Spotlight: The Movement #1

(w) Gail Simone     (a) Freddy Williams II

Unformed.

That's the main descriptor of Gail Simone and Freddy Williams II's The Movement #1. While there are moments of real and gritty excitement, a lot of what Simone is attempting to convey gets lost in the chaotic nature of this debut issue. There are so many plot elements and so many new characters all being introduced in 22 pages that it's difficult to process what exactly you just read by the time you're done.


** SPOILERS AHEAD **


The opening sequence focuses on the ethically challenged police force that exists in Coral City and their meeting with the Movement. It's really weird -- and out of character for her style -- but Simone's dialogue is rather clunky throughout these pages. It feels like the offhanded style is supposed to reflect a more natural conversation, but it mostly sounds unclear. I found myself reading the first page three times over before moving on because I wasn't sure who was saying what to whom. 

But the real flaw of The Movement #1 is how forced everything feels. The dirty cops, the neighborhood grassroots campaign, the heroes being young -- it's all supposed to be a cohesive concept wherein all the parts play off each other to create a thematic mood. Unfortunately, the jumpy writing style and distractingly messy art style cause this concept to fall flat. I have no idea why the rat-controlling kid, Mouse, popped up in the church while the possessed kid was raging out.

I want to stress that I'm going to stick with The Movement. Per my interest in Young Avengers on the Marvel side of things, I enjoy teenaged superheroes sticking it to the man, and that's basically what's going on in this series. It's just unfortunate that The Movement #1 is so frazzled. I feel like it's going to be an excellent series going forward because Gail Simone writes incredible team books, and her experience on Batgirl gives The Movement a darkness that's befitting to the theme.

GRADE

6.5/10

DARK WAS THE KNIGHT, VOL. 1 (OCT 10-16, 2012)

Welcome to 'Dark Was The Write', a mostly weekly column highlighting some of the less highlight-y titles connected to Batman and his dark city. Usually, the lead Batman title will get it's own review, and secondary issues get some love here! The Batman family of titles is by far DC's largest, so I won't always be covering everything released each week (like, I really don't like Batwoman), but there will usually be a healthy dose of Gotham City's problems represented.

Batgirl #13
"Death of the Family" Prologue
(W) Gail Simone
(P/I) Ed Benes

Batman and Robin #13
"Eclipsed"
(W) Peter J. Tomasi
(P) Patrick Gleason and Tomas Giorello
(I) Mick Gray

Although each of these issues features the same amount of offhanded remarks about the Joker, Batgirl #13 is labeled as a "Death of the Family" prologue, while Batman and Robin #13 is just beginning a two-part arc before rolling into the "DotF" event in December. The only slight advantage Batgirl has is that clown-masked men ambush Barbara and her mom at issue's end. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

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I used to read Batgirl regularly, until about issue four. I didn't understand why, and if frustrated me greatly, but Gail Simone was just not delivering the kind of quality work I'd seen in Secret Six. Alas, I cancelled by subscription, and the last time I saw Batgirl, it was for "Night of the Owls", an event that let me read all the tie-in issues without being privy to the ongoing story.

But I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised by Batgirl #13. In what I can only assume is the conclusion of the current arc, Batgirl faces the deadly Knightfall who's out to kill Batgirl and the rest of the Batman family. In some ways, Knightfall has a point when she explains how Batman and his crew have allowed Gotham to rot. It's the crux of writing meaner, grittier stories when Batman's actions should be cleaning up the city. Only in a comic book city do seven superheroes operate and crime never gets any better. In fact, it seems to get worse with the passage of time. Gotham in the 1960s was probably a very nice place to live, albeit a bit seedy. Nowadays, I struggle to understand how anyone living in this fictional universe even gives Gotham the time of day.

Knightfall is revealed to be Cherise Carnes, daughter to one of Gotham's most influential and powerful real estate moguls. It feels like whenever a writer needs an out of some sort, he/she creates a villain with some connection to Gotham that makes them feel superior to Batman and his cronies. It's usually some sewer-dwelling psycho given unwieldy power, but there also seems to be a good number of 'super rich' families inhabiting Gotham that have a surprising amount of vengeful offspring. I've read this archetype before, is what I'm trying to say, but Gail Simone manages to pull it off without sounding redundant and cliched.

The lead-in to "Death of the Family" at the end was sub-par. After reading Scott Snyder's explosive pages in Batman #13, I guess I just expected more. Though, I don't want to get myself into a situation where I'm comparing all the tertiary stories of this event to Snyder's main run because nothing will live up to it. Barbara's mother is attacked by Joker's minions, and three villains (of Batgirl's, I'm assuming) are released from prison by three mysterious strangers (unless they've appeared in the series before, in which case I apologize to regular readers of Batgirl who know these characters' significance) with the death of Batgirl on their minds.

GRADE: 7.5/10

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I don't have a lot to say about Batman and Robin #13. The story is so cliched zombie infection that I don't even want to discuss it. DC is committed to getting it's books out on time each month, and I commend them for that. The downside of this comes when artists aren't up to the task and single issues have a 10-12 person-strong artistic team. It's not terrible this month, but Patrick Gleason shares penciling duties with Tomas Giorello, and it's really one of the most jarring artistic changes I've seen in an issue in a long time. Gleason's minimalist style has worked well for Batman and Robin, showing a more fluid side of how the Dark Knight can be drawn. Tomas Giorello's style, however, leans toward detail and shadowing at every angle. It wouldn't be so frustrating if the art styles were a bit closer matched, but it feels like DC just picked any random artist and said "Finish up what Gleason left behind, kthanks," then left. This was a disappointing issue of Batman and Robin, for sure. Hopefully the "Death of the Family" tie-in issues will be better than this crapfest.

GRADE: 3/10

(NIGHT OF THE OWLS) BATGIRL #9

STORY: Gail Simone
ART: Adrian Syaf and Vicente Cifuentes

(Cringe). I actually started reading Batgirl back when it started last September. Unfortunately, Gail Simone decided - by, like, issue three - that Barbara Gordon needed a sassy roommate. Also unfortunate is the fact that these days, nobody seems to know how to write a female-based series without forcibly including some 'alternative' roommate or friend of some sort to give these heroes a semblance of a real life. It might just be me, but it felt like lazy storytelling. And so does Batgirl #9, the title's only issue crossing over with "Night of the Owls", and one that simply doesn't make any sense.

The issue begins in Japan in 1944 at a factory where a young girl named Ayumi is building giant balloons with other children her age. Eventually, it's revealed that these heavy-duty balloons were used to carry bombs across the Pacific Ocean to attack the mainland United States. Literally two full pages are given to Ayumi before we're transported to Haly's Circus in 1945 as a Court of Owls representative has come to take their next Talon. That era's Mr. Haly offers up a girl whose face was burned off by one of the balloon bombs from Japan during the war. Then - finally - Simone takes us to Gotham present to follow Barbara as she faces off against the female Talon from 1945. Four pages of random exposition are given before the main character of the book is even seen.

Then the balloon bombs show up? Simone never takes the time to explain if the Court saved the bombs from 1944, or if they built new ones, or whatever it was. The point is, these bombs just appear out of nowhere and that's jarring as a reader. Batgirl continues her fight with the female Talon and Batgirl falls of the ledge, hanging on for dear life. Instead of killing her, the Talon lets her live until they fight again and she wants Batgirl dead again. When Barbara finally does manage to take the Talon down, the girl uses her blood to write a message about masks and having them and such.

It's sooooooooooooo melodramatic. Gail Simone seems to think this sappy ridiculousness is good and it's not. I wish I had better words to use, but it's trite and this issue doesn't do anything to inspire a desire to read any more of Batgirl. The art was decent.

GRADE:

C-

Crisis Update: Villains United

Crisis Update
Volume I, Entry 5


Villains United
Gail Simone - Writer
Dale Eaglesham - Pencils

Gail Simone is a pretty hit-or-miss writer. Sometimes, she flubs it pretty hard (like with the new 52's Batgirl, which hasn't really gone anywhere in five issues), but on some occasions, she knocks it out of the park. Villains United is one such case.

***SPOILERS***
What is essentially a rebellion story, Lex Luthor has created a secret Society and is recruiting villains from across the world. From the lowliest of cat burglars to the likes of Deathstroke, Black Adam and Dr. Psycho, Luthor invites all but six villains to join his cause against the superheroes of the world. These are the six villains that the title focus on.

In a double entendre, Villains United eludes not only to the unification of villains under the Society led by Luthor, but also the rogue group of six that come together to combat Luthor's stranglehold on the villains of Earth. Made to participate by blackmailing them, the mysterious Mockingbird finds Deadshot, the man who never misses; Cheshire, lethal assassin; Parademon, solider from Apokolips stranded on Earth; Rag Doll II, disowned nephew of the original Ragdoll; Scandal, daughter of Vandal Savage; and Catman, one of the most forgettable of Batman's adversaries. While the revamped Catman gets the star treatment throughout the series, most of the 'Secret Six' get a lot of panel time and, eventually, have good chemistry during fights and operations.


Villains United was a way for DC to show readers a more relatable side of some of it's villains. Though each is made to work for Mockingbird against their will, the members of the Secret Six begin to develop their own personal moral objections to Luthor's tactics with his Society. And this is the real value from a story such as this; being able to see villains acting in a less-than-evil way is exhilarating. Of course, Cheshire betrays the group in a moment of deceit that would have been missed if it wasn't included, and Parademon dies at the end, giving way for new member - and Scandal's lover - Knockout.

Gail Simone's character-driven story was, by far, my favorite of the 'Countdown to Infinite Crisis' mini-series. The series told a story without being overbearing while also giving readers valuable information about the coming crisis. It felt the most coherent and the most satisfactory at the end.

Grade: A