Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight
Returns

ISBN: 1563893428

Price: $14.95

Publisher/Year: DC, 1996

Artist: Frank Miller

Writer: Frank Miller

Collects: Batman: The Dark
Knight Returns #1-4

Rating: 3.5/5

Frank Miller changed the rules and wrote the Batman story no one else
would write.

Sure, people had written stories before about an aging Batman. Usually,
they were cute tales about the retired and happily married hero beaming proudly
as the former Robin takes his place in the cape, and his young, blond son
became the new sidekick.

But Miller did something a little different. With The Dark Knight
Returns, first issued in collected form in 1986, he redefined the genre of
comics forever. As Alan Moore, himself an innovator in the genre, wrote in his
introduction, Miller "has taken a character whose every trivial and
incidental detail is graven in stone on the hearts and minds of the comic fans
that make up his audience and managed to dramatically redefine that character
without contradicting one jot of the character's mythology. ... Everything is
exactly the same, except for the fact that it's all totally different."

In the first of four chapters comprising the series, Miller introduces
us to an aging Bruce Wayne who's been retired as Batman for 10 years and is
obsessed with his own death. Commissioner Gordon is still around, but he's
being forced to retire from the police force on his 70th birthday, one month
away. And Gotham City is going to Hell, the victim of a heatwave and a massive
upswing in violent crime.

Then we learn of the release of reformed criminal Harvey Dent, the
former district attorney who became Two-Face when scarred with acid. A leading
psychiatrist vouches for Dent's new found mental stability, and a top plastic
surgeon has finally restored Dent's face to normal. But then Dent disappears
and a new crime wave begins.

And suddenly, witnesses are reporting a large, bat-like creature
attacking crime all over the city. For a while we get glimpses -- a boot, a
glove, a crippled criminal -- interspersed with news reports and
man-on-the-street interviews with people debating the existing of Batman.

Our first glimpse of the hero, leaping after a getaway car, sets a
standard for dramatic artwork which helped to remold the look of comics in the
years since its first release. Although Miller was assisted in the art by inker
Klaus Janson and colorist Lynn Varley, the overall look of the book is his own
-- and he did a tremendous job with it. There are better artists out there, but
Miller's bold, sometimes repetitive presentation borrows some visual ideas from
film-making and, coupled with the text, provides a new style in story art.

It is also during this first chapter that Miller remakes the moment
that made Batman. Sure, the basic story is the same -- heading home after
seeing The Mark of Zorro, the young Bruce Wayne watches his parents brutally
gunned down by an alleyway hoodlum -- but the details, down to the pearls
falling from his mother's broken necklace, have been copied and recopied by
countless Batman artists since.

Chapter two gives us a different sort of criminal -- no less colorful
than the Jokers, Penguins and Two-Faces, but far more real to many contemporary
city dwellers. The Mutants, as the gang has been called, is made up of young
anarchists with a thirst for violence and no concept of innocent bystanders.
They kill for fun, for kicks ... and they have the weaponry to make it hurt. In
a way, these kids are more evil than all the plots and machinations of
Batman's usual costumed foes.

Again with the splashy full-page entrance ... Batman's attack on the
insane Mutant leader is visually awe-inspiring. The battle which follows is a
heart-stopper. And the rematch ... oof.

This chapter also introduces the new Robin, an acrobatic girl sold on
legends of the old Batman. Her entrance into the action is a surprise, more to
the Batman than to the readers, but she makes a noteworthy addition to the
ranks of Robins who've worn the gaudy costume.

Chapter three -- the Mutant threat is over, but the former gang members
have splintered into violent pockets. Some continue their reign of terror on a
smaller scale, while others become the Sons of the Batman, a vigilante group
for whom there is a very thin line between criminals and victims.

Growing turmoil in Gotham mirrors a global crisis in Central America.
One man is called upon to handle both -- and let me give you a hint, he's
faster than a speeding bullet.

In the past, Batman and Superman were often paired as good friends. In
the new DC universe, writers have followed Miller's lead -- the two heroes with
such drastically different approaches are respectful allies, not pals. There
are walls between them that even Superman can not leap.

In this portion of the story, the conflict between Superman and the
Batman begins to grow. Superman is acting under federal orders to stop the
vigilante, but his efforts are delayed when international events go nuclear. To
make matters worse, the Joker -- long held quiescent in Arkham Home for the
Emotionally Troubled -- escapes, leaving hundreds dead in his wake.

And the Batman wonders how many deaths he's responsible for, simply
because he never put a final stop to the Joker's ruthlessness.

The third chapter is the real climax of the series, with the final
conflict between the Batman and the Joker digging more deeply into the heart
and soul of these characters than any writer has ever done, before or since. A
priceless moment: Batman, wounded and in pursuit of his foe, pauses to admonish
a small boy for his language. Priceless!

The police, now led by a young, anti-Batman commissioner, are an additional
stumbling block in Batman's path.

Throughout The Dark Knight Returns, Miller takes a step away from the
standards in comic-book crime. There aren't so many of the grandiose schemes,
full of costumed bad guys, outlandish props and corny mayhem, which marked so
much of Batman's prior history. Instead, we have people who've turned to crime
as a means to end -- money, power, cheap thrills -- and the casualness with
which some of them kill is like a bucket of cold water. This isn't four-color
fantasy, this is real life, lifted from the newspaper and replayed on the pages
of a comic book.

And this Batman, too, is different. He's not afraid of violence, he
uses it as a weapon against his foes. Unlike the standard comic-book Batman, he
will occasionally employ firearms in his fight, although he still draws the
line at killing. And wait 'til you see Miller's rendition of the Batmobile.

The public reaction to the Batman's return is also a cold dose of
reality. A vigilante in the real world wouldn't receive the black-and-white
response usually seen in comic books, from the 100 percent adulation given DC's
Superman to the distrust and hatred pointed toward's Marvel's various X-groups.
The debate over the rights and wrongs of the Batman's methods, played out in TV
broadcasts scattered throughout the book, shows a broad range of public
mindsets, from outrage to acclaim -- and support from some folks whose praise
Batman would probably loathe to be associated with. And there are people
inspired by the Batman -- and not all of the results are positive. And when a
new gang emerges, feeding on criminals....

Another hit of reality -- doing what Batman does, especially at his
age, hurts. He's not a young man anymore, and muscles, lungs and even his
powerful heart can only take so much. Miller doesn't soft-pedal that aspect of
heroing -- his characters don't take a near-mortal blow in one panel and act
perfectly healthy on the next page.

Throughout the book, the broadcast media takes a beating. I can't say
it's not well-deserved.

Miller inserted some clever cameos into the storyline, including the
pre-Crisis Lana Lang as managing editor of the Daily Planet in Superman's
Metropolis, broadcasting mogul James Olsen and a very Reagan-like U.S.
president, painted with a broad brush of satire. There's an almost-David
Letterman and a nearly-Dr. Ruth. Former Catwoman Selina Kyle now runs her own
escort service. (Before recent revisionism, Kyle was a prostitute before she
was a thief.) We learn where Diana (Wonder Woman) and Hal (Green Lantern) have
gone. Oliver Queen, the former Green Arrow, makes the best entrance of all,
leaving more questions than answers in his wake but adding a necessary edge to
the climactic conclusion.

It's touches like this which push Miller's work even further beyond the
pale.

The final chapter begins with a near-Apocalyptic Gotham. Superman, for
all his vaunted power, apparently isn't as clear on the physics of nuclear
explosions as we'd like. He deflects the bomb, but the otherwise harmless
explosion blankets the city in artificial night and artificial winter. Panicked
residents riot over food and guns, and a powerless jet falls from the sky. The
scenes as Batman gallops through the city on horseback, gathering followers to
control the outbreak of mass hysteria, would make an incredible movie sequence.

But finally, Superman returns, as we know he must, carrying a federal
order to stop the Batman. What follows is a clash of titans worthy of the
legends both characters have generated over the years. To say any more would
ruin the ending ... so, if you haven't read this one yet, do so. You won't be
sorry.

When I Was Younger...

Growing-up, I remember that we only ever had a single comic book show around my area: the Portland Comic Book Show. It was promoted by a group called Second Genesis. It was great back then. They were able to bring in some great talent for signing, and the bigger talents would charge $0.25 per autograph which would go to support a local charity. It was great!



Over the years, I'm not sure what happened. The talent wasn't as big of a draw, even though they were able to get several of the local talent... which was good. It became to be known more as a flea market than a reputable comic book show. In more recent years, several of the show's were cancelled due to scheduling conflicts around other events that take place in the same area. If there's a scheduled NBA game, then there couldn't be a comic book show. Even though both events were in separate venues, they are too close together and share parking.



Three times that I can recall, my city actually had a comic book show. A few of the local artists were invited, but they were primarily a flea market show as well. The first of these shows is where I first met Randy Emberlin and decided I wanted to take-up inking. You can read about my experiences as an inker here.



Over the course of the past 10 years, it seems like comic book shows have now given way to conventions and there are more available. Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Stumptown Comic Fest, Rose City Comic Con and Wizard World in Portland. I'm not trying to imply that I'm unhappy, but where did they all come from? Will Oregon see additional comic book related events in the future?



I for one hope so.



Since the inclusion of a convention center in Salem, I have wondered if it would ever draw something of interest like a comic con or some other pop culture related event. To date... never. If I had the experience, know-how and money, I would endeavor to make this become a reality.

GM's Day Sale

GM's Day Sale

GM's Day
is Monday, March 4th at 10am Eastern (USA) and runs all week. For 2013's sale, we have over 300 particpating publishers and over 12,000 digital titles on sale! Yep, over twelve thousand
PDFs and other downloadable goodies from publishers like White Wolf,
Mongoose, Wizards of the Coast, Catalyst Game Labs, Chaosium, and more.

GM's Day Sale

Batman & Superman: World’s Finest

Title: Batman & Superman: World’s Finest



ISBN: 1401200826

Price: $19.95

Publisher/Year: DC, 2000

Artist: Dave Taylor, Peter Doherty, Graham Nolan, Tom Morgan

Writer: Karl Kessel

Collects: Batman & Superman: World’s Finest #1-10

Rating: 2.5/5

Karl Kesel's
Batman & Superman: World's Finest is not the best of the Superman/Batman
team-up miniseries (I reserve that honor for Dave Gibbons and Steve Rude's
World's Finest). It does, however, does have an interesting premise in aligning
the disparate events of the Superman and Batman worlds into one cohesive story,
especially the death of Jason Todd with Superman executing the Phantom Zone
criminals, and "Reign of the Superman" with "Knightfall."

Sterling
Gates's new World's Finest takes a similar approach, bringing together the
current "Batman Reborn" and "New Krypton" storylines. I
wouldn't venture there's anything earth-shattering here, but the book is big on
fun and Gates gets all the characters' voices right; for those of us who enjoy
understand how the DC Universe coincides, this is a satisfactory excursion.

[Contains
spoilers]

Notably,
Gates ducks some of the easier team-ups at the start of this book, choosing to
pair Red Robin with the Kryptonian Nightwing rather than with Superboy, and
absenting Mon-El altogether in favor of the Guardian with Robin Damian Wayne. I
might've liked to see Batman Dick Grayson's response to his new Nightwing
namesake, but I appreciates that Gates follows up on a small but poignant scene
from Kurt Busiek's Superman run, remembering the impact Tim Drake had on
Superman's adopted son Chris.

While the
story feels maybe mildly incomplete without Mon-El, the Guardian is the better
fit of the "Metropolis characters" to pair with Robin because of his
previous friendship with the Newsboy Legion. I liked that Gates didn't feel
compelled to have the Guardian or Robin learn anything, but rather part
mistrusting one another, not unlike Superman and Batman have in the past.

Further,
after Peter Tomasi's general mis-characterization of Damian Wayne in Blackest
Night: Batman, I had some concern whether Gates would get Damian's ten-year-old
assassin brattishness quite right; he does. As a matter of fact, I specifically
read World's Finest as the "next appearance" of the Stephanie Brown
Batgirl after Batgirl Rising, a book in which Damian is a key player; no doubt
Gates can write Batgirl, given that he ably handles Supergirl month in and month
out, but whether Bryan Miller's distinct Batgirl/Robin interplay seems much
harder to duplicate. Gates delivers, however, and even adds his own touch in a
funny end panel where Supergirl lectures Damian for calling Batgirl names. As I
mentioned in my Batgirl review, there's a way in which the "Batman
Reborn" characters are more of a family than they have been previously,
and I like this familial aspect a lot.

There is
not, at the end of World's Finest, any deep meditation on the nature of the
Superman or Batman families or their differences. If anything, whereas everyone
claims to miss Bruce Wayne, Superman notes he and Dick Grayson's first
"world's finest" team-up with the implication that Dick is perhaps
easier to work with than Bruce, and the reader knows it's true -- one wonders
if that's something Bruce will have to deal with, not being the
"favorite" Batman, when he returns.

As the
Super-titles are Gates's bailiwick, World's Finest ends with a connection to
"New Krypton," and really not at all with "Batman Reborn"
-- which is fine. I'm not sure either series will actually pick up on World's
Finest, but it's enough that World's Finest ties in to something both in terms
of the characters and the plot; the best team-ups, in my opinion, forward the
series of all the characters involved, and World's Finest does that
sufficiently as far as I'm concerned.

Rounding out
this collection are a DC Comics Presents Superman/Robin Dick Grayson team-up
from 1981, and Action Comics #865 by Geoff Johns, from 2008. The latter is a
prime example of what Johns does for comics; while other writers might have
scratched their heads (or started from scratch), Johns offers a fairly simple
story that returns Toyman Winslow Schott to his roots, preserving and at the
same time overcoming the violent Dan Jurgens story that saw Toyman kill Cat
Grant's son Adam.

This is one
of two previously uncollected issues from Geoff Johns's recent Action Comics
run -- included here because of the Toyman's role in this story -- and I
appreciate that DC gives it the light of day; only, I wish they hadn't left off
the last page. That page features Cat Grant just before Superman: Brainiac, and
while it wasn't relevant to World's Finest per se, I would have liked DC
keeping it for the issue's overall historical value.

Wizard World Portland - My Experience

The weekend of the 1st ever Wizard world Portland has come and gone. I was able to partake in the Friday festivities... to a small degree. Unfortunately, do to my schedule I wasn't able to sit down with anyone for an interview as I had hoped. We'll try again later. Here are my experiences from my time at this con.



The traffic was horrible, as to be expected, but fortunately parking was not an issue as there was plenty in the underground parking structure for the Oregon Convention Center. I arrived around 3:30pm and registrations was quick and easy since I had purchased my ticket via Groupon at 50% off. I got my swag bag and was on my way in.

I was kind of sad that they used bracelets instead of badges, but oh well. The bag included a small selection of swag pictured above and below.

When I finally entered the actual convention hall, I took a moment to take it all in.

Having the most experience at Emerald City Comic Con in Seattle, Wizard World seemed quite a bit smaller. This wasn't a bad thing, I was just expecting that with the Wizard World title there would have been more. As it was, I was very pleased with the layout of the booths and I appreciated the positioning of the artists and media guests.



The one thing that struck me as odd was that there wasn't horribly huge lines for the media guests like there were at Emerald City. Perhaps this is by the design of selling tickets in advance. I found this to be very refreshing and almost made me want to get some autographs.



My first stop was to make sure that what I had brought with me to get signed got signed, so it was off to artist alley for me. My first stop was at Gail Simone. This was my first chance to actually meet her, but I have been following her on Twitter since I joined a few months back. She is a peach and very nice to talk with. I look forward to continue reading her books. As I didn't bring too much for her to sign, I kept my time there brief. I look forward to having another opportunity to see her again.



Next, I went looking for Scott Lobdell. As an old school X-Men fan, I am a fan of his writing and had a few items for him to sign. I met him a couple years ago in Seattle and was looking forward to another meeting. When I found his table, it was bare without a writer. I came back a few additional times before I left, and he never showed. What really disappointed me was that Chris Claremont, who was only scheduled to appear Saturday & Sunday, was there on Friday. Again, I mention that I am an old school X-Men fan and have several items that I would have loved Claremont to sign... but I didn't bring them since I was only attending Friday. Fortunately, this would be my biggest disappointment.



After finding that Scott Lobdell was a no-show, I then went to find Joe Keatinge who is currently writing the new Morbius comic for Marvel. When I first arrived at his table, it was setup, but with no Joe. I was very hopeful because he had a few variants of Morbius #1 that I didn't have in my collection (see my Variant Covers post to learn about my fixation on them). It only took a few second before I was greeted by Joe Keatinge himself where we spoke about our mutual desire to see Marvel publish trades of the Midnight Son's material. I didn't realize that he was a local writer from Oregon, but when I got home I made sure to follow him on Twitter so I can keep up-to-date on his writings.



Now that my quest for signatures was at an end... yes, I didn't have much to bring for others to sign... I went to Arthur Suydam's tables where I was met with a multitude of prints for sale. The guy who was helping to run the table informed me that there was a buy 5, get 2 free sale. I couldn't pass on that. I picked my favorite 7 and had Suydam sign them.

I then decided to wander to see if I could find some good books to add to my ever-growing collection. Even though I had (kind of) promised I would add to my collection of trades and graphic novels until I had significantly reduced the number in my "to read" AND "to review" piles, I couldn't pass up a chance to add more when I came to the I Like Comics booth. They had their trades at 60% off, so I couldn't turn away. I limited myself a bit, and here's what I picked-up:

I also bought a copy of Marvel Zombies 3, but when I got home, I found that it was already in my collection. These things happen when your mobile database doesn't account for graphic novels in your wishlist.

As I continued to look, I found a couple other items that screamed "Must Have" for my collections:

Jabba the Hut (top) completes my non-exclusive collection of Star wars Funko bobbleheads. I couldn't pass this up.

Walking Dead #100 SDCC variant signed by Robert Kirkman. I found this for a very reasonable price, so it had to go into my collection.

And then I came to the CBLDF booth where I picked-up these 2 wonderful trades to add to my collection. Of course, from CBLDF, they were also both signed. I am proud of myself that I didn't go overboard while I was at their booth as there was so much wonderfulness to choose from.



Another wonderful thing happened while I was waiting for my debit card to be charged for these trades. I was mentioning that I didn't receive the Walking Dead #1 Michael Golden variant cover that was exclusive to Wizard World Portland attendees. I guess that you actually had to buy a VIP ticket to receive one. A gentleman overheard my conversation and proceeded to offer me his copy as his would likely "just end up in a box somewhere". I expressed my gratitude (THANK YOU again, if you happen to read this) and once my transaction was completed with CBLDF, my course was set to Michael Golden.



When I arrived, Micahel was just opening-up his Subway sandwich. I asked if he wouldn't mind signing once more before digging into his Subway. His handler/assistant informed me of the signing fee and that if I purchased one of his prints, this fee would be waived. I agreed to that, and this is what I have to show for it:

I'm a sucker for G.I. Joe prints. :)



This isn't the actual copy of Walking Dead I got signed. At the time of this writing, I hadn't scanned it yet. Once I do, I will replace this placeholder for an image of the real deal with Michael's signature. :)



















I guess the theme for me for this convention was about artist prints. I've never been an avid collection before, but I do have a small collection. If I were to have stayed for Saturday, I probably would have found myself pawing through longboxes to fill the holes in my collection of comics. I would have also been able to take part in some great panels.



I did make a major rookie mistake by not eating before going to the show. After 3-hours, my stomach was telling me to eat and the rest of my body was telling me to rest. I took their advice and made my way back home. I look forward to next year, but now my sights are on Stumptown in April.

The Games We Play: Technology and Your Game

When I first started role playing, our highest tech was an electric typewriter. Later, I owned an electric typewriter that I could program to print entire character sheets... which I then took to my mother's work to make photocopies of. As time went on, computers entered our lives and we gained access to so much opportunity. The world became our oyster.



In the past, when you wanted to send a discrete message to the GM or other player, you simply wrote it down and passed the note like you were in 6th grade. With the addition of instant messaging (IM) and texting, things became a lot easier.



There were several times where I would use IM to my advantage. Often times, players didn't realize anything was up. With today's smartphones, it's even more discrete. Does this make the game more enjoyable? I think it definitely adds to the game... but as a GM I would advise you to be wary of your players using this too much. I understand multitasking, but often times people get too engrossed in what they're doing on their computer or phone and not concentrating on the game at hand.



Recently, the owner of our cities game store... where we play a weekly game of Pathfinder... asked our group what additions we could come-up with to help make the private game room better. One idea came up that really struck a chord with me, and I have been pondering the idea ever since. The idea was of adding a digital projector to the room. I guess this would be for easily sharing images of characters or perhaps maps of the locale/dungeon. The room already has a couple of white boards on the wall and a large battle map so I'd never even considered a digital projector.



I know that I have some friends that have connected their computers to their large screen television's so they can stream whatever they want from the internet. I've done it a few times myself. There has been the idea that, while I enjoy purchasing laminated city maps to use in my games, the same thing can be accomplished with Google Earth and the aforementioned TV. While I have yet to actually utilize this idea, I look forward to the day I can give it a try and see if it performs to expectations.



I admit that I bring my iPod Touch to the Pathfinder game I'm in. Even though the store we play in doesn't have free wi-fi, I have some great apps that are very useful to someone who only owns the core player's guide. Spellbook helps me keep  wraps on what my Cleric can cast and is a quick reference for what each spell actually does. Dice Bag, for those times when you forget your actual dice... not that I've ever done that. Criticals for people who remember the create critical charts from Middle Earth Role Playing (MERP). The one that I actually had to pay for is called PF RPG rd which includes most of the published Paizo source books that you might need for your game.

Angel: Immortality for Dummies

Title: Angel: Immortality for
Dummies

ISBN: 9781600106897

Price: $24.99

Publisher/Year: IDW, 2010

Artist: Brian Denham

Writer: Bill Willingham

Collects: Angel #28-32

Rating: 3/5

Angel is a celebrity, Kate from season 2 is back, and there are a
couple of new characters that don’t really matter. There’s an angel guy, and a
cat lady. But they don’t really matter. There is a great recap of the previous
issues at the beginning of the book that will catch you up to a point if you
need.

In Immortality for Dummies we get to see Connor not be a pussy for
once. He is out on a mission when he runs into some demons from the dimension
he came from. Some demon chicks show up and help him out, call him the chosen
one and then tell him they are offering him an army. This can’t possibly go wrong
right. I mean its Connor.

Anyway like I said everything is kinda back to status quo. The hangout
is the Hyperion and everyone is back, with some extras with the exception of
Wesley. Which is better than having him back for no reason at all like before.
It looks like there will be someone who will fill the whole that Wes left in
the group though.

The meat of the story lies in trying to get Angel back from this
corporation that is using Angel to turn celebs into vampires, and then restore
their souls. It wasn’t with evil intent, but I mean how could this not go
wrong.

The art here is pretty amazing. Every character looks just right, and
that coupled with the dialogue means that it was very easy to hear the
characters in my head as I was reading. Something I can’t say for any other
Buffy/Angel comic.

I don’t want to spoil anymore of the story, because it is clearly
setting up for something big down the line for Mr. Willingham. The art is
great, the story feels like an Angel story, and everything just seems to work.
Go ahead and give this a try even if you didn’t read/enjoy the previous arc. It
will be worth it.