Snap Judgments: Reviews for Batman, Nightwing and House of Mystery
Short comic reviews based on initial, lizard-brain opinions. Arranged from BEST to WORST. Beware some potential spoilers.
Batman #680 gets a B from Degan
When this is all said and done, I'm going to re-read all the R.I.P. stories together in one sitting--because right now Grant Morrison's writing is not holding up with month long intervals. I'm finding I'm very lost--and none of the other R.I.P. stories seem to have anything to do with this story so there's no help there. Otherwise, Batman's charge against the Black Glove and the Joker is entertaining enough-creepy and... confusing. I just have faith that this story is actually better than I'm realizing.
Nightwing #149 gets a B- from Degan
The conclusion of Nightwing's R.I.P. story (which has little to nothing to do with any other R.I.P. story). The "twist" ending is another obnoxiously cliched treatment of Two Face's split personalities... basically, if you're reading any story with Two Face on one side of a conflict, and there's a mysterious "other" party on the opposite side... guess what, it's also Two Face. Surprise. However, Nightwing's fear toxin stricken battle with Batman's Rogues Gallery is awesome enough to keep this book from sucking. Plus, you have to respect any story where the hero fails. Oh the tragedy of living in the modern day DCU.
House of Mystery #6 gets a C+ from Degan
This book is hit or miss, usually depending upon the bonus story within--in this case, the back story of one of the House's occupants, the Pirate Ann. And it was pretty damn cool. So a "hit" in that regard-except the story of the House itself, which I usually enjoy more than the stories within stories, was pretty confusing. The main character behaves completely unlike herself leaving me to wonder if I missed an issue... but I'm pretty sure I didn't. Not sure if the character incongruities are intentional or just lazy--but it left me too confused to really enjoy it. Though the story may be leading to some interesting places... who knows... this book's hanging by a thread.
Spidey's pretty confident he's caught some Skrulls when really he's just confusing his Queens of the Jungle again.
There's a fun little coloring trick in this panel that works so well! The black level is lighter in the upper left than it is in the rest of the pic, simulating a lens effect that occurs when you've got a lot of bright light coming right into the lens. The boy here is squinting up to the top floor of a spooky house where he may-or-may-not see something. Lining the subtle coloring effect up with the boy's gaze doesn't just emphasize the squint--it makes it a squint! Look in his eyes and see if you can even fight the urge to squint along. This is something I recall feeling on my first read-through but it wasn't until another flip-through that I realized what was going on. You're a star, Tommy Lee Edwards! 
I know that some people hate this shit, but Kelley Jones really wowed me this week with his return to Gotham City. I'd forgotten how much I loved his valuing of mood and graphical impact over realism. There's a magic and a theatricality to his portrayal of the Batman, something he is given the most freedom to exploit in the Caped Crusader's, uh, cape. - 
Look at that! Is that the Batman, or a demon emerging from the mists?! Or *gasp* Is there a difference? Jones doesn't shy away from anatomical inaccuracy (re: Batman's gigantic knee) in his quest to deliver a kick ass image. Oh, and about that theatricality I mentioned...
Yeaahhhh, there she is. I love the idea that Batman is so intent on maintaining his image that he strikes scary poses even when talking to friends. But really, in context it's almost immaterial what position Bats is standing in, because you get the impression that the story is more of a foggy nightmare recollection than a video recording--Bats was probably just leaning against a wall picking his teeth or something, but the memory of it is so clouded by his weighty presence that the ordinary becomes fantastic, like in the stories where eyewitnesses actually identify Bats as a man-sized bat creature. He's just that terrifying.
And I couldn't resist one more killer cape shot. Our hero "dead," his faithful cape companion slumped and lifeless all around him. Awesome!
