Today's post reviews some of the comics I read after another lightning trip to Glasgow a week ago. No pun intended although the brief spell of blazing summer sun seems suddenly over. Elgin's dreich showers are a stark contrast to sun-dappled Craigellachie, where I had a belated birthday lunch yesterday in the Copper Dog, hangout of Kate Moss and Sadie Frost.
Yes, while DC the publisher is moving away from the New 52 branding, I now have to embrace it. In my secret identity as a High School teacher, however, I have the pleasure of being able to vet Young Adult graphic novels and comics as potential purchases for our school library. A number of DC's recent (ish) releases have proved to be highly enjoyable.
Gotham Academy is esentially Harry Potter meets Batman and follows the misadventures of a detective club of trendy geek kids in Gotham's spooky private school. It's a highly stylised and utterly charming series and the nods to the Bat-Mythos ( Aunt Harriet, Bookworm, Prof. Milo, the Langstrom virus) are delightful Easter Eggs.
The exuberant and cleverly diegetic flourishes of Brenden Fletcher led me to the latest revamp of Batgirl:
Moving into Gotham's "cool hood" of coffee shops and launch parties, a younger, hipper Barbara Gordon is immersed in a world of social media, reality tv stars and identity theft. Babs is online throughout the series and meets her new boyfriend through a dating app. ( I rather hope Liam Powell is a nod to Patricia Powell, who crushed on Bruce Wayne in 1965's "Dilemma of the Detective's Daughter")
The series has, I gather, angered Bat-fans in the transgender community with the knowingly-named artist Dagger Type, portrayed here as a cross-dressing psycho. While I didn't find it offensive, I do accept the Norman Bates/"Dressed to Kill" riff is old hat. I actually think that reworking a librarian- turned- congresswoman as a gawky late adolescent is a more demeaning step, in the scheme of things. On the whole, however, I enjoyed this witty, buoyant take on DC's Dominoed Daredoll enough to try spin-off title Black Canary:
Two other comics by which I was intrigued but perhaps not quite as enthused are new takes on quirky Seventies titles devised by Golden Age creators.
Dr. Fate by 70s and 80s fan-favourite Paul Levitz and Sonny Liew continues the diversification- and -young -protagonist mission statement with a new Muslim hero. While it feels like it owes too much to both the new Ms. Marvel and DC's 2007 Helmet of Fate series of one-shots, the likeable Khalid and the stylish visuals have appeal.
Two earlier attempts to revamp Golden Age magicians
The rather grim satire of Prez, meanwhile, is surprisingly mature and cynical compared to the freakiness of Joe Simon's Seventies original. However, I'm interested in learning more about this bleakly, blackly humorous dystopian future.
Bryan (Ultimates) Hitch's new widescreen JLA title looks like a summer popcorn movie, as perhaps was the intent. I found it all a little po-faced and dull but then, the last time I was actually interested in the Justice League was Brad Meltzer's homage to the "Satellite Era", some nine years ago...
Perennial favourites for late June were Batman '66: a very early Hallowe'en issue which pitched new Adam West-style origins for Clayface and Solomon Grundy. Also, Astro City delivered a bizarre and quite charming tale of an archetypal DC talking gorilla, in a tuxedo, forming a superhero rock band. All of these continuity-light comics, even the rather portentous JLA epic, are worth a look
Just as an addendum to the Seven Soldiers posts on Materioptikon: I neglected to refer to the modern incarnation of the Crimson Avenger. I'm surprised this 15-year-old "grimdark" antiheroine didn't catch on. Perhaps however, she's too Marvel-esque, too much a blend of the Punisher and Ghost Rider, to mesh well with the other Golden Age legacy heroes.
The next couple of posts will take a look at Jim Starlin's next instalment in the Thanos saga and the sequel to Batman: Earth One.
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