In this week’s Batman #14the Joker told Batman his deadly endgame! Bruce’s friends and allies are all marked for death. Only one of Batman’s friends knows what’s happened to Alfred (for now.)
DC Comics revealed this image from inside Batman #15 by Greg Capullo. Barbara, Dick, Jason, Damian and Bruce are gathered in the Batcave to learn the horrible truth of Alfred. As Death of the Family continues it appears friendships and alliances are staring to break and crumble.
Which ally will die? Will a member of the Family break Batman’s rule and kill the Joker?
The Joker’s is attacking and shocking Batman’s allies in Death of the Family but in this week’s Batgirl #14 Gail Simone crafts a killer revelation I didn’t see coming. Barbara’s mother has been kidnapped in a way design remind the heroine of last life changing encounter with the Joker. The villain’s creeps come after her but this is a very different Batgirl. After a year of fighting damaged enemies Barbara sees a chance to really let loose on the kind of criminals that choose to follow a madman – and it’s sweet to see her in action.
I love this issue’s waves of action and emotion. Barbara is crushed by a mysterious caller and flashes back to her worst nightmare but rallies to face the Joker. Barbara’s goodbye to Alysia is symbolic of the end of her life as we know it.
Barbara is no longer a victim but will she take a dark turn in her showdown with the Joker? Could she kill him? Could this be the real meaning of Death of the Family ?
As Batgirl confronts the Joker she learns the real enemy that set her up. This is a huge reveal for fans of the series. Simone takes this long running plot thread, wraps and tugs hard. The biggest twist comes in the form of a sick move by the Joker in the final panel.
A serial killer of mythic power is stalking the Gods in Thor: God of Thunder #1. Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic relaunch the Odinson with an entertaining and gripping hybrid of detective story and dark legend.
In the distant past a young Viking Thor is celebrating victory with his Norsemen when chunks of a dead body wash ashore. The victim is a God of the East and this past prologue ends with an elder in deep prayer. Is she praying to or for her Gods?
The creative team takes us the present on an alien world where Thor answers a girl’s prayer and soon discovers a temple turned slaughterhouse. This sequence has moments reminiscent of Alien when the Nostromo crew discovers the Space God. Thor begins to piece together the crimes of past and present and gives a chilling prediction: more Gods will die.
The final chapter is in the far future in which an old King Thor is deformed and alone in a last stand against an onslaught of invaders attacking a broken Asgard.
Jason Aaron masterfully captures three different Thors appropriate for each era and wraps each time period’s storyline into a lightning quick and compelling debut.
When a writer with a resume like Jonathan Hickman (Fantastic Four, SHIELD, Manhattan Projects) takes on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes you know they won’t be staying on our big blue marble for long!
The Marvel solicitations for February 2013 reveal another member of Hickman’s growing roster for his era. In Avengers #5 the team travels across the galaxy to fight off an invading enemy. Smasher, a member of the Imperial Guard, joins the team. The solicitation reveals that Smasher is the first human member of the Imperial Guard who appear to suffer a major defeat on an alien moon.
The Imperial Guard are a collection of alien warriors from the universe who serve the Shi’ar Empire. The X-Men have clashed and fought with them over the years. Imperial Guard leader Gladiator is now the Emperor and is currently recovering after a beating by the Phoenix Five in AvX.
The cosmic month continues in Avengers #6 with the guest appearance of Captain Universe!
Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy from X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Bryan Singer will direct the next movie starring the Children of the Atom! In the first X-Men movie the team wore leather suits (Cyke even made a reference to Logan about “what did you expect, yellow spandex?”) The dark leather look inspired Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s New X-Men run.
In X-Men: First Class the kids wore the blue and yellow uniforms but will the change of directors mean a change of costume?
Bryan Singer said via Twitter “For those of you wondering…no leather suits.” #xmen
X-Men: Days of Future Past will be based on the classic Chris Claremont/John Byrne tales of surviving mutants from a dystopian future going into the past to prevent an assassination and the events that led to their darker future.
United geeks rejoice! What’s better than a big screen version of The Hobbit by Peter Jackson on IMAX? How about an extended preview of the new Star Trek sequel before?
9 minutes of Star Trek: Into Darkness will screen in front of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on 500 IMAX screens starting December 14th according to Dark Horizons.
IDW will be publishing a comic book prequel to the movie sequel to feed your Trek need until the film arrives.
The once and future Beast is at the heart of All-New X-Men #1. Brian Michael Bendis has made a perfect choice in making Henry McCoy the catalyst for a dramatic evolution of the Children of the Atom.
In the aftermath of Avengers vs X-Men, new mutants are being born, other mutants are evolving and a war of mutants is building that could make Schism seem like a kindergarten scrap.
In the Marvel Now Henry McCoy is painfully mutating again and he may not survive the experience – to borrow a Marvel marketing line! Cyclops (with fellow fugitives Emma Frost, Magneto and Magik as his strike force) is brazenly attacking humans to save newly manifested mutants.
Fearing the future is the theme of this issue. It’s been a long time since new mutants have been introduced. Bendis crafts two compelling moments reminding how that “first time” is so frightening for the mutant.
Bendis captures what the essence of the X-Men’s mission has always been about: fighting prejudice and fear. The writer creates two sympathetic young mutants thrust into a world that fears and hates them and what will be a tug of war between the revolutionary (Scott) and the teachers (Logan, Kitty, Henry, Ororo.) I want to know their stories and see which side they will follow.
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
Back at the Jean Grey School – Bobby, Storm, Kitty and Hank watch in shock as their former friends (ok, maybe not Emma) violently sweep in to rescue and recruit. The revolutionary Cyclops is forcing them in a no-win scenario. Original students Hank and Bobby share a bond and inspire an idea that ignites the series: maybe the secret saving the future is in the past?
Bendis takes us into the past at a precise moment when the young students are in a crisis and one future X-Man is questioning his faith in Xavier’s dream. The issue does not play the way I pictured it would but I was still entertained and intrigued. The creators have given us the new status quo and the threat to the future. This issue is a wonderful moment for those who love the X-Men or are looking for that perfect “jumping on” point. This is it – welcome to the new world of the X-Men…hope you enjoy the experience.
By Editor
Bendis captures what the essence of the X-Men’s mission has always been about fighting prejudice and fear. The writer creates two sympathetic young mutants thrust into a world that fears and hates them and into a tug of war between the revolutionary (Scott) and the teachers (Logan, Kitty, Henry, Ororo.)
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are making the Joker more terrifying and twisted than you’ve ever seen him in Death of the Family. In the first chapter the Joker turned Gotham Central into a slaughterhouse and made a surprise attack on Bruce’s oldest friend. This week’s Batman #13 picks up with Batman in a deathtrap at the scene of the Joker’s birth. Bruce soon learns the terrible truth. Alfred is in the Joker’s clutches.
There is a truly chilling moment when the Joker is torturing Alfred. We never see it. Bruce hears it. I felt it.
After a confession to Nightwing, Batman races to save the next victims but in every circumstance the Joker has beaten him. The Joker is revisiting scenes of his old crimes and putting a theatrically sick twist on each one.
The Joker reveals to Batman the bizarre reason behind his comeback and new campaign against Batman’s allies and friends. But there are two huge declarations from the villain that set the stage for Death of the Family striking into the other Bat-family books.
Snyder and Capullo have orchestrated a chapter of psychological and visceral terror with the Joker’s painfully personal attacks. This creative team delivers a disturbing thrill ride that only gets more twisted from here.
