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Solomon Grundy 1 was one of the first comics that I reviewed on the site, and since then I have more or less ignored the title. It was still on my pull list throughout the past months and I have been reading it, but it unfortunately fell along the wayside as the events of Battle for the Cowl and the Blackest Night preludes unfolded. So once again, I am shamelessly combining my reviews of the second, third, and fourth issues of Solomon Grundy.

In its own right, Solomon Grundy is just as much of a prelude to Blackest Night as any Green Lantern title, in that the events that unfold here will do so and conclude before Blackest Night is in full swing. The premise is that the tragic villain must learn the details of his own murder, find his killer, and forgive him or her before the dusk of the Blackest Night. Being a dead man, Solomon might not fare well when the Black Lanterns start recruiting.

As far as I know, Solomon Grundy has always been a second tier villain in the DC Universe. He’s the type of villain that I like to see as part of a team, but would probably never constitute a large enough threat to any major hero to worry me too much. In the Solomon Grundy series, we see him as that major threat, but also as several other things. We see that he was murdered in the nineteenth century and that his place of burial was cursed by the blood of a demon felled several ages ago. For the most part, he is probably quite misunderstood by the heroes of the DCU in that he most likely has no evil intentions in any of his actions. Better yet, he doesn’t seem to have much of any intention in anything that he does. Up until this series, his modus operandi has been to steer clear of society and live (kinda) a solitary “life”.

Now Grundy has been given the opportunity to finally die and stay dead. I suppose that someone who has apparently died and resurrected on a weekly basis for longer than a century might find the thought of staying dead pretty alluring. Unfortunately, such a permanent slumber isn’t going to come easily.

By only the second issue, our Solomon Grundy finds himself in both an explosive and ironic battle with Bizarro (he just wants to be friends!). I have to say, once I saw that cover I was hooked on this Solomon Grundy for the long haul. A battle between two of the most brutal yet sweetest villains in the DCU just can’t be anything other than pure fun, which it absolutely was.
With the next issue, the great Scott Kollins gave us Grundy versus Poison Ivy. So far, I think this third issue is the weakest of the bunch, but it was still great and provided several important plot points to move the story along.

Lastly (so far, at least) there is Grundy versus Alan Scott as Green Lantern. This one was probably the most enjoyable read in the series thus far for me. In that situation, it was hard for me to decide who to root for. Scott Kollins really does some great work exploring the grey areas of humanity as far as which violent actions we can morally justify and where we draw the line with someone we wish to think of as a hero (at least in the context of this miniseries).

Speaking of Scott Kollins, wow! It is difficult to believe that he is pulling all of this off on his own for the most part. The colorist, Michael Atiyeh, really does some amazing work. He and Kollins really make the art entrancing. On top of the writing and pencil work, Kollins is also creating the magnificent covers. Bravo!

If you have the extra bucks, you should really consider this series in your next trip to the comic shop. When I say it could be thought of as a prelude to Blackest night, I am not saying that I believe the information is going to be essential when the event rolls around, but I do think this series is a good look at how it can effect some of the other characters in the DCU that won’t be playing major roles in the latter half of this summer.

(4/5)

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So it has been a couple of weeks now since I have posted anything here on ACBR, so first let me apologize for my hiatus. Sorry. Now that all of that is out of the way, let’s quickly think about how much has been going on since I have been gone. Today, Detective Comics was released starring Batwoman rather than Batman, Last week, Tim Drake hit the streets in Europe as the brand new Red Robin, Paul Dini has introduced us to two new titles with Batman: Streets of Gotham and Gotham City Sirens, and the new Batman has taken over the title with the same name. So all of that has taken place just over the past few weeks. So as my first review after the hiatus, you might think that I would want to tackle one of those right away.

But by now you have seen the title of this review and noticed that I have decided to start with the slightly more obscure Outsiders. Now the Outsiders are largely a part of the new Bat Family, but many of us may have looked over them lately as all of these new and exciting things have been happening in Gotham lately. Don’t let the fact that “Batman” has been removed from the title cause you to assume that it does not belong in your weekly or monthly list of “must-buys”. Outsiders just may be the best and yet most overlook-able title in production since the end of Final Crisis.

Now I admit that I have let the Outsiders slip below the radar for quite awhile now, but not for a second longer. I am writing this review of the last three issues together just to catch up as quickly as possible and let anyone who is reading this know just how good it is with the least amount of elapsed time.

Tomasi has really produced some entertainment gold here. In a way, I am really glad I let these issue sit around unread so long because if I wasn’t able to read these three issues in a row, I might have lost my mind. The last pages of issues 17 and 18 were so exciting that I nearly ripped the next issue in a rush to find out what happened next. Other than that, there are tons of really neat moments in each and every issue. For the forty-five minutes or so that it took me to read these three issues, I wasn’t bored for a millisecond.

Another thing that Peter Tomasi has done really well with the Outsiders is show us why each and every Outsider is essential without shoving it in our faces. Each member of the team gets a chance to show off their individual talents by taking care of a problem that all of the other member working together might have struggled with. My personal favorite was the Creeper taking care of some intruders to the Haven in issue 19.

But don’t think that the title characters are stealing the show here. While Alfred Pennyworth gets plenty of chances to kick some ass, the villains are the one who are getting me from page to page. This is probably one of the most exciting story arcs in terms of villain team-ups since Batman: Hush. I really want to, but I just decided that I won’t tell you anything and let you find out. There’s at least one more issue left in this arc, so I’ll fill you in when that comes out if you absolutely insist on not buying these.

The art is just as amazing as it was when Tomasi and Garbett started this arc back with issue 15. (Fernando Pasarin and Jeremy Haun took over the pencils with issue 19, but it still looks great.) My favorite sequences are those that take place on the street against a villain that I will leave nameless. Don’t worry, Pasarin and Huan dont drop the ball at all.

I cannot stress enough that issues 15 through 20 absolutely must be on your must-buy list the next time you hit the comic book shop. Sure they probably won’t be collectors items any time soon, but remember that the reason we buy comics in the short run is to have fun and read an awesome story. That is exactly what you are getting here.

(4.5/5)

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The last issue of Secret Six that I reviewed was a little out of the ordinary (for Secret Six at least) in that it was a bit of a chick-flick of an issue. This one also breaks out of the Secret Six norm to give us a story that ties into the whole Battle for the Cowl event that just ended. Here three of the six (Catman, Bane, and Ragdoll) patrol Gotham in the absence of the Dark Knight and spend one night being good guys out of respect for their formidable adversary.

Some of the things that are fun about a comic book written by Gail Simone are the same reasons that many of us like a good Quentin Tarantino movie. In the case of Secret Six, our protagonists have questionable moralities and they know it. For the most part, they aren’t living in a fantasy world in which they are able to justify everything that they do. They are satisfied with letting the end justify the means, and Gail Simone can write these characters in a way that we will root for them even though you might normally hate a character like that (Jason Todd for example).

Secondly, Gail Simone is a master of dialogue. Her characters have realistic conversation that steadies the pace of the action and keeps us entertained at the same. Her characters can be dramatic, emotional, funny, and nihilistic all at once; and still give the reader the feeling that this is a real conversation and not some ambitious attempt at portraying insanity.

Imagine the duality that takes place in this issue. Three unsavory baddies are attempting to fill the void left by Batman despite the fact that they all claim not to be. Catman, if any of them, would be the most likely candidate for the position. Hell, he even kind of dresses like him. But, as you will discover, he has his own issues to work out before he can even consider taking a role amongst the Gotham family of heroes. Ragdoll will flat out tell you he wants to be Robin, but I think the DCU has a long way to go before they start to accept hermaphroditic sex freaks as their favorite sidekick. Bane is the biggest conundrum. Remember the last time that Bruce Wayne was out for the count? Well, Bane was responsible for that. Suffice it to say that the more dreadful of conflicts that our “heroes” must face in this issue are internal ones.

Nicola Scott is still doing the artwork for the title, and I still think he is the right fit. Like the writing, his art has the capability of displaying drama, silliness, violence, gore, and fun without changing the look from frame to frame. This issue is another stand-alone story; which is thoroughly fun, but ultimately not as engrossing as multi-issue arc. Look forward to issue 10 which starts a new story arc, The Depths.

(3.5/5)

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A new cover of Detective Comics 857 was released over at the DC Source blog today. This one will be released in September. I may not be too excited by a Detective Comics book not starring Bruce Wayne, but I’m sure I’ll get over that. Look at this cover! It looks pretty dope! Artwork is by the great J.H. Williams.

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The DCU source released a preview of Batman: Streets of Gotham today, and let me just say it looks awesome! I am a huge fan of Dustin Nguyen’s work as an artist, and I think just about everyone loves a good Paul Dini Batman story. I for one, loved the Heart of Hush story that they worked on together, so obviously I am really excited about this new series. Check it out!

“There’s a new Batman patrolling the streets of Gotham City — how do the police, criminals and Joe Citizen react? How do the denizens of Gotham City feel about the new vigilante? Can he control the criminal element as effectively as Bruce Wayne?” -Alex Segura, DCUblog.com

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