Uhhhh I didn't like this? Is that weird? Like I know people love Paul Dini for the animated Batman series but I don't find his Batman books all that fun. This is the third Batman book I read of his that I didn't like.

Basically, this is a bunch of stories of Batman doing his best hard boil impression of a detective. Solving cases while the Riddler tries to prove he's good and becoming a detective himself. We have the villains you'd always expect to see from Penguin to poison ivy to the infamous Joker. All working against Batman to push him to his limits to solve the case. Basically, it's a bunch of episodes of the animated TV show in Comic Format.

Good: I think fans of the animated show will feel right at home. Paul Dini's Joker is also solid and the story with him and Robin was the best in the collection by far. Also, the art is pretty solid.

Bad: All of these stories, aside from the Joker one, are really forgettable. I hated the Poison Ivy story almost enough to stop reading. I don't feel there's any stakes in any of these issues because it feels like a weekly cartoon episode so we know Batman will be fine. The dialogue never really captures Batman, least not for me.

Overall, it's okay. I'll admit I'm that oddball who never liked the animated series, so these just won't gel with me. So I think I'm the weird one here, but this was just okay at best. A 2.5 out of 5.

After a few meh Batman stories the last few reads I'm very happy to report, this is a fantastic 6 issue story worth reading if you're a fan of early day Batman and Joker.

This is of course another origin story in a lot of ways, especially for the Joker. Taking ideas from Killing Joke but giving a better twist (in my opinion) and a much darker Jack (Joker) than we are used to before he becomes The Joker is a interesting little twist. On top of that we have Bruce learning to be Batman. Actually making a impact on crime. However, when he starts to become too confident, he might, by mistake, create something way worse.

Good: Hell of a interesting dynamic we have here with Joker/Batman. This might be one of my favorite versions of the two going head to head in mind games and physical warfare. The evolution of Jack and turning him into a super villain known as the Joker was really well done. Watching a much more vulnerable Bruce in his early days was really intriguing and there's actually a couple of gut wrenching moments that work well for our hero.

Bad: The art can be kind of messy. Especially in fight scenes I couldn't tell what the fuck was happening sometimes.

Besides some weak fight scenes and messy art at times, this was a great collection. I really enjoyed everything from the story itself, the dialogue, and the ending result and message. A easy 4 out of 5.

This was okay. Not a great tie-in to a otherwise really strong event.

So the X-Factor crew decides to say fuck you to cyclops Utopia, but of course in doing so, are now hunted. It's basically a big action set piece of our favorite heroes trying to escape death. Still funny at times, some cool action moments, a few neat twist, but otherwise not as personal or deep as the normal series plotlines are. A 3 out of 5.

This was a pretty cool crossover.

So what happens when a member of your team goes bad? I mean, this has happened so many times before. It's really about two major things. Is the person going bad a big enough threat to scare you? Also, is their an emotional connection to these characters? Do you feel their pain of fighting their friend/loved one or is it just to create false tension? This time we have Superboy and Indigo have gone bad. You do find out who's behind it, but them going bad creates a lot of emotional moments for the Outsiders/Teen Titans. Especially for Wonder Girl and Shift.

Good: The emotional bits worked well for the most parts. Actually, my favorite part are the after results of the fight. It's both touching and sad to watch our heroes deal with the outcome of their actions. Who lived/died felt justified in the way it happened too. The crossover also blended well enough and didn't feel bumpy. I like how it set up some interesting changes for each series (At the time of reading this I still have to read Teen Titans).

Bad: I thought a lot of the characters except for 4 central ones took a backseat. It did feel rushed. I mean you have power players taking on the evil side, let this shit ride for a bit. Also, it feels more like Teen Titans event than Outsiders, so I felt little lost not reading Teen Titans first.

Overall, a well done cross over. 3.5 out of 5.

This has to be one of the most jarring shifts in tone I've ever seen.

So this is it, the marriage begins! Of course being superheroes you know this isn't going to work the way they want. When the wedding begins the invasion of super villains starts and heroes get hurt. Even more so, one might even die! However, we then head to the amazon island and it remains light and entertaining. Then...the last half of this book goes super dark when someone gets badly wounded and results in some very emotional moments.

Good: The fights are highly entertaining and fun. The pacing is quick and a nice read. The emotional gut punch in the later half hurts, especially a single page that really hurt to read. The whole second half is actually really well done and sad and I did feel some happiness at the last couple of pages. Also, Black Canary still the best. Also, there's an amazing, AMAZING, superman scene here.

Bad: The 1st half, while fun, is kind of light. A certain "death" that turns out not really to be a death is kind of meh reveal. I also thought the art took a bit to get used to here, more cartoony.

Overall, loved it. Judd Winick is probably going to go down as my favorite long running Green Arrow run writer. Him, Jeff Lemire, Percy, and more really give a lot of lore and story to this awesome character. A 4 out of 5.

This has to be one of the most jarring shifts in tone I've ever seen.

So this is it, the marriage begins! Of course being superheroes you know this isn't going to work the way they want. When the wedding begins the invasion of super villains starts and heroes get hurt. Even more so, one might even die! However, we then head to the amazon island and it remains light and entertaining. Then...the last half of this book goes super dark when someone gets badly wounded and results in some very emotional moments.

Good: The fights are highly entertaining and fun. The pacing is quick and a nice read. The emotional gut punch in the later half hurts, especially a single page that really hurt to read. The whole second half is actually really well done and sad and I did feel some happiness at the last couple of pages. Also, Black Canary still the best. Also, there's an amazing, AMAZING, superman scene here.

Bad: The 1st half, while fun, is kind of light. A certain "death" that turns out not really to be a death is kind of meh reveal. I also thought the art took a bit to get used to here, more cartoony.

Overall, loved it. Judd Winick is probably going to go down as my favorite long running Green Arrow run writer. Him, Jeff Lemire, Percy, and more really give a lot of lore and story to this awesome character. A 4 out of 5.

Product of its time maybe? This didn't work for me on a few levels.

So Jamie is now the weilder of the mighty blue beetle. Upgraded look, this is a sleek, Iron-man/alien hybrid type suit with some serious Guyver (Anime/manga) Vibes. With Jamie taking this suit and becoming a hero, how will he be able to juggle all that with his family and friends and all the drama in his life already? Not to mention returning one year later and nobody has seen him since!

Good: I like the suit a lot. A badass looking alien suit that's hard to control or take reign of is cool. I also thought some of the more home-good feeling moments were nice, the family moments clicked well enough, and I'm kind of excited to see where it goes.

Bad: The art is pretty bad. Like really empty and boring and the fight scenes need serious work. The tone is a little off, going from kind of cartoony and fun to having people get shot up and crushed to death. I thought the dialogue hit some cringe level moments and misplaced slang didn't help matters. The story structure can be a tad confusing at first and make it hard to really get sucked into the story. The villains were too goofy for me to care.

Overall, kind of disappointed in this one. It's not horrible but not very good. Either. I'll give it another volume to see if it changes my mind but this is barely a 2.5. So I can't push it to a 3.

Whoa, talk about a total letdown.

So after 2 great volumes, and one fantastic one, then we get this...volume 4. Losing some key members of the team the Outsiders are now growing in size, but losing what made them special. The Chemistry between the characters. Not to mention this gets a bit more cosmic with more alien/god like villains returning as well as setting up for the Infinite Crisis Event.

Good: Some cool moments with Roy and him growing as a character. I also liked a lot of the members of the team but...

Bad: None of them really meshed well this volume. Splitting the teams up wasn't the best idea. The second half of this volume is very badly paced and all over the place without anything interesting happening. The art ranges from decent to really terrible, especially some of these backgrounds are just rough.

Overall, super meh volume. I expected better. Hoping volume 5 is much better.

An impressive bounce back from the last crappy volume.

We now have ANOTHER new team. Well some of them are the same. After the events of Infinite Crisis one year has passed. The Outsiders are thought to be dead from the event. However, in hiding, they've been working to stop evil. The first arc is getting a more spy style fighting with Nightwing back as the team leader. This time taking matters into his own hands and being a bit darker than most are ready for. We also have a storyline after which revolves around A ape and his lover who is a big brain. Yeah people, things get freaky!

Good: The art is the same throughout and man is it a upgrade. The fights look great, the emotions come through on the page, and everything has a vibrant, darker, gritty feel to it. I never thought I'd say this but I like Nightwing being a little more hard edge in this, worked well. There's a great Superman scene here even. This team is a lot more fun than the last one, least in a way none get along that well but make for funny dialogue. I also thought the emotional moments and mystery to what happened worked well.

Bad: The villains. Well, the first arc was just a Flash-type villain. Or maybe even the real one? You'll have to read Checkmates to find out more! Also, the Ape and his lover...lame.

Overall, a nice jump back. Not as good as volume 3, but leaps and bounds better than volume 4. A 3.5-4 out of 5.

Just as crazy as volume 1 but a little easier to follow this time.

Nicolas Nash is in modern time, or least current time for the whole story, and he's under this weird spell of sorts that makes him HAVE to find out who this Josephine really is. So this time instead of the 50's we head to the 70's. With more actors, bigger cults, scary vicious people, and a lot of death and betrayal, you have another crime story with supernatural twist.

Good: I found this era more interesting and honestly better than the last book. This time we have actual characters I cared about what happened to them and the shocks and twist actually hit home this time. The pacing of the story is also easier to follow and more interesting this time around. The art, as always, is amazing.

Bad: The main storyline with Nicolas at times feels disconnected and not as interesting as the storylines of Josephine.

Overall, another solid volume in the series. While not amazing it's still really good. A 3.5 out of 5 but I'll bump it to a 4.