agrees and they undertake their challenge. Along the way they are met with some surprises and as I just said in my last post regarding Kevin Smith: Green and Johnson happily take you a few places you never expected to go. And aside from a weird little episode regarding Aquaman refusing to let them take a Kryptonite deposit from Atlantis (which will make no sense to those uninitiated to Aquaman's recent dramas), it's great fun. So saddle up and take a flyer on Superman & Batman: The Search for Kryptonite.

Problem #1 with Superman & Batman: The Search for Kryptonite: Nothing really. The Aquaman thing is a little strange. Come on Arthur Curry, get over yourself already. It's Superman for COL!

Buy/No buy: Definitely buy. It's worth putting on your shelf in hardcover.

Batman Cacophony #1 by Kevin Smith

Let me get something of my chest first and that is this whole Arkham Asylum thing. This place has worse security than CTU on the TV show 24. How is it that so many criminals can walk right out the front door of the world's most sophisticated super prison? You'd think Batman would get a clue and start asking Big Blue if he can borrow his key to the Phantom Zone.

But Kevin Smith takes the credulity straining Arkham trope and gives it a little twist. Sending someone to break inside Arkham to assassinate the Joker. And it's none other than Deadshot. Using this unique plot device, Smith sends Deadshot inside Arkham and of course things go horribly, horribly awry. The Joker ends up escaping (surprise!) and Batman is on the trail of his arch-nemesis once again.

I've always loved Kevin Smith's work in comics. His creation of the Television show Reaper has become one of my favorites. And his Green Arrow trades, especially Quiver, are among my all time favorites.

The focus of Batman: Cacophony #1 is on the Joker and Smith doesn't disappoint. His Joker is effortlessly insane and the dialogue that flows from his lips is at the same time funny and disturbing. The thing I love about Smith's work is you never have any idea of where he's going next. I won't give away the ending of Batman: Cacophony #1 but let me just say it left me hanging in a good way, like all comics should, and I can't wait to read the next issue.

Problem #1 with Batman Cacophony #1: Very little, minor issues, most notably the Arkham Asylum as Swiss cheese part of the narrative.

Buy/No Buy: Definitely buy. Smith is one of those writers whom you trust will take you someplace unexpected and you'll enjoy the ride.