The DCU blog has a preview of Teen Titans #89, when Damian joins the team. 

Here is some sample dialog:

“The only joke that I see is Beast Boy.  My first order of business will be kicking him to the curb.  We’ll call him if we ever need a talking chipmunk.”

“Should have left it alone, One-Eyed Jackie.”

“You’re funny.  Look even funnier when I take out your other eye.”

List of things Damian should not be saying:

1.  Nicknames.  This is a kid who calls Alfred ‘Pennyworth.’

2.  Sentences with dropped articles.  This is a kid who calls his dad, ‘Father.’

3.  Contractions.  I don’t think Morrison’s Damian ever really used them.

4.  The phrase ‘kick him to the curb’ or any slang that would be seen before the turn of the last century.

Renting Damian out to various titles is good.  He’s a funny character and an obnoxious little snot.  They’ve got that part down.

One of the main reasons he’s funny, though, is the fact that he’s a child who speaks like an 18th century vampire.  The kid was raised by a family of functionally immortal aristocratic ninjas.  Having him talk like that smart-ass kid from around the corner doesn’t work on any level.  This character has one of the most recognizable ways of speaking in the DCU.  The only character easier to single out through speech alone would be Bizarro.  A few obnoxious remarks just don’t cut it.

Superman/Batman is a spotty book.  It veers in and out of continuity in the most over-the-top ways possible.  It pairs up two characters based pretty much entirely on their selling power.  It incorporates elseworlds, dreams, hallucinations, and retcons.  It hasn’t had a steady creative team in years.

I still love it, and issue #78 is the exact reason why I love it.  It’s written by Joe and Jack Kelly, and it’s about two little boys spinning out that old chestnut, “Who would win in a fight?”  That hasn’t been original in decades.  And the execution?  Deliberately juvenile, with Batman and Superman spouting words that only kids would say.

I love that, too.  The comic is just plain fun.  It’s entertaining.  It doesn’t throw in any misery.  And there’s a Kirby-writing-the-hairies feel to the way the Kellys write the kid’s dialog.  The comic is more fun than Batman Inc.  It’s much more fun than Batman: The Return.  It’s more fun than Power Girl.  And in the end, when the kids go home and it pans up to show the heroes listening in on them, you get the feeling that the heroes were having fun, too. 

And Superman would totally win.  Come on, people.

I’m back, and I’m still recapping.  Join me for spoilers below the cut.

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There were two things I did not like, and one thing I did, but shouldn’t.  Have a look below the cut.

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So Commissioner Gordon is getting a back-up in Detective Comics.  I think the art, by Francesco Francovilla, looks great.  And I’m excited to see the finished book.

One minor quibble with the picture, I really doubt that Gordon would have anything that reminds him of the Joker on the wall of his bedroom.  We’re talking about the guy who tortured his daughter and killed his wife.

Commissioner Gordon is one of the characters I’ve always wanted to see more of.  The trouble is, I don’t really know what that ‘more’ should consist of.  Jim’s position involves management of a lot of intersecting cases, but at the same time he shouldn’t get involved in any of them.  And it would be hard for his character to do stuff that didn’t involve getting sucked into some past traumatic memory.  I think this would have been cooler if he were still a retiree and went around solving cases like Matlock.

Still, this is something that I think will really set Detective Comics apart from the . . . eleventy hundred (?) other Batman books out there.  (Not that I’m opposed to that.  I’m a Batperson.  If anything there should be more books.)  Any ideas for what kind of stories would work for Jim?

From DC’s The Source blog:

New York, NY, September 27—Robert Harras has been named Editor-in-Chief, VP, DC Comics, it was announced today by DC Comics Co-Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio. Harras will oversee editorial for DC Comics, DC Universe, MAD Magazine and Vertigo and will be based in New York City, reporting directly to the Co-Publishers. Harras becomes the company’s first Editor-in-Chief in nearly 10 years since the position was held by Jenette Kahn from 1981 to 2002.

“Bob Harras’ personal and creative integrity is respected and renowned throughout the comic book industry,” said Jim Lee, DC Comics Co-Publisher. “As an editor, he provides invaluable insight into storytelling and character.”

“We could not be more excited to make this announcement,” said Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publisher. “Bob is a tremendous evaluator of talent, character and story. He is a proven leader who brings a keen understanding of the marketplace to the position.”

Prior to being named Editor-in-Chief, Harras was the Group Editor, Collected Editions at DC Comics.

Before joining DC Comics, Harras was the Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics from 1995 to 2000.

:negativeman:

Courtesy of MTV’s Splash Page:

Not entirely sure how I feel about it–the best parts of All-Star Superman were the parts that could only be done as a comic and would get stripped out of the running time of an 80 (or whatever) minute film. The death of Pa Kent and the tenth issue, which is essentially Flex Mentallo told in 22 pages (superheroes are here to save us, both literally and figuratively, and we created them to do so), seem like they wouldn’t translate very well, or even at all. Regardless, I’ll probably watch it. The people involved are pretty talented, and the trailer’s a-okay.

You can get All-Star Superman in two paperback volumes for about twenty bucks total (volume 1 and volume 2) or pre-order the oversized Absolute All Star Superman for… sixty-eight bucks. Absolutes are nice, but rough to read and reread. Choose wisely.

So once upon a time, not so very long ago, there was a book called Green Lantern: Secret Origin, which retold Hal Jordan’s origin story.  Since Hal Jordan’s origin story is not long or complicated (test pilot.  got ring from alien.  might as well say ‘a wizard did it’.) and is probably the best known of any Green Lantern origin, it recounted this story for reasons known only to itself, but it was a pleasant enough book, with good art and clear story-telling.

Towards the end of the first issue, it threw in the following scene:

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I’m imprecise when it comes to my comics habit.  I’ve grown out of buying one series all the time to be completist.  At this point I have neither the money nor the patience to do that.  Because of the twists and turns of the comics world, deaths and crossovers, I might have to drop any issue at any time.

I’m also imprecise about keeping up with comics news.  Occasionally, when I’m low on material, bored, or hear about an awesome e-fight, I might stop looking at pictures of cute animals online (or videos – I swear, watching a baby sea otter get bottle fed, a fawn coming in through a cat door, or a boxer puppy getting fed medicine and coughing at the taste will never, ever get old) and sluggishly navigate over to see it.  So it’s usually not until David prompts me that I lumber over to the DC website and figure out what I’m reading for the week.  This week, though, I got bored early and checked out the page. 

For those of you who are dying to hear about the process, my way of picking things out is simple.  I scan down the week’s releases on the comics page, making a note of what I want to read immediately.  Then I re-scan the page, opening up new tabs for so I can read the blurbs for the comics that I’m on the fence about.

Most of the time there are only one or two that I know I’ll buy, and three or four that I might buy but probably won’t.  This week there’s nothing.  Supergirl has been so all over the place, especially with the exasperating New Krypton storyline, that I don’t buy it.  Powergirl has not been a draw for me since it turned to gloom and putting a dead woman’s body on the cover doesn’t increase my interest.  Wally’s my Flash.  Arsenal is usually a good character for me, but that’s because he was a good-natured happy guy who was also a father.  Now he’s none of those things, so he holds no interest for me.  The only thing I might get is Superman/Batman, and unfortunately it’s undergoing baffling timing.  It’s a story about Dick taking on the role of Batman and Superman possibly blocking his way – a year after it happened.  And I’m pretty sure they’ve already had a DickBatman, ClarkSuperman team up in that very book before.  Why would they have a conflict storyline now?  That’s just bizarre.

Maybe I’ll get a trade or something.

The solicit for this:

Comics superstar David Finch takes full creative control (both writing and illustrating!) on this brand-new Batman monthly series! Joined by the best of the best – Scott Williams – on inks, this new series is sure to be on everyone’s must-read pile! Delving into the more supernatural and esoteric areas of Gotham City, the 6-part storyline explores the horrific murder of one of Bruce Wayne’s childhood friends…and the terrible ramifications the brutal crime has on Batman’s life!

I have only three reactions to this.

1.  How do they keep finding new iterations of ‘Batman,’ ‘Dark,’ and ‘Knight,’ to use for comic book titles?

2.  PleasenoHush.  Please, oh please, no Hush.  Let this childhood friend stay dead.

3.  Great art, though.