gotham gumshoe

drive-by readings

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #5 (DC) "Masquerade" Grant Morrison Ryan Sook Mick Gray Pere Perez Jose Villarubia Jared Fletcher Travis Lanham Andy Kubert/Ryan Sook (covers)

what we learned: Bruce reappears in late 1920s Gotham as an amnesiac and is hired to play a detective in a movie, or actually investigate the death of his own mother. turns out the lady who hired him is probably his real mother and its all a ploy to sacrifice the 'man-bat' (oh hey there you are again, Dr Hurt or should i say Thomas Wayne).elsewhere/when, Red Robin prepares the JLA for Batman's arrival, which should blow them all out of existence.
oh shit moment: what's really up with the Waynes?
what's next: Batman 1000000 (or something) is back!

you know he's gonna say that at some point.

atomic fate

drive-by readings

The Atom & Hawkman #46 (DC) "Bye Bye Birdie" Geoff Johns Ryan Sook Fernando Pasarin Nick Napolitano Hi-Fi a presumably one-shot following the final issue (#45) back in November 1969, The Atom & Hawkman #46 begins with a recap of what Ray Palmer's life's been so far (new fans will remember the Identity Crisis period) and details the moments as he becomes deputized as an Indigo Lantern deep in the midst of Blackest Night. his best friend Hawkman (with Kendra), now a Black Lantern, attempts to bring him over to the dark side, and is saved momentarily by his sponsor, Indigo-1. to enable her to contact the rest of her tribe, Ray has to protect her from all comers including his bitch of a wife Jean Loring (who makes him relive that night she kills Sue Dibny). his success fittingly puts him back into major player status, something i've been looking forward to, with all due respect to Ryan Choi. Geoff Johns makes hay while the night is still young, and Ryan Sook's fluid art complements him perfectly. now if only Sook also drew the X-Force issues of Necrosha ...

and here we have another case of DC's adeptness in typos.


does AIG work for you, Ray?


ironically, Ray refines his ex-wife's tested killing method.


in the land of tinier people, the Atom is king.


my, my, Mr. Palmer, what language.

cover of the week

Superman/Batman #52 by Ryan Sook

for more on the evolution of Ryan's art style (he actually started as a Mignola clone), check this out.