Comics Reviews: Batman 424, Detective 591, Green Arrow 9

Batman #424 – “The Diplomat’s Son” – Jim Starlin/Mark Bright/Steve Mitchell

This one starts with Robin hearing a woman screaming as he swings by a penthouse apartment. He busts in and finds an asshole named Felipe Garzonas, who attacks him. Robin kicks Felipe’s ass, but his bodyguard (Juan) has a knife and manages to corner Robin. Luckily, Batman saw where Robin detoured to and puts Juan through the wall (literally). When he looks in the bedroom, Robin is horrified to find a woman who’s obviously been beaten and sexually assaulted. The woman (Gloria Stanson) tells the cops that Felipe assaulted her once before after a date and she was too ashamed to report it. This time, he just had Juan grab her off the street. Naturally, Felipe has some bullshit story about Gloria coming on to him and showing up unannounced at his place, backed up by Juan. The cops know it’s bullshit, but have to let Felipe go anyway. (I guess DNA wasn’t being used much yet, or maybe Felipe used a condom.) Commissioner Gordon tells Batman and Robin they’d have to let Felipe go anyway, since his father is the ambassador from Bogatago and he has diplomatic immunity. A lot of books and TV shows seem to get the whole diplomatic immunity thing wrong; I’m not sure exactly how it works, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t allow people to commit felonies with no repercussions. Gloria is freaked out, since Felipe could come after her again and Robin is pissed off that he’s getting away with everything. Batman says there might be another way to get rid of him: America and Bogatago are currently doing a joint anti-drug operation, with American advisors in Bogatago helping to eradicate the coca fields there. Batman noticed Felipe looked strung out, so if he’s found with cocaine, he’ll be sent home in disgrace and certainly won’t be allowed to follow his father into the Diplomatic Corps. A quick check reveals Felipe’s father is a right-wing strongman in Bogatago, suspected of smuggling coke into the United States. Batman figures Felipe is skimming coke from his father’s shipments and wonders what would happen if the old man found out. They follow Felipe around town, waiting until he visits his supplier. They bust in and pound everyone, but Felipe surrenders peacefully, disappointing Robin since he wanted to pound the bastard. Batman’s plan works and Felipe is recalled to Bogatago, but before leaving he phones Gloria to tell her he’ll be seeing her soon. Obviously, he’s just being an asshole since he’s heading home right away, but Gloria doesn’t know that. When she doesn’t answer their call, Batman and Robin go to check on her and find she’s hanged herself, freaked out at the thought of Felipe assaulting her again with no consequences. Robin is pissed off and heads for Felipe’s place. Batman gets there just in time to hear Felipe scream as he falls from the balcony. Batman asks if he fell or was pushed and Robin says Felipe must’ve freaked out and slipped when he saw Robin show up … but I’m not sure Batman believes him. Robin has been getting darker lately, willing to break the law in order to beat the bad guys. I think that’s leading up to the big Death in the Family storyline in a couple of issues.

Detective #591 – “Aborigine” – John Wagner, Alan Grant/Norm Breyfogle

Yes it’s cultural appropriation time, kids! I don’t think Grant and Wagner were being disrespectful and they definitely went out of their way to get into Aboriginal culture instead of just skimming the surface, but this story does come off a bit tone-deaf nowadays. It starts (after a crash course in Aboriginal mythology) with an Aborigine named Umbaluru coming to Gotham to seek justice against someone. Meanwhile, Batman has a busy night, busting some dope dealers before changing to attend a charity event given by an Australian businessman named Kerry Rollo (inspired by Kerry Packer maybe?) Rollo is showing off his at collection, including an Aboriginal power bone once belonging to the tribes around Ayer’s Rock. Across town, Umbaluru finds some Aussies hiding out in a gym and kicks their asses with his primitive weapons. They admit they stole the power bone, but tell Umbaluru they gave it to Rollo, since he’s the one who paid them to steal it in the first place. Umbaluru kills one of them and takes off. After the party, Batman heads out on patrol and finds the dead Aussies in the gym. He realizes they were killed by an Aborigine and wonders if there’s a connection to Rollo, so he heads back to see him. Umbaluru has already gotten inside Rollo’s building and taken the power bone from him. Umbaluru is ready to kill Rollo, but Batman busts in to stop him. While they’re fighting, Rollo tries to kill Umbaluru but Batman stops him and Umbaluru realizes Batman is a man of honour. He tells Batman how Rollo paid men to steal the bone, killing the guardians during the theft. Batman insists Rollo face justice in court (and Umbaluru as well, since he killed the guy at the gym), but Umbaluru says he’ll find no justice in a white man’s court if the last 200 years are any indication. He grabs Rollo and pulls him out the window. Rollo splatters on the ground, but there’s no sign of Umbaluru except a piece of rope hanging from the flagpole. When a nearby travel agency is vandalized, Batman is sure Umbaluru survived and contemplates just letting him go, but (being who he is) he can’t just let a killer walk without at least looking for him.

Green Arrow #9 – “Here There Be Dragons” – Mike Grell/Ed Hannigan/Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin

This is basically just an update on what’s been going in with Shado, the mysterious yakuza archer who helped Green Arrow during the Longbow Hunters mini-series. Oliver and Dinah are wandering around Seattle and start talking about Shado, wondering where she is and what she’s doing. It brings up painful memories of Dinah being kidnapped and assaulted and Green Arrow choosing to kill her attacker. Later Oliver has a dream about the last time he saw Shado, when she chose to spare him instead of killing him. They had a discussion about vengeance and the lengths people go to in order to achieve it. He wakes up and wonders where Shado is now, which leads to the main part of the story. Shado is in Japan, meeting with the yakuza oyabun who sent her to avenge her father’s death. She explains how she killed everyone on the list except the last man, who was killed by another (i.e. Green Arrow). She allowed it because his vengeance was more important than that of the oyabun. He says her mistake must be punished and sets up a trial where she’s forced to shoot an arrow in pitch darkness at her teacher, with only a medallion hanging in front of his heart to protect him. She pierces the medallion without harming her master and the oyabun is impressed. He says he’ll forgive her transgression if she cuts off her right thumb. Shado is ready to obey, but her master won’t let her, threatening to kill the oyabun instead. Shado takes off and the oyabun shoots her master. When she hears the gunshot, she comes back to put an arrow through the oyabun’s head before leaving for good. This issue is even more deconstructed than usual, with lots of wordless panels and drawn-out action shots; that gives it a cool visual vibe, but makes for a pretty quick read.