On The Shelf: Much ado about Batman

The big news this week is the shocking report that acclaimed writer Tom King is leaving Batman way sooner than he would've liked.

Seems King had a meeting with some higher-ups at WarnerMedia last week, and after revealing later on that he had plans that would change the landscape as far as the Dark Knight was concerned, someone at WarnerMedia wigged, and sent word to DC to pull King off one of their flagship books. King's final issue will be #85, due in the fall. King had hoped he could do 100+ issues, but sales have been falling since last year's wedding swerve, and, as fans have noted, Marvel's recent reboot of one of their franchises as Immortal Hulk got the Green Goliath past the Caped Crusader in terms of sales. That would be another reason for the panic at the corporate level.

Understandably, King has his supporters and detractors, the former wondering if he has to rush the finish of his arc, and he probably will. The detractors have grown since the wedding swerve last July.

At the core of the problem seems to be, predictably, editorial interference. Seems King had pitched one arc in the series, "The War of Jokes & Riddles", to be released separate from the regular book, but publisher Dan DiDio, proving once again to be a little off-center in terms of common sense, decided it would be part of the regular book. That it was eventually released in trade paperback is a moot point, as it would have either way.

Bat-group editor Jamie S. Rich, a former "letterhack" from back in the day, and who came over from Dark Horse to work at DC, may have some explaining to do.....
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In 1983, DC decided that Batman would leave the Justice League of America, and form his own team. In effect, Batman & The Outsiders was launched as a back-door pilot in the final issue--at that time---of The Brave & The Bold. Ultimately, however, Batman would be moved back to the Justice League, as creative directions changed on both books.

More than 35 years and a few iterations later, Batman & The Outsiders is back, even more blatantly a part of the Bat-line than before. Original team members Black Lightning & Katana are back, but now tasked to mentor two of Batman's younger proteges, Orphan (Cassandra Cain, who previously had been Batgirl 20 years ago) and The Signal (Duke Thomas, a recent addition to the Bat-family) in the field.

Black Lightning's creator,----and fellow blogger----Tony Isabella, isn't too thrilled with the use of Black Lightning, seeing as how DC has refused to green-light any more solo series for the character in the wake of the success of his CW series, which will return for its 3rd season in October. Seems sales on last year's "Cold Dead Hands" miniseries, outside of the home district, where I couldn't get my hands on a copy of any issue, weren't that great, and after all the work that had been done to mend fences between Isabella and DC after years of bad feelings, it seems to have been undone by editorial or corporate decision making.

Digression over. The new Outsiders picks up plot threads from a prequel that ran in Detective Comics, also last year, written by Bryan Edward Hill, with some nice retro artwork by Dexter Soy to complement the mood du jour. However, since corporate feels the need to appease the fanboys in the audience by sticking with the grim-dark atmosphere of the Bat-books, it does this series no favors to include it in the Year of The Villain event, beginning in issue 3. While I may be tempted to pick up a trade or two to catch up, I don't see the long term benefit of this book.

Rating: C-.
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Most of us get it by now. DC wants to rewrite Bat-history by deciding that Selina (Catwoman) Kyle was Bruce Wayne's true love all along, such that a new young adult graphic novel aimed at young women follows the idea presented on the now-concluded Gotham series that Bruce & Selina met as kids, not as adults.

"Under The Moon", a DC Ink graphic novel, offers a peek into Selina's childhood in this new reality. The artwork is age appropriate, and, yes, there's an appearance by young Bruce Wayne. If you're an old school traditionalist like me, this is not for you, unless you reconcile yourself to the fact that DC's current regime wants to grow & broaden its audience by any means necessary.

Bear in mind this obsession with The Bat & The Cat has made Vicki Vale, among others, an afterthought. And whatever became of Vicki in this modern era, anyway?

Rating: B.