Tag: Detective reviews

Comics Reviews: Batman 375, Detective 542, Batman & the Outsiders Annual 1, Firestorm 27, Vigilante 10

Batman 375 coverBatman #375 – “The Glacier Under Gotham” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with some poetry and a number of drawings of Gotham encased in ice. Yeah, Mr. Freeze is the villain (how did you guess?), but the drawings come from one of his henchmen, a guy named Sammy who’s quite adept at fantasy depictions but couldn’t make it as a commercial artist. The other members of Freeze’s gang (especially one named Lou) don’t really share his vision of freezing Gotham, saying it’ll bring the Army down on them. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 375, Detective 542, Batman & the Outsiders Annual 1, Firestorm 27, Vigilante 10”

Comics Reviews: Batman 374, Detective 541, Batman & the Outsiders 13, Firestorm 26, Vigilante 9

Batman 374 coverBatman #374 – Pieces of Penguin” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with a robot penguin toddling toward a jewelry store late at night. The robot explodes and the Penguin (naturally) shows up to loot the place before disappearing. Batman and the cops arrive soon after and Batman finds the head from the robotic penguin, which tells him who he’s dealing with. Back at Wayne Manor, Julia tells Alfred that she got a job at Picture News. Alfred is surprised Vicki hired her, since it’s obvious to him that Julia has the hots for Bruce Wayne. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 374, Detective 541, Batman & the Outsiders 13, Firestorm 26, Vigilante 9”

Comics Reviews: Batman 373, Detective 540, Batman & the Outsiders 12, Firestorm 25, Vigilante 8

Batman 373 coverBatman #373 – “The Frequency of Fear” – Doug Moench/Gene Colan/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with Jason (Robin) Todd being called to the cemetery by Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Bullock. The graves of Jason’s parents are empty and he freaks out, but things get even worse when he sees Batman lying dead on top of the headstones. As Gordon and Bullock put things together and realize Batman was Bruce Wayne and Robin is Jason Todd, crocodiles crawl out of the graves to attack. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, this is all a nightmare and Jason wakes up screaming, with Bruce and Alfred looking on in concern. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 373, Detective 540, Batman & the Outsiders 12, Firestorm 25, Vigilante 8”

Comics Reviews: Batman 372, Detective 539, Batman & the Outsiders 11, Firestorm 24, Vigilante 7

Batman 372 coverBatman #372 – “What Price, the Prize?” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one gets heavy into the world of boxing, so I assume Doug Moench (and maybe Don Newton, since he’s credited as co-plotter) were big fight fans. Dr. Fang is still hot to fix a championship bout and make a ton of money betting on an underdog. Fang settles on an up-and-comer named Tommy Dunfey, currently ranked tenth in the boxing scene. He sends his goon to talk to Dunfey’s trainer (Rudy) and suggest that Dunfey might have a chance against the champ. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 372, Detective 539, Batman & the Outsiders 11, Firestorm 24, Vigilante 7”

Comics Reviews: Batman 371, Detective 538, Batman & the Outsiders 10, Firestorm 23, Vigilante 6

Batman 371 coverBatman #371 – “Nine Cradles of Death” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with Thomas Blake (aka Cat-Man) in prison in some kind of trance-like state, a condition he’s been in for weeks. The prison doctor diagnoses cataphoria or catatonia (Doug Moench really goes overboard with the cat stuff in this issue) and tells Blake’s cell mate (Collins) not to worry about it. Collins is a little freaked, but goes about his daily life and ends up talking in his sleep about some loot from a big robbery that he stashed in some catacombs. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 371, Detective 538, Batman & the Outsiders 10, Firestorm 23, Vigilante 6”

Comics Reviews: Batman 370, Detective 537, Batman & the Outsiders 9, Firestorm 22, Vigilante 5

Batman 370Batman #370 – “Up Above the Sin so High” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

As we saw last issue, Batman is in Montreal helping Alfred and Julia, so Jason (Robin) Todd is on his own back in Gotham. He gets tired of studying, so he heads out on patrol and finds a couple of thugs busting up an arcade. The thugs work for Gotham’s newest crime lord, Dr. Fang, and they’re trashing the arcade because the owner bought his machines from someone other than Dr. Fang. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 370, Detective 537, Batman & the Outsiders 9, Firestorm 22, Vigilante 5”

Comics Reviews: Batman 369, Detective 536, Batman & the Outsiders 8, Firestorm 21, Vigilante 4

Batman 369 coverBatman #369 – “Target Practice” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with Julia and Alfred in Montreal. Julia is telling Alfred how her adoptive father, Jacques Remarque, died of a supposed heart attack, falling off a bridge into the river. His body was never recovered and Jacques left a letter telling Julia that Alfred was her biological father. Julia suspects Jacques may have been murdered and it seems she may be right, as a sign above her and Alfred is shot and falls toward them. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 369, Detective 536, Batman & the Outsiders 8, Firestorm 21, Vigilante 4”

Comics Reviews: Batman 368, Detective 535, Batman & the Outsiders 7, Firestorm 20, Vigilante 3

Batman 368 coverBatman #368 – “A Revenge of Rainbows” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts with Jason Todd (who’s now officially Batman’s new sidekick) still trying to come up with a name for his costumed identity. They’re stuck until Dick Grayson shows with a suggestion of his own. Across town, Crazy Quilt is talking to a scientist named Kinski who’s built a device to help Crazy Quilt regain his eyesight (which he lost fighting Robin back in Batman 316). Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 368, Detective 535, Batman & the Outsiders 7, Firestorm 20, Vigilante 3”

Comics Reviews: Batman 367, Detective 534, Batman & the Outsiders 6, Firestorm 19, Vigilante 2

Batman 367 coverBatman #367 – “The Green Ghosts of Gotham” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

This one starts at a once-elegant Gothic mansion in Gotham;s slum. The mansion has seen better days, but was recently purchased and we see a purple cloud of spores being released from the skylight. The spores—six million strong—drift across Gotham, but luckily only fifteen end up doing what they were designed to do. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 367, Detective 534, Batman & the Outsiders 6, Firestorm 19, Vigilante 2”

Comics Reviews: Batman 366, Detective 533, New Teen Titans 37, Firestorm Annual 1

Batman 366 coverBatman #366 – “The Joker is Wild” – Doug Moench/Don Newton/Alfredo Alcala

Last time, Batman and Vicki Vale both ended up in Guatemala, where Joker has been stirring up trouble between the government and some rebels, hoping they’ll decimate each other so he can take over the country and turn it into a gigantic theme park. Batman and Vicki escaped Joker’s hideout in an ancient Mayan temple, but Joker still plans to kill a top General (Diaz) and make sure the rebels are blamed. Continue reading “Comics Reviews: Batman 366, Detective 533, New Teen Titans 37, Firestorm Annual 1”