I really enjoyed Snyder/King's run on Batman. I feel they gave two very different Bruce's but also a great look at their overall viewpoint. They even introduced some cool villains to the mix. But I feel what James is doing is actually building up GOTHAM. Giving us the city itself almost as a character and letting new/old characters grow from it.

This time we get Ghost Maker. Yes, don't worry, everyone makes fun of the name including Bruce. But this guy is not to be fucked around. While the similar beat you've seen before, an old friend of Bruce comes back, it could have easily been played into the whole "revenge" or "I hate you" shit they always do. But instead this character gives a truly interesting look into the "hero" gig. Almost a Punisher like character tossed into Bruce's world, which makes for an interesting change.

I think this is actually the first time I've liked Bruce as a character as much as I do. Maybe because he basically has to start from scratch and fix issues in his own family/city that make it interesting for me. There's no "big" villain this arc. Just people, broken people, who need to learn to deal with their past and go in a new direction. I appreciate we didn't get a huge villain reveal this arc and especially changed the storyline of what I'm so used to in these big superhero books.

So yeah, safe to say I am really digging this run. Besides one or two nitpicks here (Didn't we just say in the last arc he would use help from his Batfamily? And then first few pages he tells catwoman he's doing this alone? What?) I really enjoyed it. Also the art is fantastic as always.

A 4 out of 5.

This was a cool "ending" to the first series though I guess it continues after this but gets a almost soft reboot in a way.

Still was nice to see the characters get some closure and learn from their mistakes. I overall enjoyed most of the character arcs, even Rita. The art also remains great with some fantastic brightful colors that I love.

The final issue here is really cheesy though and more of a comedy sketch. This volume only contains the two oversized issue so that kind of sucked. While not overall horrible it was a letdown and the weakest volume to date.

A meh volume mostly due to Tie in.

Bendis wanted to change the marvel world again by having the Avengers go head to head with the X-Men. On paper, it sounds pretty interesting but the story here is so disjointed you'd have to have read X-Men vs Avengers to even understand what the fuck is happening. Then even if you did, this volume is still really oddly paced.

The first two issues do with Mar-vel, then we split into side stories of different characters fighting X-Men, and the last volume just goes back to Hydra like the war never happened. Like...what the fuck was this?

Yeah a meh volume in every aspect with some cool moments with Red Hulk and Mar-vel, the rest was crappy.

The Flash Book 2 really improves on one and I was invested 90% of the time.

First let us talk about the bad, which is really just the first few issues here. A crossover with Green Lantern and oh my is it poorly done. The villains suck (Grodd, why you look so awful?) and the storyline does nothing for either Wally or Hal. In fact, it makes them both kind of jerks. And sure they settle it in the end but really it was a boring arc.

Luckily quickly after that, we're lead into much better events. Watching Wally be his own person. Focusing on being with Linda, learning how he uses his speed in new ways, and even reintroducing Barry. Which yes, back then it was a big deal. The guy was still dead. But we soon learn how and why it happens and the reveal is a lot of fun. Watching Wally learn to be his own Flash really is a fun process.

Overall, besides the start this was great. Wally's growth even just now is really working for me and I wonder how we can improve going forward.

A 4 out of 5.

A strange new world for the turtles as they now lead the Foot Clan themselves.

I actually love this idea. Reminds me a lot of when Daredevil became the leader of the ninjas but went too far, creating Shadowland, but this is a lot better. So with Leo and the crew leading the foot clan with their master Splinter, the city is slowly fixing itself. Crime is down. But not all the brothers are with this idea and when one leads to doing his own thing we find out just what is really happening with the other mutants in the city.

The results of getting multiple stories from everyone works well. The least interesting is sadly probably April and Casey. They seem to be drifting apart and it feels a bit too typical for the teenagers/young adults to break up at this point to create tension. However, love the stuff with Leo and the foot clan. Mikey going through growth as a character is wonderful. The villain behind all this is interesting once more. Things are heating up and the build-up and start of it are worth the read.

A 4 out of 5.

It's Mad Max Japanese Edition.

Saying that it is pretty fun. When a kind soul is put into a shitty world where everything around him is a piece of shit and believes in torture and violence. So he uses his special moves where he can strike so fast and make your body explode into a gory mess. It's hyper-violent meets a saint of a character mixed with old tropes of women always begging for help. It's silly, stupid, and fun.

This is 100% a product of its time. That's not a diss or calling it bad. It feels outdated but somehow has its charm. I will say, I think the art is great. Some really fucked up kills here. The characters are over-the-top baddies, especially the last guy, but man was he fun to watch.

I'm not sure how far I'd go into reading this series. I had fun reading it but I also was drifting every so often wanting some fresh and new but this wasn't really that. Maybe I'll grab volume 2 when it comes out and see but for what it was, was a fun violent title. A 3 out of 5.

Titans forever brings the gang back one last time before New 52 fucks up the entire DC universe.

Cyborg is feeling low when he asks his buddies to come back and join him but they're all too busy or doing their own thing. So he tries to lead a new Titan group but soon into this something horrible happens and that brings back the old Titans to clean up this mess. With Raven, Nightwing, Roy, Wally, and more all back they come to face a new enemy but maybe even together they aren't ready to face them. Then we get into Jericho again, which at least it isn't fucking Slade again, but I'm kind of sick of his son too.

I enjoyed some of this a lot. The banter is solid, the characters feel like themselves which is nice, and there are some great action scenes and surprise moments. Some of the art is great, while others draw the girls so hyper-sexualized I was wondering if I was annoyed or turned on by all the ass/tit shots. It was weird. I also found it weird we were retracing out steps with some old villains again. And it felt like Winick was kind of tired of these characters so left after two arcs.

So overall solid, good, fun for Titan fans or these characters but I wasn't BLOWN away. Still fun though. A 3 out of 5.

We all knew he was going to go back but...maybe mama doesn't want him back?

When our family is broken apart the only thing you can do is glue it back together. All the pieces are cracked though and the psycho mom has now went to her limit. Finding out WHAT her son did with his friend. It's a disturbing look at a control freak and the ending, actually destroying someone's mind to the point of creating new memories, is disturbing.

The ending brings up something really interesting as we all knew someone would eventually wake up. But do they remember? Can they? If they do what happens next? Who will believe what? So many questions, so much mindfuck, this is a awesome series.

Lots of mystery with this one. Ton of characters haven't seen in awhile, a great ending, and amazing art. I'll have to check this one out again when issue 2 releases.

Man, can I just get a GOOD Avengers or Justice League comic? Like come the fuck on.

I mean this isn't horrible. Spurrier is capable of way more than this but what he gives is a okay story about superheroes overstepping their boundaries. Except it is nothing new and doesn't try to be anything special. The second story is only a two parter but least gets the characters far more right and way more interesting. It is too bad the art kind of sucks overall though.

Justice League needs a REAL boost by a great writer.