Superhero stories are often at their best when they reflect the struggles people go through, but in a situation writ large with pathos and drama that we will never see in our day-to-day life. And since so much of our day-to-day life is surrounded by social media, why wouldn’t a superhero have problems that involve…
It’s a big week here at Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). We’re back in the future Gotham with the new Batman doing some detecting, Cass Cain and Stephanie Brown are in the Magistrate’s jail, while Catwoman and Ivy make a new friend and have a night on the town in Future State: The Next…
Saladin Ahmed had a good 2020. Well, relatively anyway; I don’t know that anyone had a good 2020. His first Kickstarter, Dragon, was an unequivocal success. He’s continued his runs on Magnificent Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales: Spider-Man. And now he’s kicking off 2021 with Abbott: 1973, the sequel to his excellent creator-owned Abbott from…
Welcome back to Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). In the police state of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is dead. Or so the Magistrate thinks. With nothing but the tattered costume on his back, Batman must fight to save his city. Elsewhere, Grifter plays some cards and breaks some heads. We see these two new…
Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Superhero comics have regularly featured time travel, possible futures and glimpses of tomorrow for much of their history. Some are utopias, some are dystopias and most are somewhere in between. DC is in the midst of a two-month event, “Future State,” that gives readers a glimpse into the future…
Welcome back to Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). It’s a new year and a whole new Gotham City … of the future. Gotham is now a fascist police state controlled by private security called The Magistrate. Masks are illegal. Batman, whoever he may be, is as much an outlaw as the villains he once…
Batman and Robin (?) swing in to save the rest of the Bat family from Hush, a new mayor of Gotham is elected and Bruce says goodbye to Wayne Manor in Detective Comics #1,033 from Peter J. Tomasi, Brad Walker, Andrew Hennesy, Dave McCaig and Rob Leigh. Meanwhile, Harley, Duke Thomas and FBI profiler Hector…
Comics are literature as much as any other written form. There are works of soaring genius, there are works that please the masses and there are works that are just plain awful. From the days of Classics Illustrated, comics have reached out to traditional literature to find source material that was more “respectable” than what…
In the waning days of the 19th century, portraiture appears to be on its deathbed. With the arrival of photography, there is much debate over the usefulness of portraits now that a device can capture a person just as they appear. For struggling artists Marcel and Alphonse, the beauty in portraiture can never be replaced,…
If you listen to WMQ&A, you know that I am a cat person. My wife and I have a cat, Bess, who pretty much controls every aspect of our lives. But what I talk about less, because we currently don’t have one around the house, is that we are also bunny people. And so when…
If you are only slightly familiar with Star Wars — one of those people who has seen some number of the nine main theatrical films, say — and are not steeped in 40-plus years of lore, you might never have really heard of Mandalorians before the TV show that spotlights one of their number became…
Will Nevin: One week, I think we’ll hit on a book that we both like, that we can both praise and feel good about. This ain’t that week. Matt Lazorwitz: This is a very … meh week. “Detective” was inoffensive water treading, and “Black and White” was hit or miss, as most anthologies are. Detective…
Will Nevin: This is a heckuva week, but for mostly the wrong reasons — because while Bat/Cat #1 (I can’t believe Tom King resisted his urge to go there again) was overwhelmingly fine, Batman #104 is — and I say this with as little hyperbole as possible — an embarrassing look at when a comic…
This week marks the end of a series I’ve been following since its inception six years ago: Lumberjanes from BOOM Studios. This charming all-ages series, created by Grace Ellis and Shannon Watters, explores friendship, various camp skills, romance and a forest full of mythical creatures, interdimensional portals and magic. So it’s not exactly like any…
Detective Comics #1,031 Welcome to a special holiday week Bat Chat! The Mirror inserts himself into Gotham’s mayoral race as he continues his anti-vigilante crusade, Damian makes a move to prove he’s smarter than Batman, and a Bat rogue makes his return in “Detective Comics” #1,031 from Peter J. Tomasi, Bilquis Evely, Mat Lopes and…