Comics Roundup- 08.24.2011, Part 1

Batman: Arkham City #5

The comic series that ties 2009's Batman: Arkham Asylum videogame to this October's upcoming sequel, Batman: Arkham City concludes in this month's issue, entitled "Exposure." While not as action packed as previous issues, the fifth installment does set the stage for the game while giving readers a few surprises. First and foremost? Robin! Yes, the Boy Wonder makes his debut in the Arkham Asylum/City universe though he doesn't do much besides stand around in the Bat Cave and give Batman advice. It's also unclear which Robin he is, thought I would assume it's the classic: Dick Grayson. Dick isn't normally blonde, however, but this could just be a stylistic choice on the part of the game's developers, Rocksteady.

I have mixed feelings about Robin's costume, as well as his inclusion in the game. I know he isn't a playable character in Arkham City's campaign mode, but still- part of what made Arkham Asylum such an amazing experience was its sense of isolation. It was just Batman, alone in a dangerous environment, pitted against hordes of goons and the psycopathic supervillains they answer to. The only consistent ally Batman ever had in that game was Oracle, and she was just a voice in the Dark Knight's head. Meanwhile, Robin's costume, while designed to match the style of the rest of the game, just doesn't really grab me. I appreciate that this is an older, more mature Robin and that his costume reflects that, but without the green cape he just looks like a guy with a red muscle shirt, skintight pants and a yellow belt. Perhaps it will look better in the game.

More interesting than Robin's random appearance is Batman's decision to attack Hugo Strange with a nonviolent smear campaign courtesy of his true identity, Bruce Wayne. The dichotomy between Batman's two personas is a cornerstone of the character, and I'm glad Dini tackled it in this issue. There's also an added level of drama as Batman is unaware that Strange knows his true identity.

However, that's about it for this issue, and for the series as a whole. The second half of Issue #5 is taken up by a collection of splash pages that set up the major players for the game (Zsaz, Catwoman, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the Riddler, Penguin and the Joker) accompanied by ominous narration by Strange. The splash pages are beautiful (Carlos D'Anada's art continues to impress) and the narration well-written, but there isn't any story to them, really, and it almost feels like Paul Dini only had four issues worth of story but was commissioned by DC to write five.

All in all though, Arkham City has not only been a great precursor to the game, but a satisfying Batman story in general. Dini reminds us all that he's one of the premier Batman writers, and that Arkham Asylum and its universe is one of the truest, and finest depictions of the Dark Knight to date. Now all I have to do is get a job so I can buy the game come October 18th!!

Duke Nukem: Glorious Bastard #2

Yes, I'm still reading the Duke Nukem comic. Got a problem with it? No? Good.

Look, I know this ain't fine literature, or even Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman or anything like that, but I'd be lying if I said this series wasn't entertaining. Duke Nukem is a hilarious and in my opinion, lovable character, and throwing him into a WWII setting was a fantastic idea. I mean, who doesn't want to see the King slaughter Nazis? As the Duke puts it, "You know the difference between these Nazis and those dumb-ass aliens? The Nazis stink worse."

Yes, most of this issue is taken up by pretty good-looking panels and splash pages of the King killing Nazis with a variety of weaponry, all the while dropping silly one-liners left and right. There's even a shot of him walking away from an exploding tank, like a cool guy who doesn't look at explosions! And guess what? There's actually a plot here, too, and a lot of exposition as we're introduced to the members of the Vrillerinnen, a bizarre race of human-looking humanoids that reside underground in some place called the Hollow Earth. All I really know about them is that they're the bad guys, they wear spandex, and that they've cut a deal with the Pig Cops and other various aliens. Not exactly the coolest story ever, but at least there's more to it than just Duke killing the same baddies from the games.

I have mixed feelings about his companions, though. Elise "The French Tickler" Plewmann is hot, I guess, but her "zis" and "zats" get a little annoying after a while, and even though Duke bones her in the issue (that was fast) we don't get to see it. C'mon, guys. Duke Nukem Forever had a spaceship full of topless babes hanging from ceilings and walls encased in pods, but we can't even get one naked French chick in the comic? Why? Cause kids might read this? Well, guess what: you already filled the pages to the brim with blood and expletives, a couple tits ain't gonna hurt no one.

The random black army corporal, Flip Henry is okay, I guess, though he seems to exist solely because he's black. His utterance of "shee-it" was funny the first time, but not the second, though I liked his ecstatic grins while watching Duke dispatch Nazis ("Have I said how much I love that guy?"). The British major-general, Conner Sean I don't care for. He seems too much like a character ripped from The Longest Day or some other post-war WWII film, and is not only the least charismatic of Duke's companions, but also one of those characters whose sole purpose seems to be arguing with the protagonist for no other reason than to be annoying.

Considering this is a Duke Nukem comic though, and the fact that the most recent game was pretty lackluster, Glorious Bastard is a surprisingly entertaining comic. It nails the character of Duke Nukem perfectly, but puts him in a fresh and unfamiliar setting. We'll have to wait to see how these Vrillerinnen characters fare as villains, but at least there's more to the story than just Duke vs. Pig Cops. Can't believe I'm reading this, but I'll be damned if I don't like it.

The Punisher #2

Marco Checchetto (are all comic book artists Italian these days?) and Greg Rucka's new Punisher series continues to chill and excite, and Frank Castle continues to keep silent. I mean that literally. Guy still hasn't said a single word, just shot a lot of people. The engaging dual storylines from the first issue also continue, with half the issue spent with Detectives Bolt and Clemons and the rest with the titular vigilante. I like Clemons a lot, perhaps because he very closely resembles Morgan Freeman in Se7en, and we learn he's a bit of a hardass this issue when he's approached by a spunky reporter named Norah and gives her the cold shoulder.

Meanwhile, the Punisher uses the hapless goon he let escape in last issue's slaughter to track down his associates, who are all turning the doofus away, as he's tainted by his encounter with the Punisher. This leads to another gorgeous cinematic sequence in which Castle raids a brothel. In an interesting twist, one of the gangsters takes a girl hostage, reminding Frank of his creed: no women, no children. Though Frank spares the hostage by taking her captor down with a well-placed headshot, moments later he guns down the fleeing madam in the back after she admits to doping up the whores. Pretty dark stuff, but it makes Frank all the more frightening as we now know he takes no prisoners (unless it benefits his quest).

What's interesting about the Punisher, and I may have mentioned this in my recap of the last issue, is that he is neither a hero nor an antihero, and at times almost comes off like a villain. He's a terrifying spectre of street justice, one you don't so much admire as have nightmares about. Frank's role as an avenging angel is juxtaposed against the legwork of the detectives- good, honest men who uphold the law even when they don't get results. Another interesting aspect to Issue #2 was the reveal that Rachel Cole, the bride from the first issue's wedding massacre was its only survivor. This recalls Frank's own tragic backstory and one wonders where Rachel's story will go.

To close, I should mention the villains: a sexy ganglord chick who's apparently the leader of the mysterious Exchange, who hires the Vulture (apparently a Spider-Man villain) to take down the Punisher. I like crime syndicates as much as the next guy, but personally I would have waited a bit longer before throwing an anthropomorphic man-sized bird of prey into the mix. Like Batman, the Punisher is at his best when he inhabits a world more grounded in reality, a world where violence and crime have harsh implications. I'm not saying Rucka can't toss in some wacky villains from time to time, but the second issue seemed a little soon. Still, this is a really good series and I have high hopes for where it's going.