Tom King got the title all to himself this issue, and it shines through the entire time. Batman #1 is a huge improvement over Batman: Rebirth as far as clear roles of each character and story strength. King’s got his beautiful story all lined up for us. Even though it doesn’t feel quite as gothic and novel as Snyder’s first Batman issue that launched Court of Owls, it will go down as a classic in the years to come if he keeps the momentum up in the next four issues of his first story arc.

King demonstrated a deep understanding of Batman, Alfred, Gotham, and Robin without shoving it down our throats in hundreds of words the way Scott Snyder might do from time to time with his boxes upon boxes distancing themselves from the story to tell us things we’re supposed to glean from dialogue and the characters’ actions, which were wacky anyway—Jim Gordon as Batman? What? Anyway, suffice it to say that King avoided pulling a “Gotham is” introduction and stuck to the characters and let them speak for themselves. This provided some truly heartbreaking moments towards the end: “Is this a good death?” As Frank Miller would say, “A good death? There’s no such thing. Although the way events were playing out even I was starting to believe that Batman had run into a good death.

King gave us great characterization, a wonderful story starter, and a really freaking cool  new Batmobile. Call me old fashioned but it’s glorious. He also set up the answer to the two month old question: who is this Gotham guy, and his tagalong Gotham girl? Hopefully we’ll find out on July 6 when Batman 2 drops.

Once again, Duke as Robin didn’t have much of a role besides helping Batman with the calculations needed to make the jump onto the plane, but I’m looking forward to seeing some of his training and getting the kid in action. With Damian Wayne out of the way in his own books for the time being (thank goodness) I think it’s high time Bruce trained a new guy.

In conclusion, I’m absolutely on board for King’s run after this issue, and looking forward to more of what I read there. I definitely recommend reading Batman #1 and jumping on the series if you haven’t already—it’s better than it’s been and you don’t have to read Batman Rebirth to start following along! It was a near perfect issue in my book.

9.5/10

By John McGee

Thanks to Diana from Team Coco with the heads up of Conan showing off some New Pop Vinyl Figures in this hilarious clip! Check it out below.

Batman Rebirth

Tom King made his partial Batman debut this month with the issue focused on revitalizing Batman for the future—particularly King’s run. But this issue was also a send off of sorts for Scott Snyder, who had obvious influence over some portions.

The issue was short but sweet, delivering not only a thrilling revitalization of Batman, but one of his least worthy foes, the Calendar Man. Instead of whimpering around about days of the year he can now literally die and shed his skin for a new one each “season” of his life, which makes him a nigh unstoppable foe. How else do you handle a guy who can do that without straight up murdering him? Arkham it is. Scott Snyder was great at creating new Batman villains, but his weakest stories were the ones where he handled previously established villains like Riddler and Joker.

Now, the weaker points of this issue were the lack of tying in to the actual Rebirth issue from May, and trying to send off Scott Snyder at the same time they tried to push Batman forward for Tom King’s run. There was no indication of what happened in DC: Rebirth #1, despite the cliffhanger of an ending featuring Batman himself! He seemed to be playing through the events of Batman Rebirth before DC: Rebirth #1 or he simply took a break.

Also the issue seemed to needlessly show off at times with Bruce doing pull ups on the edge of his skyscraper. As awesome as that is, he’s doing it in 100 degree weather in broad daylight. Sure, his back was facing the water, and no one could really see him and snap a photo, but that doesn’t make it helpful to us at all when we’re trying to get introduced to Tom King and Scott Snyder is giving himself a big slam bang finish.

However, the art was gorgeous and the story was solid. Batman has his company back, a new Robin, beat a new and improved Calendar Man, and got us all excited for the great Gotham battle that’s coming up tomorrow, even though we didn’t get to see much come straight out of DC’s Rebirth cliffhanger.

8/10

By

John McGee

Thanks to our friends over at Supergirl Radio they have just informed us that they will be doing some amazing charitable work coming up on June 11 in conjunction with The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. Supergirl radio was so kind and asked us to help spread the word on their great cause to aid in finding a cure for all spinal cord injuries. We at Shanlian On Batman are truly blown away by this invitation and will do anything and everything to help aid our podcast friends. Below, is the official press release from Rebecca Johnson. So if you have any questions feel free to reach out to us or reach out to Rebecca and make sure that do your part and help in anyway that you can for this wonderful cause. If you are looking to reach out to her on Twitter you can find her on Twitter @derbykid or you can simply drop her an email supergirlradio@gmail.com.

Official Press Release:

Tuesday, May 31, 2016 – The DC TV Podcasting Network is teaming up with the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to help cure spinal cord ailments on Saturday, June 11, 2016.

Since tomorrow is Batman’s “Rebirth” lets take a look at last weeks first issue of the new comic written by Geoff Johns and reviewed by Shanlian On Batman’s own John McGee

DC Universe: Rebirth Review

Geoff Johns is a busy man. Recently promoted as an overseer of the DC Films studio, he is now helping to guide the films into a new era. But it all started, arguably, with Rebirth. In his grand epic farewell, Johns is taking a hiatus from comics to focus on the DC departments that perhaps need him more. He couldn’t have left on a higher note.

In Rebirth #1, we begin to learn secrets that we only dreamed of. Why is the New 52 universe the way it is? How do these universes keep changing? Who is the Joker? Who is watching us?

These questions will be answered over time. In Rebirth #1, Johns aims at bringing back the speedsters who play a large hand in these events due to their ability to break the dimensional barriers. Wally West is trying to figure out the universe and reestablish what was lost. This isn’t a full on continuity wipe. This is a status quo going forward into the future. Hope has returned to the DC Universe, but we need to crack the code of continuity in order to get there.

I’m not going to spoil much about the issue, because I truly believe to get the best surprises out of it, you have to read it for yourself. But I will highly recommend it. The art is fantastic, the team really delivered. Unlike last year’s Convergence, this event looks to change what tone the books carry and establish more of a kinetic bond between each book in the universe. 66 pages of story and art for 2.99, you can’t beat that price. This issue is not only highly collectible, but a must read for fans of DC’s best works: Sandman, Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen. Geoff Johns plans out revelations, hope, stories and characters we all miss. So you can’t miss out on this.

After reading the issue, I found not only excitement for the future but tear-jerking call backs to the beautiful history of DC Comics. Nostalgia and youthfulness meet in these 60+ pages, and there are four more issues to go if my calculations are correct. After Rebirth, there are rebirths for individual characters, such as Batman Rebirth #1 in order to slide readers into this new status quo more easily. After finishing the Rebirth event I highly recommend staying on board, as these books don’t show any signs of stopping what Johns started.

The art is beautiful, the story is there but there are more than a couple toss-ins that set up their books for the rest of the year and beyond, so you may need to Google some of these references. The surprises are magnificent though. A story just reared its head in the Batcave that we’ve never even imagined possible before now…

Rebirth #1 Score: 9.4/10

So what did you think of Rebirth? Are you excited for the new titles that are about to make it out tomorrow? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.

Here it is! Episode 63 is live and on this weeks show we talk about the DC Film Slate going forward. What do we think of the solo Harley Quinn film being planned, the alleged early screenings for Suicide Squad, and finally the MAIN EVENT Geoff Johns being promoted as the head honcho of DC Films. Strap yourself in and get ready for an amazing episode of Shanlian On Batman.

Ever since voices on the Internet discovered they can be louder than others, people have fought for the short attention spans of millions of clickers. When it comes to the lock and key entertainment industry, the main thing “journalists” thrive off of is guesswork. Information leaks. It happens; however, it would have to happen from inside the operation. A trigger happy Marvel executive posted the first Age of Ultron trailer on YouTube last year, it’s not like Joe Schmoe had a spy on the inside who got the trailer and ran away slow motion while the building exploded.

What’s happening to the comic book movie genre right now is a little case of Coke vs Pepsi, Steelers vs Ravens, Yankees vs Red Sox, Orange vs Apples. It’s brand loyalty, or often just character loyalty. Rabid fans think that others should fail and theirs should succeed just because their opinion is on one side rather than the other or multiple sides. And then there are the average folks who are simply fans of the movies and never got into comics. Lots of these guys and gals think that there’s a need to proclaim one company superior. Unfortunately to do so they look at Rotten Tomatoes, box office totals, and then hop on Twitter to tell the world how smart they are. I’ve seen lots of comments from people who know almost nothing about Batman or Superman except seeing their pictures on lunchboxes trashing Batman v Superman MONTHS before it came out. It’s not a healthy environment for the loyal comic fans who want to see their worlds on screen, nor is it healthy for general audience members to get the impression that comic books are a source of nothing but unattractive controversy, like discussing politics or something. The average moviegoer wants to believe in the superhero movies, not be told which ones they should or should not watch. The flame wars are petty and ridiculous.

Which leads me back to my main point. One of the biggest fuels to this fire are the guessmaster Internet journalists who provide “scoops” into upcoming superhero films, which usually don’t turn out to be true. They live the cycle of denial—they make a statement that their “sources” brought them, such as Devin Faraci’s claim that Jim Gordon was already dead in the DC Universe, and then they deny their own words and play a victim card when people call them out for being wrong. Devin Faraci has been proven to be biased towards Marvel. He is wholly a DC film hater. That’s ok to have your own opinion, but pretending to have sources inside Warner Bros, and ALWAYS making up negative rumors about DC’s films, is NOT ok. But he still gets away with it because undeniably he does hold a strong place in film critique. He just shouldn’t be reviewing and “reporting” on the films he hates, because that’s not fair to DC fans nor is it fair to general readers who take his words seriously. Most of what he reports are rumors that he guesses up. The media needs to take a step back and learn the difference between fact and fiction. Faraci has never once proven his sources or his information. He correctly guessed Doomsday (conveniently after the info leaked on Instagram by one of the villain’s animation artists)  but anyone can be good at guessing. Don’t get me wrong; he’s not the only one out there. But he’s the best example of the biased journalist that people take too seriously. He’s actually fueling the fire by sporting this obvious animosity towards DC films, and manipulating his followers and others into this hate bandwagon, but the minute any DC fans say, “Hey, Faraci, are your sources even real? You’ve never really given me reason to believe them.” At that point he’ll probably shout “troll!” and either ban you from commenting on his website or communicating with him on Twitter. It’s a childish cycle of anger that goes around and around, journalists trying to get clicks and attention, and fighting or hiding from anyone who calls them out or disagrees. It’s a toxic environment, because these grown men, film critics, are playing the 8 year old “mine’s better! No, mine!” argument. There’s nothing wrong with a healthy, kind opinion debate. But that’s not what goes around on the internet. It’s mostly forceful, loud speech or just pure, awful hatred.

So unless an article explicitly states that it comes from Warner Bros or Disney, or whatever company is keeping these films alive for us, don’t believe it. It’s that simple. It’s only manipulation or just attempts to get your attention that aren’t worth the time. I understand hunger for information. For some reason, people are so desperate to hear everything about their movie before it’s through the pipeline. Just don’t believe the rumors, and don’t take the journalists seriously. They don’t have real sources. The day will come when these films will probably die. Let’s not make that day soon due to vitriol and war. Let’s celebrate ALL superhero films, TOGETHER. They are all special. I have a dream where Iron Man can stand side-by-side with Batman on film. I have a dream where Superman AND Spider-Man visit the sick child who wants to see his heroes. Not hatred and nasty judgement or championing a victor.

John McGee