Batman (2016), Vol 1: I am Gotham, illustrated by David Finch and Mikel Janin
Batman saves a little boy and his parents right before they’re killed in the same manner as his own parents, and, in turn, the little boy grows up wanting to be just like Batman. He and his sister become Gotham and Gotham girl and fight crime trying to save the city. Batman isn't sure if he can trust them, so he puts them through some training and tests to see if they're superhero material. Wouldn't it be nice to have Justice League - level superheroes right in Gotham, rather than having to call Superman and Wonder Woman all the time?
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Illustrated by Stephen Byrne
Mera is the princess of Xebel, a kingdom stuck under the thumb of Atlantis. While fighting and demonstrating against the Atlanteans, Mera is also trying to prove that she can rule her kingdom without Larken, the man her father is forcing her to marry. When her father gives Larken a mission to kill the missing Atlantean prince to secure his place on the Xebel throne, Mera decides to take the mission upon herself. But, Arthur turns out to be a nice person, not at all the heartless Atlantean she assumed he would be.
Vol 2: Beast Boy, illustrated by Gabriel Picolo
Gar is struggling during his senior year: he’s short, can’t seem to gain any muscle no matter how much iron he pumps or protein shakes he drinks, and he hasn’t finished any of the things on his bucket list. So on a whim he accepts a dare to eat a Carolina reaper, and the stunt gains him some notoriety and good grace from some of the popular kids. He accepts more ill-conceived dares to ride the wave as long as possible, but some of them don’t turn out so well. Meanwhile, a stranger who knows his parents shows up and sows seeds of doubt in the supplements he's been taking his whole life, but not taking them means strange things start to happen to him.
Vol 3: Dream Country, illustrated by Kelley Jones, Charles Vess, Colleen Doran, and Malcolm Jones III
In this volume, we start to get a sense of Dream’s powers and his role as one of the immortals. In the first story, we meet struggling novelist Ric Madok who trades a bezoar for a muse. She pleads with her sisters to send her Dream, known as Oneiros, to help her escape. Then, we hear of a great dream by a Saimese, wishing to change the world for good if she can only convince other cats what she dreams is real. Next, we the company of Will Shakespeare performing A Midsummer Night’s Dream to the real faefolk who inspired the tale, but its success will have a steep price for the Bard. Lastly, we witness the torture of Rainie, a metamorphae who desperately wants to end her existence but merely transmutes into other substances. She is visited by Death, who isn’t really there for her, but helps her nonetheless.
Vol 2: The Doll's House, illustrated by Steve Parkhouse, Chris Bachalo, Michael Zulli, Mike Dringenberg, Malcolm Jones III
Morpheus continues his quest to set the world right after his realm wreaked havoc during his imprisonment. At the heart of many cruel nightmare creatures is Rose Walker. She is desperately trying to find her little brother, who was taken by her father after her parents separated. Rose's grandmother, Unity, was supposed to be a Dream Vortex, a being who becomes the center of The Dreaming, but she fell into a sleeping sickness around the time Dream was imprisoned, and never became the vortex. This has caused considerable damage to the dreams of humans world-wide, and allowed a lot of Dream's nightmares to escape into the waking world. The vortex trait was passed down through Unity's family to Rose. In her search for her brother, Rose rents a room in a house close to where her brother Jed was living last, and enlists the help of a strange man named Gilbert to help find him. Together, they are able to track down Jed to an abusive aunt and uncle's home. Gilbert and Rose check in to a hotel on the way to rescue Jed, but unbeknownst to them, the hotel is hosting a convention of Serial Killers, and the honored guest is another one of Dream's escaped creations.
Illustrated by Joëlle Jones
This story sets down a new origin story for Kara Danvers, also known as Kara Zor-El, and her life looks an awful lot like another famous Kryptonian. Kara's pod crash lands in a corn field outside Midvale, a farming community somewhere in the United States. Kara is taken in by a couple and raised as their own. Now, Kara's a teenager, battling normal Earth-teenager things like zits and homework, but it's all compounded with her secret powers and trying to figure out who she is. She keeps having this strange dream of people saying goodbye to her. Luckily, she has two amazing best friends, Jen and Dolly, who keep her grounded, even if they don't know about her abilities. Then, at a track meet, a powerful earthquake brings tragedy to Kara's life. Kara must overcome her grief, and figure out her powers, in order to stop a much more sinister plot from destroying her town, and everyone she loves.
Vol 1: Preludes and Nocturnes, illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg, and Malcolm Jones III
A secret society led by a powerful occultist attempts to capture Death in order to gain eternal life, but their ritual goes awry, and they capture Dream (also known as Morpheus), Death's young brother. Fearing retribution, the group decides to keep Morpheus imprisoned, and hands down the stewardship to successive generations. Seventy-some years later, a mishap allows Morpheus to escape, and he gathers the tools of his office, and the key to his power, that were separated upon his capture before he is able to exact his revenge on the progeny of his jailers.
Illustrated by Gretel Lusky
Ashley is a foster kid who has bounced around houses because she hasn't quite found the family for her, and it could also be because she likes to sneak out in the middle of the night to create graffiti art masterpieces. Then, she meets Yuka and Kitch Nolan, a couple who might just be the perfect fit for Ashley. Yuka is a research scientist who is also a huge football fan, like Ashley, and Kitch is an artist who wants to inspire Ashley to express herself in legal ways. One day, Ashley finds the products of Yuka's experiments - body paints that imbue the wearer with super powers! Of course she has to experiment with them and see what wonderful combinations she can make! But the military want their investment back, and they send a ruthless soldier after the paints. Ashley is put to the test, emotionally and superhero-ly.
Illustrated by Gurihiru
Set in 1946, the Lee family moves into a nice neighborhood of Metropolis from the city’s Chinatown. The son, Tommy, quickly joins the neighborhood baseball team. The presence of the Lees and Tommy's baseball spot sparks involvement from a local chapter of the Klan of the Fiery Cross. The Klan first demonstrates on the lawn of their home, then proceeds to target the Lee children, Tommy and Roberta (their Americanized names). Superman ends up saving the the children several times over. Roberta first notices that Superman may be holding back, and has other powers he's not using. Superman has to come to terms with himself as an immigrant and embrace some of the abilities he has suppressed his whole life in fear of social ostracization.
Illustrated by Jim Lee, Scott Williams, colored by Alex Sinclair, lettered by Richard Starkings
With a star-studded cast, Loeb creates a true murder-mystery for Batman to solve. Batman's greatest villains keep popping up, and most are acting out of character. Poison Ivy and Catwoman thwart a plot by Killer Croc, who isn't usually in the business of kidnapping and ransoming children. Harley Quinn robs an opera Bruce attends, and runs to the waiting arms of the Joker, who sits over a murdered patron, but has no idea how the bloke was murdered. Clayface and The Scarecrow play games with Bruce's fear of losing another Robin. Ra's al Ghul and his daughter might be involved. Is a reformed Harvey Dent here to help Batman or hinder him? And behind it all is a criminal mastermind manipulating Gotham and Metropolis' most wanted. At the end of the day, who is Hush? |
About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this siteRatings, Audience, and Subject Tags
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