Thank you, Lee's! Gotham City Sirens, Grayson, Gotham Central

A shout out to Lee’s Comics of Mountain View, my LCS since 2002.  They were forced to permanently shut their doors just a day into the COVID shelter-in-place order.  They will be sorely missed, especially Rich, who’s been the guy behind the counter this whole time.  

Gotham CIty Sirens 1-13

Catwoman 83

This should be a slam dunk - Paul Dini, famed creator of the Batman animated universe, writing Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn.  Unfortunately, this title suffers from two problems:

Guillem March is a wonderful artist.  At least, he has the potential, as evidenced by his lush, beautiful covers.  But there’s a vast difference between the quality on the front and the art on the inside. That’s the first disappointment.

The second took a little while for me to figure out.  As I read the stories, I thought that they were serviceable, but nothing special, which I didn’t expect from someone of Dini’s mettle.  Then it hit me - He’s writing stories with a Batman Adventures sensibility.  Things are a little more playful, a little less reverent.  And there’s nothing wrong with that at all, except that kind of tale really needs to be drawn in the animated style as well.  Once I started imagining every page a la Mike Parobeck, things improved quite a bit.  

Lovely.

Exquisite.

Way less good.  And wouldn't it read a lot better...

...if it was drawn like this?

Alas, that’s not the comic I got, and the mismatch of artist with writer (blame the editor?) makes this a title I’m dropping from my collection.

Regret buying: No (Yes for the second trade, I should have known better after the first)

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Didn’t suck (cutting)

Grayson: Future’s End

One of the rare “told in reverse” stories that succeeds better than I could have imagined.  Tim Seeley crafts (truly crafts) a story that’s slight when read chronologically, brilliant when arranged Memento-style.  Each page explains something from the prior one, and the whole thing absolutely demands an immediate re-read.  

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Grayson 1-4

Secret Origins 8

I bought this trade after I got on board the Tom King hype train.  Dick Grayson, post-Robin, post-Nightwing, is now a spy for Spyral. It’s okay, but doesn’t come close to King at his best.  

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Gotham Central 1-24

I know this series is phenomenal.  It’s always had a place of prominence on my bookshelf, and I wasn’t planning to read this (along with the rest of my bookshelf comics) until I’d gone through all of my boxed issues.  But DC Box 2 has the spare room, and this is the only alphabetical title that fits the gap. So here I am reading it way ahead of schedule.

This is probably my third or fourth re-read of Gotham Central.  And as good as I remember it being, it’s always better in the actual experience.  Greg Rucka and Ed Brubaker, two of the best crime writers in the business, team up to create a GCPD that would make a spectacular tv series.  They’ve taken established detectives (Cris Allen, Renee Montoya, Maggie Sawyer) and new ones (to me, at least) and formed a Major Crimes Unit that feels genuine, believable, and storied with a rich backhistory and relationships.  

On top of that, layer a gritty, perfect art style begun by Michael Lark in the first issue and carried on by the artists who take on the baton after he leaves.  

Love the personality Michael Lark imbues in the Joker here. 

I’ll rave about the stories themselves in the next post.  In the meantime, this gets the first Pure Joy rating since Wizard’s Tale three months ago.

Regret buying: No 

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pure joy