This is the second and final part of the “Catching up on comics” posting. If you have not read the first part then please click here.
Nightwing #55
Knight Terrors Part 6
Scarecrow finally starts his assault on Bludhaven and Ric encounters some fear laced people outside the prodigal bar. Ric is letting his muscle memory kick in and he takes down several goons before fleeing. During the fight, it appears he is starting to accept he is Nightwing. While Ric fights off some goons on one side of town, Detective Svoboda confronts Dr. Guidre and tells him she knows he is Dr. Jonathon Crane. Crane/Scarecrow paralyzes the detective with his new fear gas and walks the street letting his fear gas out. At the end of the issue, we see the Nightwings confront Scarecrow and are possibly not ready to take on such a villain.
It is finally starting to feel like the Nightwings are over their heads and that Ric may have to step in and save the day. In issues past, the Nightwings got pretty beat up, but now they are going up against the Scarecrow. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how the Scarecrow/Nightwings battle plays out and if someone is going to get seriously injured or possibly even die. The comic is finally starting to get good again. Here’s to hoping it only gets better.
Batman Annual #3
In the Batman Annual, we get to see what happens when Batman is in action from Alfred’s point of view. We learn that he prepares all of Batman’s “toys” while he is out and that he tries to anticipate whatever Batman may need. We also learn that he worries about Master Bruce while he is Batman.
Batman is out trying to take down drones and a villain calling himself The Drone. When Batman comes face to face with Peter Harries A.K.A the Drone, he gets stabbed, but ultimately takes him down. Batman loses a lot of blood and phones Alfred to help. Alfred picks up a mask and runs to aid Master Bruce. Alfred takes Bruce to Leslie Thompkins who fixes up Bruce Wayne and tells Alfred he needs to rest as he has the flu and can tell he hasn’t slept in days. Alfred ends up falling asleep, and Bruce learns about Alfred’s condition from Dr. Thompkins. Bruce allows Alfred to rest and the story closes informing the reader that it was Father’s Day.
Most of the time I do not enjoy the Annuals. They are stories that have nothing to do with the current plot line and are like filler that really do not have a place. This issue, however, was interesting as it primarily is told through the eyes of Alfred and we get insight into what he does while the Batman is at work.
Fantastic Four #1
Wedding Special
It’s Alicia’s bachelorette party and Sue Richards takes her and some friends out to a bachelorette party. Everything goes smoothly at the male revue club until Mole Men break-in, lead by Kala. The fight is short lived as the Mole Man interrupts and states it wasn’t his intention to break cause a ruckus and hands a bag of diamonds to Alicia as a gift on her engagement. All is forgiven. We then see that Ben is going to visit the puppet master who is being held in the raft. He asks Puppet Master for his blessing as Alicia is his stepdaughter and Ben wants to do the traditional thing. Puppet Master obliges and the comic ends with Alicia holding a doll of her father.
This issue started out super corny. The party being interrupted and forgiven so easily was garbage. The puppet master agreeing so easily to Ben’s request was terrible. That being said, the last panel made up for the whole thing showing that Alicia has similar powers as her father and was manipulating him while Ben was asking for his blessing.
The Life of Captain Marvel #5
The battle continues in this issue with Mari-Ell and the assassin sent to kill her. Carol/Captain Marvel helps her mother and during the fight, Mari-Ell takes a lance to the chest saving Carol. Mari-Ell dies and Carol heads back to Tony and the Avengers feeling closer to her mother as Captain Marvel then as a regular civilian. The End.
The issue was kinda drawn out and wordy. It was a good read, but that’s it. The series had nothing earth-shattering about it. Curious to see how much, if any, is used in the Captain Marvel movie due out on March 8th, 2019.
Fantastic Four #5
This issue was like the Wedding Special issue (see above). The events in this comic is all leading up to the wedding, which happens in the last few pages. We get to see how “shenanigans” happens throughout the Bachelor party and every time Ben wasnt to keep things low key, it gets out of control. While this is going on, Reed stays behind and is working in his lab. He even almost misses the wedding. In the end, during the wedding, Dr. Doom interrupts alerting the wedding group that Galactus has arrived to devour the planet.
When this happens Reed produces his wedding present to Ben and Alicia and it allows them to stop time so they can finish the wedding uninterrupted. The wedding goes off without any more issues and we get introduced to the newly married Mr. and Mrs. Grimm. Upon completion of the wedding, Ben promises Alicia the best honeymoon after he gets back from the saving the world and the Fantastic Four head off to take on Galactus.
This issue was definitely longer than it had to be. Not a bad issue, but did bore me at times with the dragging on of the bachelor party. I am glad the wedding is over though and we can continue on with a better story.
Batman Damned #2
The comic starts with Batman talking to Constantine and confirming that Joker is alive. Constantine tells Bats that someone at a club may have some information on where he might find the Joker. When Batman arrives at the club to talk to DeeKay he finds himself in the middle of a gunfight and the place gets set ablaze. Constantine pulls Batman out just in time. Batman sees the Batsignal with a Joker smile and goes after it. When he shows up, we get to see the new Harley Quinn and she is pissed. She beats on Batman with a bat and stabs him in the neck with a needle. Even though he seems to be beaten, Batman overcomes Harley and in the last panel, it appears he is carrying her from behind.
I am not sure what is going on in this comic yet as I missed Batman Damned #1 because it was pulled off shelves due to the “Bat Penis” incident. What I read in this issue though tells me this series has not yet picked up and will hopefully become an interesting read. I like that this more adult and has swear words throughout, it feels like real people talking. The art is pretty good too, it is different than the standard comic art in the sense it’s more realistic looking.
