ARC REVIEW DC Universe Rebirth All Star Batman: vol 3 The First Ally

All Star Batman

vol 3: The First Ally

DC Universe Rebirth

Story by Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque, Rafael Scavone

Art by Rafael Albuquerque, Sebastian Fiumara

Story: There are two stories to this the first obviously The First Ally story written by Scott Snyder. It deal heavily with Alfred, his internal struggle dealing with what Bruce Wayne has become and the part he played in it. The villain is someone from his past and while he is helping Batman deal with the Black and Whites (Penguin, Black Mask, Great White), Hush, and some others it flips back and forth between Alfred's youth and the current situation which is Batman trying to stop Hush and the Black and Whites from gaining control of a high tech device that can clone exact duplicates like it's a 3D printer. The second story Killers-In-Law written by Rafael Albuquerque and Rafael Scavone is all about Batman infiltrating a Russian mob in Moscow to stop them from making an arms deal that could lead to a all out war in Gotham. 

Art: Rafael Albuquerque does the art for The First Ally story arc and Sebastian Fiumara did Killers-In-Law. Both did a great job beautiful images and the coloring (Jordie Bellaire, Chris Peters, Trish Mulvihill, Lee Loughridge) The covers Albuquerque did are my favorites they have a great light and dark contrast and the detail is so well done. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed Fiumara's work too.

Review: Overall, I did like this peek at Alfred's life before the Wayne's and his own troubled youth all the juicy bits after. While I did like that it explained how Alfred got to be as well trained and how he could teach this to Bruce but the whole thing with Briar and all that was a little too much. The analogy with the pirates and the classic pirate stories I'm torn on I liked it but it also came off as cheesy. But between the art and what of the story I liked, mainly Killers-In-Law, a solid four stars.

       

ARC REVIEW DC Universe Rebirth All Star Batman: vol 2 Ends of the Earth

All Star Batman

Vol 2 Ends of the Earth

Issues 6-9

DC Universe Rebirth

By Scott Synder

Art by Jock (Illustrator), Tula Lotay (Illustrator), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Illustrator), Francesco Francavilla (Illustrator), Matt Hollingsworth (colorist), Dean White (colorist), Lee Loughridge (colorists)

Story: In a vignette style, each issue focusing one baddie at a time but all connected through one over all final boss who wants an epic cataclysmic end. Issues 6 Batman tracks down Mr. Freeze who is about to let lose a virus he thinks can bring back his wife. He’s wrong. Issue 7 Batman needs Poison Ivy’s help to find a cure to Freeze’s virus but a group of mercs is out to prevent that from happening. Issue 8 gets a little cheesy with the Mad Hatter, who is the final link to finding out who is behind the whole thing. Issue 9 is the final boss Batman must outsmart before he destroys everything. There is also more on Duke’s storyline after all that where he goes up The Riddler.

Art: Issue 6 is illustrated by Jock colored by Matt Hollingsworth, a fantastic job with the stark and barren Alaska landscape and the eerie setting for Freeze’s laboratory. Issue 7 Tula Lotay bring to life a beautiful Poison Ivy and a Death Valley setting great coloring and imagery. Absolutely breathtaking my favorite in this volume. Volume 8 Giuseppe Camuncoli with Dean White coloring the muggy swampland of the Mississippi Delta and the hallucinogenic visions created by the Mad Hatter, what I really like was how the lettering and the hallucinations worked together. Issue 9 the finale is again illustrated by Jock and Lee Loughridge colors it has great illustrated action and a wonderfully illustrated D.C.. The Cursed Wheel the continuation of Duke’s story is Francesco Francavilla an illustrated battle of the wits between The Riddler and Duke.

Review: The overall storyline of Ends of the Earth I really enjoyed it had three of my favorite villains. Mr. Freeze is so focused on what he’s found he can’t see what it’s actually doing. Poison Ivy once again a villain who ultimately does the right thing, a beautifully illustrated Ivy, I loved the lines and the coloring. The Mad Hatter’s story is always cheesy no matter what it is, i.e. video games, animated series, comics. But it is the Hatter he's supposed to be out there, I like the character even if he is cheesy. The finale is one of my favorite villains of all time!! No Spoilers. I like the Cursed Wheel story arc with Duke it’s a nice origin for him and even though it says finale at the end it leaves in a cliffhanger, damms youse.  Overall, I like what Scott Snyder is doing and I look forward to more.

ARC REVIEW DC Universe Rebirth All Star Batman Vol 1 My Own Worst Emeny

All Star Batman

Vol 1 My Own Worst Enemy

Issues #1-5.

Written by: Scott Snyder

Art by: Danny Miki, John Romita, Jr., Declan Shalvey

Cover by: John Romita, Jr., Declan Shalvey, Danny Miki

Variant cover by: John Romita, Jr., Jock, Declan Shalvey, Danny Miki

Story:

Scott Snyder returns to write more awesome Batman. The whole journey is back and forth between the past friends that Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne use to be and the now. Two –Face has put a hit on Batman as he tries to return his old friend to his old self again. Harvey sent Batman a message that he found a way to eliminate his split personality but he hid it in a place Two –Face will never know about. THe hit brings out all kinds from the woodwork. Penguin, Black Mask and Great White hire an Assassin to kill Batman and Two-Face. Along the way Batman is faced with a multitude of foes and civilians. 

Art:

The art was impressive, the details and the somewhat muted tones mixed with the bright primary colors. It kind of reminded me of an old style of story book illustrations. I really liked the way Two-Face was drawn.  

Characters:

Batman/ Bruce Wayne: of course, his usual brooding, loyal, overprotective self. Protecting his ward, loyal to an old friend and brooding over the past that he can't change. Determined to do the right thing to fix the unfixable no matter the obstacles. 

Duke: the new not Robin. As of now Duke may be in what looks like a Robin costume but Batman told Gordon they were trying something new. I like Duke so far. He differs from the majority of the rest of the sidekicks as his parents are still alive (like Tim Drake) but Duke has a vendetta against the Joker and he wants justice to always prevail, and not just like Batman but mostly because his mother.  

Two-Face/Harvey Dent: Two-Face knows the right way to manipulate Bruce Wayne.

Other cameos: Amygdala, Killer Croc, King Shark, Firefly, Killer Moth, Black Spider, Copperhead, Cheshire, The Royal Flush Gang, Gotham’s Lords of Organized Crime, Harold Allnut, The Court of Owls, The Beast.

Review:  I really liked this one. I've never been a big Two-Face fan but this one was pretty good. The manipulation level was really up there and bringing in all these other villains honestly I didn't even know two of them even existed. The story kept me hooked to the end all very exciting I couldn't put it down, and the last one with a bit of the back story with Duke was nice to have.