BATMAN PILE BREAKDOWN: NOV 21ST

Read the quick reviews on Nightwing #14, Birds of Prey #14, Batwoman #14, and Justice League #14. Click the jump to read more.

BATWOMAN #14: J.H. Williams III (writer and current artist of Batwoman)  has continued to “WOW” readers with his artwork. Batwoman continues her team up with Wonder Woman. It was best to think that Batwoman could learn from Wonder Woman on how to be an independent female superhero. However in Batwoman #14, it seems that Wonder Woman learns how emotionally resilient Batwoman is to things. Wonder Woman finds it admirable, and Williams tries to illustrate this with full page spreads. This issue is filler, so there is nothing revealing in this issue for either character growth or plot progress. The issue’s best quality is the art.

NIGHTWING #14: The concluding issues of Lady Shiva’s story arc. Tom DeFalco (writer of Superboy) is again the guest writer on this issue. He continues to amaze readers with his similar writing to Kyle Higgins’ (current writer of Nightwing) writing style, which is an urban plot driven story for Nightwing. Truthfully, you wouldn’t know who is who based on reading this issue or the last issue of Nightwing. Nightwing #14 makes very little sense in the beginning and its lead up is a bit awful. You’re basically hyping yourself up for a little disappointment. Sonia Zucco is supposed to be Dick Grayson’s new love interest, but it seems that love interest is all in Dick’s head. Zucco is giving him mixed signs, which could lead Dick into some real crap later.

The fight between Lady Shiva and Nightwing is decent, but there is nothing to get excited about. It would have been more of an epic fight if it was at night. There are cool illustrations of the fight scenes in this issue done by Andres Guinaldo. As a concluding issue, you would expect for something awesome to happen. For Nightwing #14, it is shy of awesome.

BIRDS OF PREY #14: In every issue of Birds of Prey, Starling is the comic relief and well…she is probably the most grounded and realistic of the team. She states the obvious, and keeps the comedy in every issue. It’s probably one of the best things in Birds of Prey. In Issue #14, the team has finally found Katana’s sword which is basically the whole point of this issue. So, it’s a filler issue. There is tons of fighting and comedy, Batgirl is always the party pooper where she continues to get pissed off in every issue and blames Black Canary every time. This is more of their dynamic as a pair, Black Canary somehow convinces Batgirl into a mission and it goes up crap’s creek. Duane Swierczynski (writer of Birds of Prey) doesn’t disappoint with the suspenseful writing and Romano Molenaar (current artist) continues to make the girls look hot and strong.

RED HOOD & OUTLAWS #14: If you’re expecting Superman to have some kind of cool cameo in this issue, then you should skip over this issue. There is very little reasons as to why Superman is in this issue except to pose a threat to the outlaws. The boy scout reminds Jason Todd aka Red Hood of how much of a good Robin he was to Batman, which means Scott Lobdell (writer of Superman, Red Hood &the Outlaws, Teen Titans) is setting up “Death of a Family” for Red Hood. It is a poor use of character such as Superman to create a set up for Red Hood. Eh! It’s Lobdell.

As far as the story line goes for this issue, Joker makes a little appearance declaring that the next issue will be “Death of a Family.” The way Lobdell wrote Joker in this issue; it seems that the Joker might attack Red Hood with some physical and psychological attacks. The next issue might become Lobdell’s best writing for this comic book. Cross your fingers, Hoodies!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #14:  This is the concluding issue of Cheetah’s villainy for Justice League. This issue tells the story of how Wonder Woman is blind by giving people the benefit of the doubt. Clearly, Geoff Johns (writer of Green Lantern, Justice League, Batman: Earth One) is trying to humanize Wonder Woman, which proves that the character is too high above and mighty. Johns tries to show the error of Wonder Woman’s ways by making Superman her “Down to Earth” love interest. It’s cool, but we all know who might be watching them, right? Batman! He knows everything.

The issue is suspenseful and sheds light on how Cheetah became who she is. Its decent villain’s story, it brings much respect to the character if you don’t know who Cheetah is.  The back-up story about Shazam continues with Billy Batson learning about his powers and how he uses it. It’s pretty comical to see Billy as Shazam. Basically, if a young boy is able to have superpowers. What would that boy use it for? Not for good all the time, but for the money! Black Adam appears in this back-up story, and he’s just so sinister that you have to love it. Johns brings a true modernism to these characters with a revamped storyline as well as costumes. Tony Daniel (former artist of Detective Comcis) is quite at home with illustrating Justice League. He does well with drawing the female body than the males. It’s a preference on his part as an artist, and it shows in the details that he puts into Wonder Woman and Cheetah. Seriously, can’t wait for Shazam to join the team or get his solo book soon. He’s too good of a character.

Check out some of the panels that I thought were cool.

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