I've got just a few before I go see
Shin Kamen Rider, so just enough time for...a random, recent-ish issue of a Bat-title. Sure. From 2017,
Detective Comics #944, "The Victim Syndicate, part two: Payback" Written by James Tynion IV, pencils by Eddy Barrows, inks by Eber Ferreira. Got the variant cover by Rafael Albuquerque.
Boy, this isn't an old comic, but it feels like it's from a while back: this was during a stretch of
'Tec where Bats was running with a pretty full crew: Spoiler, Cassandra Cain as...ugh, "Orphan," Batwing, Batwoman, even a Clayface. Although, I think Red Robin had just recently been written out/allegedly killed. Today they're up against a familiar super-hero tradition: the innocent bystander/victim, now out for revenge...against the hero, as opposed to being sore at the villain they should have a gripe with. Aside from the Victim Syndicate's leader the First Victim, who is left all mysterious here, the others are given brief backstories, mostly to the effect of what villain wrecked their lives: none of them had been seen before, but their little origins all make sense; except they're all mad because they weren't even the targets, Batman was.
Spoiler gets poisoned pretty hard by Poison Ivy survivor Mr. Noxious, which Leslie Thompkins takes as an opportunity to berate Batman that he's doing it wrong: she should have a legitimate point, but comes across as a nag. Also, she gets quite a glow-up here, because was she significantly de-aged in the New 52? Unless something else updated, she was a grown woman when she met Bruce after his parents were shot; but here they look about the same age! Meanwhile, the First Victim visits Spoiler in her hospital bed...I haven't read enough of the rest of this run to say, but Spoiler seems to split writers evenly: some think she's awesome because she perseveres even if she messes up, while others treat her like she's never ever
ever going to ever do anything right and why does she keep getting to do anything? That may sound like hyperbole but I honestly think I'm underselling it.
Also this issue: a surprising amount of ads for DC stuff, even for a DC book. Lot of trades and figures. I did get that DC Collectibles Static Shock figure; but that was about it.
3 comments:
Hmm, interesting concept/gimmick.
Reminds of somewhat similar survivor revenge groups like the one that hired Taskmaster to kill Deadpool in Deadpool kills the Marvel Universe. I think in the Punisher kills the Marvel Universe he has help & funding from survivors of super hero fights.
Also, and I know it’s not even remotely the same thing, but that one revenge group made up of Wolverine’s kids that he totally kills not knowing they’re his kids until the very end.
Mr. Morbid: Jason Aaron did that bit as part of the backstory for Fat Cobra in the Immortal Weapons mini-series. And that it was fighting and killing all these vengeful offspring he'd sired that finally made him a great enough fighter to beat the big dragon/serpent/whatever and become an Immortal Weapon.
I read a bit of that Batgirls series DC has going now (or maybe it's ending) and the writers seemed to put Stephanie in the "enthusiastic, but unskilled" category, where she was constantly the one needing to be rescued by Cassandra or Barbara. It's like, if she can't do anything properly, why is she in the book? Aren't past "designated damsel" characters by now?
Did not know that part Calvin. Thanks for the backstory.
Yeah it seems pre-Flashpoint Stephanie was heading in a good direction as far as character development went, when she became Batgirl, and was making strides to improving & making the role her own. Since then she's regressed, in no fault of her own, but simply bc that seems to be what this current crop of editors & writers want for her.
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