Tag Jorge Jimenez

A Batman #133 Micro-Review – Alfred With a Sword?

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman 133, cover, March 2023, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #133
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Mike Hawthorne, Adriano Di Benedetto (Inker), Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer), Miguel Mendona, Roman Stevens (Colorist). Cover by Jorge Jimenez.
RELEASED: March 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Does Alfred have a sword on that cover? Uh, why? I mean, he doesn’t wield a sword in the issue…

I go hot and cold on this  “The Bat-Man of Gotham” story. Some months I’m into it, some months I’m not. The art is fine. But from a story perspective, I’m waiting for something to really pique my interest, and thus far I haven’t seen it.

I found myself wishing the Tim Drake back-up got a little more page time. Or at least this segment of the story with Toyman.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nemesis: Reloaded #2 Micro-Review – Dead Cops and Feces

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nemesis Reloaded 2, cover, February 2023, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Nemesis: Reloaded #2
AUTHOR: Mark Millar
ARTISTS:  Jorge Jimenez, Giovanna Niro (Colorist), Clem Robins (Letterer)
RELEASED: February 15, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue contains dead cops, and a ring of human feces where an expensive necklace should be. So, yeah. There’s that…

An ad for the original Nemesis story famously asked: “What if Batman was the Joker?” It’s interesting to me how apt that little elevator pitch is. Because, like, the Joker, the things Nemesis does are horrible, and in some cases downright disgusting. But there’s also a dimension to him that’s morbidly humorous. A small part of us that we don’t want to acknowledge is laughing with him.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #132 Micro-Review – “In Any World, I Love Her”

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman 132, cover, February 2023, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #132
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Mike Hawthorne, Adriano Di Benedetto (Inker), Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer). Cover by Jorge Jimenez.
RELEASED: February 7, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I don’t necessarily notice this kind of thing often. But that red dress Selina’s wearing in this issue? Killer.

Bruce has a great line about her, too. He’s in an alternate universe, and sees this alternate version of Selina. He thinks to himself, “In any world, I love her.” Beautiful.

I’m starting to get into one of the central ideas of this “The Bat-Man of Gotham” story: An older Bruce Wayne forming his Batman identity again with all his memories from his old life intact. To an extent, he’s getting a chance to start over as Batman. I’m intrigued.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Nemesis: Reloaded #1 Micro-Review – Recapturing the Vibe

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Nemesis Reloaded 1, cover, January 2023, Jorge Jimenez, Giovanna NiroTITLE: Nemesis: Reloaded #1
AUTHOR: Mark Millar
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Giovanna Niro (Colorist), Clem Robins (Letterer)
RELEASED: January 11, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

In my 20 years of reading monthly comic books, Nemesis is one of the few characters I’ve come across that really makes me nervous. As in, what horrible and disturbing thing is this guy going to do next? It’s a tribute to Millar’s twisted genius that he keeps coming up with such truly awful things to do to other human beings. This character is like the personification of a Saw movie.

That’s all to say that this issue definitely recaptures the vibe of the first one. Somehow, I just can’t look away.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #131 Micro-Review – The Tim Drake Renaissance

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman, 131, cover, January 2023, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #131
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Mike Hawthorne, Miguel Mendonca, Ariano Di Benedetto (Inker), Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Roman Stevens (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer). Cover by Jorge Jimenez.
RELEASED: January 3, 2023

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Zdarsky’s “The Bat-Man of Gotham” storyline isn’t going much for me thus far. But I eventually came around on his previous story, “Failsafe.” So I’m hopeful that will change.

I’m partial to this issue’s back-up, which sees Tim Drake commence his hunt for the missing Batman. Granted, it treads some ground we already covered more than a decade ago. But still, between the revelation about his sexuality, his new ongoing series, and him getting this spotlight in Batman, I’m digging this Tim Drake renaissance we’re having.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #130 Micro-Review – When Batman Fell to Earth

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman 130, cover, December 2022, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #130
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Leonardo Romero, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

RELEASED: December 6, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

This issue kicks off with one of the more dramatic examples of comic book science I’ve seen in recent memory: Batman falling to Earth from the moon. As in, he survives a fast and fiery entry into Earth’s atmosphere wearing nothing but the Batsuit and a breathmask. Offensive? Not necessarily. But enough to take me out of the issue.

On the other hand, Zdarsky’s “I Am a Gun” back-up ends on a fantastic note. Now that is how you stick a landing, folks.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #129 Micro-Review – Man Against Machine

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman 129, cover, 2022, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #129
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Leonardo Romero, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist) Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

RELEASED: November 1, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I was a little more into Chip Zdarsky’s “Failsafe” story this month. I think that’s because we’ve gotten to the point in the story where it’s just Batman against this killer robot. All the various sidekicks, apprentices, and Justice Leaguers are neutralized.  It’s strictly man against machine now.

But the “I Am a Gun” back-up feature continues to outshine the main story as far as I’m concerned. I’m not a huge fan of how the Joker is drawn on these pages. But other than that, it’s gotten very interesting very quickly.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #128 Micro-Review – Zur-En-Arrh: Year One?

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

Batman 128, cover, 2022, Jorge JimenezTITLE: Batman #128
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Leonardo Romero, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Jordie Bellaire (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)

RELEASED: October 4, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Since he took the wheel on Batman, Chip Zdarsky’s back-up stories have been particularly strong. So much so that I’ve actually enjoyed them more than the main features. For the last few months we had a tale centered around Catwoman. This month begins “I Am a Gun,” which takes us back to the origin of the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh.

Leonardo Romero and Jordie Bellaire’s art is what really make it stand out for me. It reminds me quite a bit of what Robin: Year One and Batgirl: Year One looked like. That’s to say, it’s great work.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #127 Micro-Review – “He’s My Son!”

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Batman #127
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTISTS: Jorge Jimenez, Belen Ortega, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Luis Guerrero (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)
RELEASED: September 6, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The early portion of this issue directly references both JLA: Tower of Babel and Batman: R.I.P. Fanboy cred points to Zdarsky for that.

The Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is in this issue. On the subject of R.I.P., I remember how confused I was when that story showed me this version of Batman. Thankfully, Zdarsky does a pretty good job of explaining the concept to new readers.

There’s a nice moment in here where Bruce Wayne loudly asserts that Tim Drake isn’t just his soldier, he’s his son.

Incidentally, Jimenez draws a damn good Superman.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

A Batman #126 Micro-Review – More Robots

Rob Siebert Leave a comment

***This is where we keep it nice and simple. Comic book reviews in 100 words or less. Straight, concise, and to the point.***

TITLE: Batman #126
AUTHOR: Chip Zdarsky
ARTIST: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey (Colorist), Clayton Cowles (Letterer)
RELEASED: August 2, 2022

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Batman fights a new robotic villain called Failsafe in this issue, and gets a lot of help from his extended “family.” The combination of those two elements, plus the fact that Jimenez and Morey are still on Batman, made this issue feel like an extension of James Tynion IV’s “Fear State.” After all that, I’d kind of had my fill of Batman fighting robots for awhile. So hopefully we don’t spend an immense amount of time doing that again.

On the flip side I find the Executor, a robotic character we meet in Zdarsky’s Catwoman back-up, utterly charming.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.