Monthly Archives: January 2014

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…VINTAGE ALERT! 200x Two Bad

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SpartanNerd, you wanted a MOTUC Two-Bad.   Well.  Too bad!
So I will settle for the next best thing.  200x Two-Bad.
IMHO, the vintage 1980’s Two-Bad was not very good.  I remember making him punch the opposite face all the time.  And that’s about it.  He couldn’t stand very well, because he was top heavy.  He couldn’t hold weapons because his hands were permanent fists.  And his shield didn’t fit on his arms correctly.  I did enjoy the power of punching with the spiny loaded arms and waist feature combined, however.  This was the strongest action feature in the original figures.
200x Two-Bad doesn’t have any of those problems, and the action feature is also pretty cool.  So he is an advance in every way!
Here is Two-Bad in his original packaging.  Notice the price tag.
The dude at the Barnyard Fleamarket shaved a little off.

This back is different from Beast Man and He-Man.  We get a nice large pic of the figure.  It still has the annoying foreign languages all over the package.  They should have made a different card for the foreign languages, and gave people something else to collect, rather than this all-inclusive strategy.  I like the white outline around the figure.
I took this pic when I removed him from the packaging.  Impressive!
Two Bad has no problem standing.  The weapon is cool,
sporting a hinge between the two pieces.

No big button behind this figure.  His arms are spring loaded themselves.
Notice that the Baddra side of Two-Bad is the exact same color as Spikor!  In this pic you can see that Two-Bad is noticeably shorter than the MOTUC figures.  😦  Also, both heads seem a tad smaller than He-Man and Beast Man’s heads.

Here is a shot of all of my baddies together.  The best thing about Two Bad is he helps fill my ranks a bit!

So, what is my rating of Two-Bad?  I like that he is an improvement on the 1980’s figure in every way.  His arms are way better.  The Horsemen sculpted him, and he is very detailed.  He has excellent weapons.  He stands nicely.  The only point was taken off because of his slightly off scale build, which was probably done to save money on a fig that was fully tooled.

I rate 200x Two-Bad 4/5.  Do you agree?  Let me know!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review….VINTAGE ALERT! 200x Beast Man.

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I am going to call this new variety of column VINTAGE ALERT.

Some people might argue that 200x Masters of the Universe toys are not vintage.  But they are approaching fifteen years old, people!  They ARE NOT fresh and new.

From now on, when I get to review a vintage toy, I am going to all-caps VINTAGE ALERT!

Because it’s my blog.  That’s how I roll!

I am going to start with the package.

The card evokes the feeling of nostalgia for the 1980’s line.  Beast Man is clearly visible in the package.  The package is covered in text as well, in english and two other languages.

Here is the back of the package.  This packaging is familiar to me because
I have the rare variant “cross-harness” He-Man MOC hanging in my office!

I have only owned a few 200x figures before.  My brother Hoagie Boagie had 200x as HIS He-Man and the Masters of the Universe.  I will say that I enjoy the Mike Young Productions cartoon quite a bit.  And I am glad to see the Four Horsemen’t work on these figures as well.  So there are a few loose He-man and Skeletor figures floating around.  But no other characters.

On with the review.

Here is Beast Man out of the package.  Notice his arms and legs.  This figure is NOT super-articulated.  He has two accessories.  The whip and his armor.  The armor fits on him loosely, and is made of the same rubber as the whip.  The whip is quite flexible, and really “whips” good with the action feature.

On the back, you can see a lever sticking out.  When you press this lever,
it causes his arms to move simultaneously.  So he can crack that whip!  Action features like this
were what Mattel thought kids wanted.

Beast Man can control animals, right?

He is famous for conjuring Griffons to help the baddies make an escape.  Here he is riding and whipping my griffin!  He doesn’t fit on the saddle great, but his loin cloth is soft enough to position right.

Beast Man seems to be a good scale to ride on the Griffin, and that pleased me very much!  So how does he look next to Skeletor?
Skeletor seems to stand about a half-head taller than Beast Man.  BUT, Beast Man is hunched over a little.  Which is fitting for the character in relation to Skeletor.



So what’s my rating?  I am going to take into account that super-articulated figures weren’t the big thing necessarily at the time these were produced.  (200x He-Man figs were marketed at kids more than adults.)  I am going to take into account that he looks pretty good with the MOTUC characters.  The same sculptors, after all!  I am also pleased that he fits on the griffin, and looks fantastic.  (If you are a regular reader, you know I wanted Vikor to ride it, but his loincloth was too stiff.)  I kind of wish the spikes on his arms and knees were removable, but I don’t think it is necessary enough to take off a point, considering the time it was released.

So, my rating is 5/5!  He serves the grand purpose of making my bad guys seem to have more of a team.  I will probably not have a MOTUC Beast Man any time soon.  What do you think?  Leave a comment!

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review….Sir Lazer Lot, Round 2

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Once upon a time…a certain SpartanSmurf #2 set eyes on the most ridiculous Masters of the Universe Classics figures ever made, (except for maybe the Star Sisters or the Mighty Spector)…and it was love at first sight.  He said that he wanted it, and I was obliged to see that he got him.  I might have thought he looked like some kind of Papa Smurf wannabe, but if it was something He-Man related, and an actual child was interested, I was ready to deliver.

Sir Lazer Lot arrived, and several hours of play were had with him.  The SpartanSmurf #2 carried him places, and one fateful day decided to take him to school.

Now there was a thief committing thievery in those days.  And in fact, two Ninja Turtles had been stolen from his book bag already.  And Sir Lazer Lot was next.  So that makes two kids who thought he was swell.

(This thief was eventually caught.  But her (that’s right, her) stolen items were never recovered, and so the SpartanSmurf remained brokenhearted and forever longing for him still.  He got other MOTUC characters…Flipshot, Faceless One, etc.  But one day he told me that he didn’t play with them that much because they reminded him of Sir Lazer Lot and what happened.  Heartbreaking to hear this from an eight year old.

All of this came to a change yesterday, however!  When at the Barnyard Fleamarket in Greer, SC, we happened upon a toy vendor who sold tons of He-Man items.  I daresay I shall return!  One of the items on the wall was….SIR LAZER LOT!  So now, we have one that I can review, and the joy of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe has returned to the children in the SpartanNerd household.

Sir Lazer Lot came in the regular package.

Notice the little flash over the word, “Sir”  It says “Created By Geoff Johns.
Sir Lazer Lot was a part of the anniversary line of MOTUC figures.  We also have Draego Man.  You will also notice the price, $35.  But the guy cut me a deal since I also bought some other stuff from him.

The back sports a little Bio.  I personally like the digital comic that came out last year.  And along that line,
would like an un-helmeted head.  SLL is also one of the rare black characters.  So bring on the mask-less head!

This is quite odd.  I did some searching.  Nowhere does SLL have furry shorts except in this picture on the back of the card..

A close-up of that bio, if you care.

NOW FOR THE GOOD STUFF.

Really, as a comic-book knight, SLL is all right.  He might not seem to fit
the rest of MOTUC, but he isn’t bad by himself.  Here I show a lofty battle pose.
This figure has tight joints.  He looks sort of graceful here, no?

Here is a charging pose.  The Laser sword is pretty cool.  And I like the tribal design on the shield.

The other accessory is what I call a big sucker.  It looks like a spiky lollipop.  It is supposed to be a laser mace….
SLL has the problem that Marvel Select Thor has.  His weapon wants to slide down..
If he holds the bottom, it doesn’t look right.

I managed to capture it sliding down in his hand….

His left hand holds this better.  I have a theory…that the  sword handle is fatter than the mace handle.
So it has stretched the hand out somewhat.  The left hand hasn’t been holding anything.
Which is why it is tighter.  Maybe.

Here is a backside shot.  This cape is pretty nice.  I don’t care for the plume.  The plume is supposed to be sparks coming out of the top of the helmet.  I wish it were removable.  But hey, it isn’t my toy anyways.

As a MOTUC figure, this guy is shaky.  And he shouldn’t have been put out to honor the Masters of the Universe 25th anniversary.  The Castle Grayskull should have been what they put out.  Instead, you paid as much for the six figures that you probably didn’t want half of, and paid around $300 anyways.  We could have got Draego Man some other way, he is so cool, and we probably would have.  We would have got Photog too, and also Castle Grayskull Man could have still been made.  But SLL, Mighty Spector, and Cy-Chop were kind of duds IMHO.

BUT…….Remember what I said at the beginning.  Sir Lazer Lot appeals to kids.  Guess what, SpartanSmurf #2 also said he wants Mighty Spector.  What can I say.  If Masters of the Universe is to live on with people younger than 30 years old, then it is going to have to make some headway with the children.  It is going to have to anchor in their hearts the way it has mine and the many other MOTU fans.

New Media, appropriate for the kids is needed here.  There needs to be a cartoon.  There needs to be a video game.  There needs to be a movie.  I have definite opinions about these.  And the media today isn’t kid-friendly.  (For the most part I haven’t allowed my kids to read the new MOTU comics.  The oldest kid can handle it, but not the younger.)

Major nerd tangent alert!

So SLL appeals to kids.  And that is what’s important.  I wish more kids could see him.  And want him.  I wish there was a CGI cartoon featuring his adventures.  I wish there was a video game where he gets to slay dragons on the scale of Draego Man, or even Granymyr.  In short.  He gets a 4/5 for this potential.  He is solid as an action figure.  It is a stretch to make him a He-Man and the MOTU figure.  But he is.  And he does belong with Stinkor and Snout Spout.  I think I’ll take another point, because we saw that Geoff Johns had designed a non-helmeted head in the comic, that we did not get here, and that was an African-America styled head at that.  So another ding.

My final rating is 3/5.  He is solid as a figure, and makes me dream of MOTU’s future.  But we didn’t get his awesome black unhelmeted head, and he doesn’t necessarily fit with everyone else.  What is your opinion, oh Hub City Geeks?  Comment!

Groovy Dork List….MOTUC, Magic, Coffee, Pathfinder, Arkham, and MineCraft.

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Groovy…I was able to find a massive local source of Masters of the Universe items!  A dude at the Barnyard Flea-market sells them.  Workable on the price (I AM a cheapskate, remember!), and also a knowledgeable and enthusiastic fan.  I will be reviewing the three items I picked up today soon!

Dork…The problem finally appeared.  Snout Spout has a crack in his trunk.  The trunk is apparently made of blue foam-rubber.  😦

Groovy…I am Back-in-Black!  I am playing Mono-black devotion as my current for Magic: the Gathering strategy!  Just keep putting black permanents out, get that devotion ramped up, and then slam the opponent with a Grey Merchant of Asphodel.  And unless they cancel the Merchant, there is little they can do.  The fine folk at the Tangled Web were ready to trade the other day.  I scored a few more Nightveil Spectors, which I really, really needed, and a Desecration Demon as well!  Readers of this blog will know that my color is black.  I have recently been playing other colors, but it seems the old dark evil ways are returning!

Dork…Don’t get me wrong…I had a blast, but I would play someone, anyone really, for almost 45 minutes.  And then somehow lose…I would disrupt their strategies over and over, only to be trumped eventually.  You can only run Four gray merchants!

Groovy…In the same vein…The Born of the Gods set looks amazing!  I can’t wait to see what else they reveal.  I have preordered a box, and me and my two boys are going to play in the sealed deck pre-release.  I already see cards with promise for the Fencing Ace deck, and for the black devotion deck.  The inspired mechanic sounds interesting, and Mogis, God of the Slaughter is going to be crazy!

Dork…They haven’t released a new challenge deck  😦  The Hydra has been a blast!

Groovy…The Keurig Vue system is wonderful!  This machine makes not only coffee, but cafe drinks and iced tea!  Most everything I have tried tastes great!

Dork…(semi-dork, I guess)…Those Vue cups cost a bunch.  BUT, I am subscribed to the Cafe Express Savings Club, that basically means I only pay half for the Vue cups.

Groovy…I am now a Dungeon Master…I mean Game Master.  Me and the SpartanSmurfs, and even the SpartanWife have been playing Pathfinder.  This is our first taste of this kind of gaming.  I don’t know what I think about it yet.  I like being the game master.  But I don’t always feel like it.  These games tend to run over an hour.  Also, the SpartanSmurfs are too easily killed off.  I have to be careful not to off them unintentionally.  This has already happened three times.  The first time I considered it a real death, to try and send them a message.  I didn’t like it, though.  So I have been inserting lucky saves into the game.

Dork…I have a pretty good imagination, and can flesh out the Pathfinder world pretty good for the boys.  But they on the other hand tend to just want to battle constantly, rather than take in their world.

Groovy…I have been playing Batman: Arkham Asylum again.  That game is terrific!  I especially like taking out the armed thugs!  That is a lot of fun.

Dork…I don’t get MineCraft.  I played it.  I just don’t get it.

SpartanNerd Unboxing and Review…Marvel Select Thor

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I have reviewed an excellent Marvel Select figure before, Deadpool, which you can read here…(And probably should)

I say that because, unfortunately, Thor doesn’t stack up to Deadpool as a figure.  Let’s see why!

Here Thor sits on the shelf at the Tangled Web in Spartanburg, yelling “Purchase me, mortal.  Thou hast the power!”

First of all, the packaging.  Thor comes in a beautiful Marvel box that displays what you are getting very clearly.  Also, there is nice comic book artwork on the left. side.

$24.99.  Not bad.  The Christmas fund will cover it.

The back of the package gives you a nice little backstory for Thor as he is in Marvel Comics.

Apparently, Thor is the son of Odin’s mistress….

Time to tear into it!

Here is what you see when you open the box.  In case you are wondering, the little pamphlet shows off other Marvel Select figures as well as Marvel Mini-Mates.

Thor was strapped in with those stupid bread tie things.  I had to resort to cutting the left foot’s wire-in with nail clippers, because I was afraid I would damage the figure.

What vile power can bind the God of Thunder?
Here he is, freed from his prison.

Let’s discuss his articulation.  Compared to the previous Deadpool figure, he theoretically has mostly the same articulation points.  But I used the word Theoretically for a reason.  Actually, only the bottom joint of his double jointed knee moves.  Furthermore, his left leg is tighter than the right leg.  He has rocker ankles, that are quite stiff.  What about his arms?  Well they are pretty tight.  But his hands are sculpted into permanent positions.  No finger articulation.  Just Hammer Holder and Bruce Dickenson “Metal to the Masses” pose  (Thanks Puller, for that bit of poetry!).  His head is hampered by his hair and cape.  The hair and cape are not movable…They are stiff poses.  So really, he isn’t all that much articulated.  In fact, his coolness as a toy is lessoned quite a bit.  He seems more like a statue with posable arms.

Here is what his back looks like.

Now for the really important stuff.  Thor uses a “real man’s hammer!”  (The SpartanNerd’s friends will recognize this saying….)

nicely sculpted detail, it even has a loop.  This is what Thor uses to swing the hammer like a bola, I gather.
Pay attention to the bottom of the handle.  That little bulb of lacquer is going to be a problem.
I wanted to remove Mjolnier from the hand of Thor.  But, that little
blob of stuff made the hammer too fat to get it out of his hand.

I hope you’re reading my captions.  That’s right.  I couldn’t get it out without force.  Force is the enemy of handles made of soft plastic.  I was so afraid I would bend it, I seriously considered leaving it in his hand forever.  But it is the job of an internet reviewer to come forth with all of the truth.  So I pulled it out as straight as I could.

You can see, I didn’t bend it much.
Thor also comes with this stand…er…rock…err…meteor thing.

OK.  He has peg holes in his feet.  But it isn’t any easier to make Thor stand.  Why?  That cape is quite heavy.  Also, his right leg is looser than his left leg.

I believe he stands better without the rock!
Not going to give you a picture, but my MOTUC figures stand quite nicely on that rock!
Here he is holding Vikor’s sword.  He is a tad taller than MOTUC figures.
The scale seems larger.
It makes this awesome sword seem less awesome.
Two vikings.  This is the kind of Thor story I like.
Teela makes a fine barbarian bride for Thor!
Someone’s a little jealous….Vikor, you’re going to mess around and bend your axe!  (Too late!)
Deadpool…”What’s your excuse for being less articulated?”
Thor…”I don’t have to be.  I am immortal.”
Deadpool…”Well, I am unkillable!”

How do I rate this Thor figure?  I am quite a fan of Thor, and I like the Thor movies.  In general I like the comics also, recently having read the whole Ghor the Godbutcher series in the Marvel NOW events.  (I will have to review that story sometime.)  I bought this figure for those reasons.  Plus I already knew the Deadpool was really very nice.  But I was disappointed in the quality of this figure, it feeling more like a statue and less like an action figure.  It only came with one accessory, and it can’t stand on its stand so good.  His articulation is hampered.  And you can’t do anything about it really because the cape is glued on and the hair is stiff.

So I am going to give it a grade of 2/5.  It gets the two points really only because he looks so awesome.  And looks awesome with Vikor and Teela.  But he could just as well continued to look as good on the store shelf.  On the other hand, he wasn’t expensive.  And comparable comic book statues cost over $100.  So looking at it that way he would be a 4/5 as a statue.  (Not having as precise a sculpt as a statue because he was meant to be an action figure…if that makes sense?)

Do you agree or disagree?  Let me know, oh Hub City Geeks!  And be on the lookout for more awesome reviews by the SpartanNerd!

SpartanNerd Scoop….Detective Comics #27 review

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Why is this a scoop…Almost nobody has reviewed this yet!  I Googled to read other peoples reviews, and they were quite scant.

Variant Cover #2.  This was the cover most often seen in ads.

So I scooped all of Nerd-dom this time!  (Probably not really)

Detective Comics #27 in 1939 was the first time Batman appeared anywhere.  Not long after, Detective Comics was completely about Batman.  And that is all the information I could regurgitate that I most likely learned from Wikipedia at some point!

Fast forward to the New 52.  The current DC Comics universe.  New readers might not know, The New 52 was a massive relaunch of DC Comics two Septembers ago.  The SpartanNerd began reading them then, being intimidated by the vast history of DC Comics before the relaunch.  I felt it would be a good jumping-on point.  And I was correct!  This relaunch included a re-numbering, each issue became #1.  And so now, we are back at #27, and to celebrate the milestone of the original Detective Comics #27, DC has printed a MASSIVE tribute issue!

There are six variant covers…I picked up variant cover #2 in the comic book store last night.  Cover #1 will likely come to me in the mail with my subscription.  Other covers include a Frank Miller Catwoman cover.  (And then there are 3 more, oh math scholars!)

Cover #2, by Christ Burnham and Nathan Fairbairn is kind of cartoony…featuring Batman very large, with Batwoman, Batwing, the Talon, and someone else….???  (I almost thought it was the Talon, but then saw him in the air….)

There is an ad, right behind the cover, but it is just about the only ad in the whole thing.  There is an ad for the Kubert school somewhere in it, but besides the back cover, that’s about it.  (A quick flip reminded me of a Scribblenauts ad.)

The first real page is a table of contents\credits page.  We get seven different stories in this issue!  I am going to go down them all, and put forth my review!  There will likely be SPOILERS….READ NO FURTHER IF YOU WANT UNTAINTED EARS!




The table of contents\credits page.


THE CASE OF THE CHEMICAL SYNDICATE…

Hope you heeded my warning!  This first story is meant to be a classic Batman story.*  The art is the average of what we have seen since the late 1980’s   We see Bruce Wayne talking to himself, and talking to himself.  Which was sort of off-putting to me at first.  But I have been reading these things long enough to know that something was going on.  In the end, we were seeing snips from “The Journal of the Bat-Man.”  I like that Batman says one time “I’m still too new at this!”  The end of this story has someone falling into an acid vat, and the last panel of course shows their hand climbing out.

Now, I am certain that this isn’t supposed to be a canonical story.  The New 52 story of the Joker has been hashed out several times.  We saw the Red Hood fall into a vat in the Zero Year Batman story.  Not to mention the Joker reinforcing this origin story in “Death of the Family,” and even making Harley go through the experience.

No, this isn’t a mainline story.  It sets the stage for the vignettes we are going to be getting throughout the rest of the book.

I LIKE THE ART, I LIKE THE STORY, RATING 5/5.  I like the pulpy nature of it!
*This is a re-telling of the original Detective Comics #27.  Oddly, I didn’t remember it panning out the way this did



OLD SCHOOL…

This story begins with a cover, letting you know what it coming!

The “cover art” of “Old School”

Basically, you begin with old-style comics material, with Batman and Robin in their original looks.  As the story progresses, Batman’s costume evolves, and the artwork does as well, until it looks like Detective Comics artwork looks now, as different villains do ridiculous things to him.  How is this vignette justified?  Batman has fallen asleep in a comic books store, and people are dressed in costumes all around him for Batman’s 75th Anniversary party.  The last panel, he picks up a copy of “Detective Comics #27”  (The original.)

THIS IS A REALLY DIFFERENT STORY.  RATING 5/5!



BETTER DAYS…

Probably a non-cannonical story also.  This one shows Batman as old as he would be for real, with Alfred in a wheelchair.  We see Dick Grayson and Damien Wayne also.  Dick is still night wing, and Damien is currently Batman.  And Barbara Gordon is the commissioner.  They are celebrating his birthday, and an alarm goes off.  So the younger heroes go off to work!  But Bruce decides to suit up and beat them to the crime scene!  They come back, the work already done, wondering how it was possible….

I like how we get to see Damien alive…But other than that, I think it is weak story.  And I don’t care for all the cursing…it seems there is some four letter bomb on every page.  I don’t like the lines either.  It says Bertram is the artist, who is that?  It looks like …. something you would see in I don’t know.  Something I wouldn’t read.

WEAK STORY, POOR ARTWORK.  UNNECESSARY CURSING, MINIMAL ACTION.  BUT DAMIEN WAS ALIVE.  2/5



HERO…

Oddly, this story is labeled “Hero” in the Table of Contents, it is called “Rain” on its first page.  The art is far superior to the previous vignette.  And it says Five Years Ago.  This is to tell the regular readers that this happened at about the time the Justice League came on the scene in the New 52 Story arc.  It is the shortest story, and the most puzzling.  I like it…but…

Basically, Batman comes in from the Batmobile, swoops down and saves a woman and her child, who then says “Thank you for saving me…again..”  Before Batman can question him about what he said, BOOM, an explosion happens and Batman saves the kid.  The kid is called “Junior” by his mom.  What I can make of this is the kid must be James Gordon, Jr.  But maybe not…He looks like it with those glasses and the way that hair is parted.  But if this is five years ago, it seems the kid couldn’t be James Gordon, Jr.  He looks to be early 20’s?  This kid looks like he’s 11 at the oldest…

WHATEVER….MAYBE I MISSED SOMETHING OR FORGOT SOMETHING SOMEWHERE.  5/5!



THE SACRIFICE…

I am all about sacrificial characters.  So right away, I am pulled into this story.  The first thing we see is The Phantom Stranger, a character fairly new to me, with the whole Pandora/Trinity War/Forever Evil story arc.  Anyways, the Phantom Stranger shows Batman what life would be like if he got his wish…If his parents had lived through their murder.  (If his father was only wounded).

Batman sees several things.  His parents live on and shelter him.  Dick Grayson winds up on Death Row, he is married to Natalya Trusevich (recently killed by the Mad Hatter in The Dark Knight #20, a Russian pianist.  She was tragically dropped onto the Bat-Signal.)  They have a child as well.  And Ras Al Ghul is taking over Europe.

As pleasant as the thought is to Bruce of not losing his parents, he sees that the world lost something more without the Batman.  And in order for Batman to exist, his parents had to be killed.  Such irony.

I like that they brought Natalya back.  All around, not much has been said about Bruce’s grief over the loss of his lover.  It was all around the same time that Damian was killed, so that overshadowed this story.  (That and the fact that the Mad Hatter thing was a little weak).

WE GET TO SEE THE PHANTOM STRANGER, A FUTURE WITHOUT BATMAN, AND WHAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED BETWEEN BRUCE AND NATALYA.  THE ART IS SUBDUED AND MUTED, NOT MY FAVORITE.   SO 4/5.


GOTHTOPIA…

“And all is right in the world”…Catwoman gets to be Batman’s lover,
Batman has a permanent understudy.

Now for the real deal.  This is what would have been printed in Detective Comics #27 if it wasn’t a big extravaganza.  And there has been tons of hype!  And…the final panel of the last Detective Comics story arc featured “Catbird,” the new “Robin,”  not really putting the question of who the next Robin will be to rest, however.  Catbird is Catwoman in a Robin-esque costume.

All the previews prepared us for this.  Gotham is now the safest city in America, bighter and more akin to Metropolis.  And it is a “Utopia” because of Batman and his fellow heroes.  It is furthermore a Utopia because people have what they desire.  The Roman Sionis is Commissioner.  Catwoman is Batman’s lover, and fully knows his identity.  (They are seen together in the bat cave unmasked.)  The Oswald Cobblepot is the mayor.  All of the heroes seem to be brighter.  “Blue Belle and Brightbat” are apparently Batwoman and Bat-Girl.  (Maybe.)  Batwing is now “Flying Fox”.  The Talon is “the Gothamite.”  Birds of Prey are now “Wings of Truth.”

And Batman is redesigned.  He has a lighter colored costume.  It almost looks white!  Really a bright grey.  As the story progresses, we’re not really sure what is happening.  Batman appears to be more of a policeman in this comic, not really fighting crime so much as helping people with tragedy.  And he is unable to explain or save people who are committing suicide, (there is a higher suicide rate than usual.)  Apparently Bruce catches wind that something has changed about him, and Selina and the other Heroes want to stop him from uncovering the truth.  Batman winds up in the asylum with his enemies at the end.

Questions…Should I be buying all relevant issues to “get” this story?  It says I should follow the Gothtopia storyline in Batwing 27, Batgirl 27, Catwoman 27, and Birds of Prey 28.  I haven’t read any of these titles before.  Should I have picked up Batwing last night?  I guess we’ll see.  I haven’t read a single Batwing story.  It does say “next: INSTITUTIONALIZED.”

MY INTEREST IN THIS STORY IS PIQUED.  I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO SEE DETAILS ABOUT BATMAN:ETERNAL.  THIS ISSUE HAS ME A LITTLE PSYCHED.  BUT I AM NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT IS NECESSARY, AND DC HASN’T MADE THAT CLEAR.  I LIKE THE ART AND THE STORY, AND RATE THIS 5/5.


TWENTY-SEVEN…

The final vignette, a future reality.  Batman has clones of himself working as Batman.  He sees an older version of himself tutoring his new clone.  It is apparently 200 years in the future, and Batman is still at work.  We get to see lots of different future Batmen and Robins, and future villains and threats.

THIS IS A COOL STORY, THAT MAKES YOU THINK.  WITH TERRIFIC ARTWORK.  AND IT IS GOOD TO SEE A FUTURE BATMAN.  THIS STORY GETS A 5/5 FOR SHEER COOLNESS!


SpartanNerds overall review of Detective Comics #27…It was all I hoped it would be!  5/5!