The New Batman Lineup

One of the things that I was worried about when DC announced that they were starting over with new #1's was that they would really be "starting over". Like Marvel's Ultimate Universe or something. That doesn't appear to be the case at all, at least with the Batman books.

I've really liked the Batman books the last couple of years, even though it took me a little while to get on board. I love that Dick is Batman, that Bruce is back, and Batman. I love that Dick and Damien (Bruce's son) are teamed up and that Tim Drake (my favorite Robin) has his own book (although I'm not super crazy about the name "Red Robin" or his costume, really)

The new Bat Books are going to shake up nearly all of these things, but I'm finding myself OK with that. I'll start with something that is a little disappointing, yet a little exciting as well:

Nightwing 

Obviously, Dick Grayson is no longer going to be Batman. He's going back to being Nightwing. I'm a little sad about that because I always thought that he should "graduate" to being Batman, but really, if Bruce is back, there's no need to have two Batmen in Gotham. Nightwing can be a part of "Batman Inc." just as easily. I like the new red bat logo on his chest, has sort of a "Batman Beyond" feel to it.

Batman and Robin  While I really like the dynamic between Dick and Damien, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing how Damien handles himself around Bruce. He is a little hard headed and defiant with Dick, but seems to very much respect Bruce. I'm not a big fan of the artwork here, but hopefully it won't be so bad.

Batman, Detective Comics and Batman: The Dark Knight  I like Batman as much as anybody, but I'm not sure why he needs three solo books. Just sayin'. That top cover is pretty sweet though. One thing about Bruce Wayne being Batman... I don't think Dick Grayson could pull off that look convincingly. That next cover, I swear I've seen before on a Spawn comic, but I looked and couldn't find it. Pretty sure it exists though.

Birds of Prey  I'm kinda disappointed in this on the face of it. I really like the current Birds of Prey series with Huntress, Dinah Lance, Hawk and Dove, etc... This one looks pretty different. I mean, Poison Ivy and Katana? meh.

Batwoman
This has been "coming soon" for so long, I don't really care anymore. Hopefully it'll be good. Not holding my breath.

Batgirl  This one I don't get at all. The latest Batgirl (Stephanie) has been doing great. She's being mentored by Barbara Gordon and the book has been very well done. It also irritates the crap out of me that they are taking Barbara out of her Oracle role and putting her back as Batgirl. She has been such a strong character as Oracle for decades. One of the earliest "special" comics I remember buying was "The Killing Joke" where the Joker shoots Barbara and paralyzes her. It was such a shocking and momentous moment for the character and the ramifications of that act have reverberated since then. Its going to be very interesting to see how they reverse that. It drives me nuts that they are, much like the bringing back of Barry Allen (or Hal Jordan for that matter). Anyhoo, makes me wonder what happens to poor Stephanie.

The Red Hood and the Outlaws  Kind of a goofy name for the book, but I'm pretty excited about this one. I was (once again) pretty frustrated when they resurrected Jason Todd. It seemed very unnecessary and... well, heck.. I voted to kill him. Twice. The guy was a jerk. But, I'm intrigued to see what they do with the guy. I notice that Arsenal has his arm back, which is a little random, and speaking of random, I can see Jason Todd and Arsenal teaming up... they are both kind of unstable and hardcore, but I don't see how Starfire fits in with this. Although, I can't wait to see Dick Grayson's reaction to her hanging out with the jerk ex-Robin.

Batwing  Batwing? Seriously? DC decided to put out only 52 books in this new era and one of them is BATWING? The "African Batman" this is stupider than that idiotic Mr Terrific book. Hey, I'm not against Black superheroes... I mean, I like... uh... Blade? I guess? And that Invisible Kid with the skunk hairdo? But yeah, anyway.... this one seems like a total waste.

BUT WAIT! Where's Tim Drake, AKA Red Robin??? Well, apparently, the loser "African Batman" can get his own book, but Tim has been demoted down to a team book:

Teen Titans
Ok, I'm not sure where to start with this. My first reaction was WAIT... WHAT? Then, Well, OK.. Then, I started to get real stoked about it. I dig Robin's costume... I was put off at first with the "Falcon" looking wings, but I really kind of dig it. Superboy looks pretty sweet, and I really really like the Kid Flash's new look. SO... things I'm nervous about. First, the official description from DC:

Tim Drake is forced to step out from behind his keyboard when an
international organization seeks to capture or kill super-powered
teenagers. As Red Robin, he must team up with the mysterious and
belligerent powerhouse thief known as Wonder Girl and a hyperactive
speedster calling himself Kid Flash in TEEN TITANS #1, by Scott Lobdell
and artists Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund.

#1 - "forced to step out from behind his keyboard"? Whats the implication here? I'm really nervous that they are somehow rewriting his history as the third Robin. That would really burn me.
#2 - the "mysterious and belligerent powerhouse thief known as Wonder Girl"? It really sounds like they are rewriting these guys' pasts and histories. I mean, Tim, Cassie, Bart and Conner have known each other for quite some time, and they have a great chemistry. Why mess with that?
#3 - I have no idea who those other two chicks are, but they look like they crawled right out of a 90's Image comic. *shudder*

So, thats about it. Today they announced a bunch of war and horror type comics that I really don't care much for. They also announced the Blue Beetle solo comic which I guess answers why he wasn't on the Titans or the JLI. All of the announced books so far come to 48... which leaves only four books for Superman. That seems kind of low. I mean, Batman and the Batman family books have almost three times that many. Expecting the announcement of those books tomorrow... we'll see how that turns out.