RETURN of BRUCE WAYNE (2010) mini: Information accumulation

Diving into Grant Morrison's mind.

{ SPOILERS for THESE BOOKS} 

This is not a review of the book, and not a retelling of the story. It's just bits and pieces of interesting information that I'm accumulating from various sites into one spot. 

I've tried to put the relevant information under the character's name or under the Subject in Blue.

[I originally started this post as the story was being unfolded before me and the issues became published. I've deleted a few things since then and it has a LOT of SPOILERS if you haven't read it yet, but like Morrison's story it kinda can't be put together until you do read it all. I thought about deleting this but there are a lot of elements that I might reference in the future, so I decided to leave it.]

OKAY.... ARE YOU STRAPPED IN.....Make those knots tight, because  HERE WE GO....

Bruce Wayne: The original Batman,

-Why is he time-jumping from one era to another?

Could he be called from one time period to another?

We see in Final Crisis that Bruce gets shot by Darkseid's Omega Effect and it is confirmed in issue 3, but what is it really doing? We still don't know.

Issue 5: Red Robin says that Bruce accumulates Omega Energy as he travels through time and doing so will blow a Hole in Time.

-His clothes that he is wearing travels with him through time travel with him.


-A Red Sun eclipse causes Bruce to move through time, but in the end he uses human ingenuity to jump to the end of time.

Annie:Issue 2:

-She has a set of  three necklaces each with what looks like a symbols of Wonder Woman, Superman.
-She referred to the Bat-People, the Miagani.

-She curses the Nathaniel Wayne and all his kin, "Until the end of time." Did she curse Bruce and is why he is going through this journey? Was she really a witch?



BELLS(music):

 Issue 4: While in a trance Catherine says,"Gran'Pa Jerome says... A Dark God is opening his box and there's bells...but the bells of the end summon another...from the shadows...One who won't stop until the wicked are brought to account. Grand'Pa Jerome Says he's here now." Later...She also whistles to open the casket(see below)

FINAL CRISIS #7: Superman says to Darkseid before he is destroyed, "The worlds of the multiverse vibrate together Darkseid, and make this sound, like an orchestra. Everything's just vibrations, really.  And counter vibrations that cancel them out."  

BATMAN  702 : The Ancestor Box makes the sound DOMMMDOMMMDOMMM. This may be the cause of the sound that they are referring too.

Issue 5:Wonder Woman says, "What's that sound? Like Bells... 
Then the Bruce as the Archivist pups out of the time bubble he stole.

(The) BLACK PIRATE

Issue 3: Bruce is accused by Blackbeard of being The Black Pirate.

The Black Pirate debued in Action comics #23 and was a regular backstory for several issues. 

History in Starman #31:writer James Robinson: 

Jon Valor: aka Black Pirate(first): was a Privateer for England and he wore a black mask, so the Spanish called him The Black Pirate.  When the war with Spain ended, he married, and had a son, named Justin. At some point he thought his son died and he gave up being a privateer for many years.  Then the King called him back to service, because there were "Brigands" raiding English ships.  Jon caught, and fought, the brigands chief, only to find out that the chief was his long dead son Justin who was still alive. Justin was a Puritan taking booty to fund more of those in his faith coming to the Americas. They part friends.

Then a couple of years later Jon receives a letter that Justin was in danger. He gathers a crew to help and he comes to a small settlement, the future Opal city.  He was met by a man named Cob Dunning, who set up a meeting in a tavern later.   When Jon Valor arrived at the tavern, he finds his son stabbed in the back with his own dagger, and he was arrested. The trial was swift and Jon Valor was hung for his sons murder.  Fearful of their own crimes, the crew sailed away on the night of the arrest.  Before he is hung he makes a curse:

"I shall walk the berg until the truth, and my innocence, are both, to light. You shall see me in the flicker of candlelight. You shall hear my boots, and the creak of their footfall. And as you die, so you all will walk with me. Through the streets and dales of the land around. None to know peace until I share it with you. Nor my bastard crew who shall sail as laughing fools this day. They'll not laugh the merry hog when death and no heareafter is their tomorrow. That is my curse. Pray to God. Drop to your knees and pray that my words are merely that and nothing more. Pray. But I shall see you all again. Some sooner than you like. "

When the Black Pirate is hung in Starman issue 31, there are people dressed in puritan garb watching him being hanged.

By the end of the Starman series the truth is found out and his ghost is set free.

At some point in Action comics  the Black Pirate got rid of the Black costume, and started wearing a more colorful costume with a purple cape.

Issue 3

Black Pirate Jack Valor:  

aka Jack Loggins: aka BlackPirate(second)

- Jon Valor's grandson and captain of the Black Rose which was on fire in Bristol bay.  

-Later in life, he wrote down the names and places as he promised Bruce and took them to Gotham Town

-There he met a wealthy brother and sister who had a casket with a old book and another mysterious object in it.

CASKET:

Issue 3: A flat wooden box with a bat on the top. Contains Jack Valor's papers, VanDerm's Journal, and something else. Last seen with a Wealthy Brother and sister in Gotham Town.

Issue 4: The casket opens with a whistle from Catherine. Bruce takes the Journal and maybe Jack Valor's papers. Catherine requests Alan to, "Keep it safe and mark it with a bat. He must return."

Batman 702: Could the extra something that everyone is afraid of be the Ancestor Box.

Issue 5: Could everyone be afraid of the TimeBox that Carter made, could it be what is in the casket?

DARKSEID

Darkseid started Bruce's travels. His death is pictured to the right(Final Crisis 6 and 7).

Monitor Uotan said to the Circle of Monitors, ".Well.. Now we know why there's a Black Hoe at the base of creation.  It's where Darkseid fell through existence to his Doom. Leaving Hell Deserted."

Batman 701-702: Retells what happened in the confrontation between Darkseid and Batman/Bruce.

It also added the Hyper Adapter which looks like the Hyperfauna from Issue 2.  The Hyper Adapter was to chase and destroy Bruce.

 

Music/sound/vibrations destroyed Darkseid.

Anne, from issue 2, said that her gods are not their gods and, "My devils are the old lords of the land and the sky. Gods of the wheel of time and the never-ending world. and all the spaces beyond."  Why does she refer to time as a wheel? Could it be the sphere that Rip Hunter uses when he time travels?

DECOY:
Didn't have a part in this story after all...but I'm leaving it here just for future reference.

Duplicate body of Bruce perhaps one of the clones that he was connected to through Lump and the Machine in Batman #683. Used by Darkseid and placed for Superman to find.

In Batman and Robin #9 (panel to the left) the clone was resurrected via Lazerous pitt. His mind wasn't whole, "....Bones cracking like Glass. Born ded. Born frum a Brokn jar." because of the experiment.

Also something went wrong. His "Bud. Tainted. Sour Blud."

After a fight he keeled over dead. After saying,
"I'm wot U wot U will B."

HYPERFAUNA/ Hyper Adapter (Batman 702):

Issue 2:

-The Squid/Hyperfauna could be the monster at the bottom of the well in Batman and Robin #12.

-Cthulhiod is a term being used by other posters for the Hyperfauna.

This term has been over used, from describing Doctor Zoidberg to the god awful looking snack(on your left), so could cause confusion and is not in the actual text of these issues.

Batman 702: After shooting Bruce with the Omega Sanction he releases the Hyper-Adapter from the Ancestor Box. 

BUT to help the understanding of the term Cthulhu, when you see it elsewhere, here is Wiki:

PER WIKI-Cthulhu

Cthulhu  is a cosmic entity created by horror author H. P. Lovecraft, in 1926. It is one of the central Great Old Ones of the Lovecraft Mythos. It is often cited for the extreme descriptions given of its hideous appearance, its gargantuan size, and the abject terror that it evokes. Cthulhu is often referred to in science fiction and Fantasy(genre)circles as a Tongue-in-cheek Shorthand for extreme horror or evil.

JONAH HEX:

Issue 3: Hired to track down and kill a stranger. The stranger is seen wearing black clothes and in a black mask who uses Baterangs. Hmmm....who could that be?

-Hex also had a poker hand called "Deadmans Hand.", two aces and two eights(all black suit) laid out on a table. He also has the joker as the "kicker" (the fifth card of the poker hand usually left turned over)

-In DC Universe 0 (beginning of Final Crisis Crossover event):The character Joker has a Deadmans hand(eights red, aces black) when Bruce/Batman visited him in jail after he got shot, including the "kicker" joker card.

Melleus "the Hammer":

Issue 2:

-Could the name Melleus have come from "The Malleus Maleficrum"-A famous medievel Treatise on witches?  Also called "The Hammer of the witches" -Hexenhammer:  Its main purpose was to challenge all arguments against the existence of witchcraft and to instruct magistrates on how to identify, interrogate and convict witches.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum 

-Revealed by Annie that his real name is Nathaniel Wayne.  

(The) RELIC: 

Batman and Robin 12 :Batman/Dick Grayson, found a Batman cape draped over deer antlers. 
Issue 3:Because of the Relic Batman/Dick decides to go to Bludhaven, where Darkseid was defeated in Final Crisis, there he found the Psych machine that was used by Lump to siphon Bruce's emotions and Memories.

According to the Bat-People -As long as the relic never leaves the cave, it holds back the terrible day, The "All-Over."

TIME LINE:

When is everything happening? With time travel stories its hard to keep up.

The blogger RetroWarBird has worked up a pretty good timeline to keep track of where/when things are happening (Click Here) for the link.
Ronnie Thunderbolts has a excellent time line line for the Wayne family (link)
Wayne Family Tree with help from the work of  Retro  and Ronnie Thunderbolts, posters on (CBR(link))

Nathanial Wayne (1640)

++begat (?not sure if son or grandson) Dr Thomas Wayne (Dr Simon Hurt) Over 150 years old in Issue 4 and confirmed in B&R 16 as participating in the Dark Knight Dark City Barbatos ceremony. See details below.

+begat (maybe) Darius Wayne around 1777 was a revolutionary hero (has Wayne Manor built in 1795 in a Swamp Thing story but not in this story)

+begat Charles Arwin Wayne, wife is Constance(?) Wayne.

+begat  Judge Solomon Zebediah Wayne(Hanging Judge, died at 104 years old)(built Gotham city) (Brother of Joshua Thomas Wayne), and his wife Dorthea Wayne. (The Pinkney Architect is in,  "The Destroyer." click the Judges name to know more of that story.) Bought the manor that Jerome K Van Derm started building.

+begat Dr. Alan Wayne (Built Railroads, shipping and transportation hub in Gotham, and Wayne Enterprises) married Catherine Van Derm (died in childbirth)  see Van Derm in the listing below for more info.Completed building the Wayne Manor.

+begat Kenneth Wayne(Kenneth added Wayne Chemical), and his wife Laura Elizabeth Wayne

+begat Patrick Morgan Wayne (Brother of Silas and he also founded WayneCorp and WayneTech)

+begat Dr Thomas Wayne, and wife Martha Wayne (a brother Phillip, not sure if it is Thomas' or Martha's)

+begat Bruce Wayne

+Sorta begat Damian Wayne(?) with Talia al Ghul(Ra's al Ghul's daughter)

Thomas Wayne additional info:  

Issue 4: Attended the Barbatos Ceremony and drank the Starry Venom and ate the Barbatos Bat which was the Hyper-Adapter(see above) and went crazy(B&R 16). Could possibly be Jack the Ripper and at the time of the Wild West Gotham was already 150 years old and was looking for the casket( RoBW 4). "He sought in blood the secret of life eternal but that was blood of a different sort." 

Issue 5: Betsey Kane (Martha Wayne's mother) claims she talked to Thomas Wayne(Bruce's father) after his father had died in the mugging. To Betsey this mean that Thomas had faked his death. She said, "Doctor Thomas by day, Bad Tommy at night, Patrick and Silas had to cover up the whole thing. The stolen drugs, the rape charges, the secret room where they treated him for months...." "Then he stood there and admitted he'd turned her into a drug addict and ...and worse."

Dr Simon Hurt (click here): is Thomas Wayne he has been Bruce's nemesis through out the writer's, Grant Morrison, run on Batman. Called himself because of a reference to Simon the Magus(link).

Mad Tony- There is a real person named Anthony Wayne and called Mad Tony fought during the American Revolutionary war.   Bob Kane(creator of Batman) got the name Bruce Wayne from Robert Bruce, the Scottish Patriot, and Anthony Wayne, the American Revolutionary War general. It is rumored that Bruce's middle name is Anthony but never confirmed.

Simon Magus - There is a real person.  per Wiki(link) known as Simon the Sorcerer .  Some early Christion writers whom regarded him as the source of all heresies.  Has been portrayed as both student and teacher of Dositheus, with followers who revered him as the Great Power of God. There were later accusations by Christians that he was a demon in human form, and he was specifically said to possess the ability to levitate and fly at will.

 Wayne Family Tree in a the form of a graph by David Uzumeri

This is a really good graph that has about everyone's connection on it.

Wayne Family Plot in Batman: Shadow of the Bat #45 shows various family names on the Tombstones,
in Batman & Robin the family plot is right next to the Manor.
 

TIME BOX:
Issue 5: Created by Carter Nichols

Carter Nichols use to help Batman & Robin with time travel through Hypnosis. In this issue, which happens way before he meets Batman & Robin, he has created a Timebox which is flat like a mother box and seems the cause of the bells because it opens a door in time.  

Time Masters: 
Issue 2: Superman, Green Lantern/Hal, Booster gold, and Rip Hunter believe that he will cause a catastrophe if Bruce returns to the 21st century on his own, so they are trying to track him down.

In issue 2 the archivist mentions "an immense cosmic loom of converging and separating timelines"

Vanishing Point: Final instant before the universal heat death

Per:
http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Vanishing_Point

A metaphysical dimension that lies outside the normal space/time continuum. It exists during the last possible moment in the universe, the last nanosecond before entropy ends everything. At the center of Vanishing Point is a floating fortress which serves as the base of operations for the Linear Men, a group of volunteers who have taken it upon themselves to police the timestream.

-Also mentioned in Issue 2 about Vanishing point- "The anti-entrophy aegis will succumb to the unstoppable conclusion of the thermodynamic process."(Why don't you try saying that three times in a row)

Here's another -"Universal molecular motion will cease as deadline time arrives."

-Bruce is revealed to be the Archivist in the Vanishing zone.

Issue 2: This was revealed after the archivist found a infestation of hyperfauna(blue squid creature) which may be how Bruce tracked down the point of Annie's death.

Issue 4: Catherine says, "All the days of the world is one day and he must be strong for us all."

Maps of Space Time:(Issue2) These maps begin with a time point that is without duration or span(without a time limit). The point contains all possibility. Map contains forward, backward and lateral time.  It is a immense cosmic loom of converging and separating time lines (a loom is the gadget you use to weave cloth, see to the right).

Line Space A: Universe-zero from beginning to end plane time. Vanishing point stands at its terminus. Contains the time point.

Line Space B: A separate plane time. Batmite comes from Space B.

There are other planes of time, other line spaces that weave into these and thus you have cube time.

Cubed Time: Not just the forward and backward but also contains the Lateral line. Superman comments, "It certainly fits with what I've experienced." This is a reference to the Final Crisis: Superman Beyond 2008 mini (Panel on left), where he could see in 4-D and he seemed to be able to see Cubed Time.

Tribes?

 Issue 1:

-Anthro's grandson was from the Deer Tribe  made a appearance, and wears a domino mask like Robin.

-Vandal Savage made a appearance as a leader of the Blood People Tribe.

 

Issue 2:

-Annie referred to the Bat-People, the Miagani.

Issue 3:  

-"The last of the divided Deer Tribe retreated to the cave to join the Bat-People" and became the ghost people.

-The Bat-People set traps in the cave: The Whistling Demon(echos cause bat-fletched arrows to shoot out) , The Breath of the Bat (methane gas), The Bridge of Bones(name appropiately) , The River of Night(ends up back in the bay).

-The last of the deer tribe was most likely the grandson of Anthro, because his family was killed before his eyes and he helped Bruce escape the Blood People. 

Carving that appeared in Batman and Robin is shown and it is their god, part man, part bat, "LORD OF THE NIGHT AND THE DARK SUN"

-Ronnie Thunderbolts from CBR and the DC Boards brought up the following:

Maigani:  In the trade paper back Batman:THE CULT,

the first time the Bat-People, AKA Miagani, appeared in real life was the Cult mini series, where Jason and Bruce face a religious Cult led by an ancient Native American priest called Reverend Blackfire, an old outcast member of the Miagani who nearly destroyed his own people and practiced dark witchcraft and worshiped idols of himself rather than their gods/spirits, who we now know was the Bat-God called Barbatos by European colonists.

Barbatos: 

 other similar name Barbathos, was the demon that possessed Gotham in a sacrificial rite where a young girl was abandoned and died (Dominique), a rite conducted in Batman #452-454, Dark Knight Dark City. This ritual was committed by wealthy and powerful men (Jacob Stockman, Thomas Jefferson and Three others) in Gotham and the surrounding area.  (1793 Journal entry). Satanic rituals also referred to in Batman and Robin 10 by Alfred as having involved old Thomas Wayne.

-Recently the name BARBATOS was written in a secret room/cave below Wayne Manor in Batman and Robin #10.

-Issue 4: A man named Dr Thomas Wayne clams to have been at the Barbatos ceremony above.

VANDAL SAVAGE

-Vandal Savage has claimed to have been Blackbeard. Issue three didn't prove or disprove that he was Blackbeard.

-Blackbeard's ship was called the "Queen Anne's Revenge"

- Issue 4:  Vandal Savage runs a house of Gamblin' & Ill Repute. He sinks to his knees seemingly  to worship Bruce.  Vandal talks about building a New Empire in Mexico and bringing down America, which I believe is alluding to the Illuminati in the old Time Masters series (my review)

VanDerm

MARTIN VanDern

-Issue 2: Flemish painter- who studied at Van Rijin's feet in Rotterdam and was seen painting the famous Mordecai "Wayne" painting which turns out to be Bruce himself.  Bruce asks Martin to "Keep my book safe."

JEROME Van Derm

-Batman:Shadow of the Bat #45: Jerome Van Derm was a magnate that built the manor that Solomon Wayne bought. Jerome was going to build a railroad past it and committed suicide when his company failed. 

CATHERINE Van Derm

Issue 4:  Allan Wayne marries Catherine Van Derm (granddaughter to Jerome Van Derm) and completes the Manor, the house of VanDerm and Wayne.

Interviews: 

USA today 12/09/2009

IGN 2nd paragraph 01/26/2010Comic Alliance 04/14/2010

Io9 04/14/2010

ToplessRobot 04/22/2010

CBR 05/10/2010

AV Club 05/19/2010

EW 05/26/2010

Newsarama 06/18/2010

Here are some Reviews on Return of Bruce Wayne:


David Uzumeri Return of Bruce Wayne #4 annotations
David Uzumeri Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Andrew Hicky Return of Bruce Wayne #2
Retro's blog with Reveiw of Return of Bruce Wayne #3
Rikdad's Reveiw of Return of Brue Wayne #3

Retro's Blog  Return of Bruce Wayne #4

 Rikdad's Review of Return #6
David Uzumeri Return of Bruce Wayne #6 annotations
.
.
.

BLACKEST NIGHT Directors Cut #1 Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 points:

If you've read Blackest Night, then you would want this issue.  It is sooo.... worth the cover price of $5.99.  It has the commentary from the creators, but then it has everything else too.  If you are yearning to be a comic writer this has the script of one of the best writers in the business.

This book has 80 pages of  material. Almost the size of 4 regular issues.

IT HAS:

1. The Directors Commentary:  Thoughts on almost every panel of what they were discussing and what they wanted to happen, behind the scenes.

2. Cover Gallery: Every Cover from cross over to main event. Some of them are quite small but it is still awesome to see them all together.  Even with smaller pictures, there are about 8 pages inlcuded in this section.  This would be the only part of the book that I've seen before, but it was fantastic to see all these covers laid out together.

3. BLACKEST NIGHT #1 Script: If you are interested in writing comics, this is a good template to see how it is done.  It is amazing to read how Geoff Johns' thoughts gets passed onto the artist.

4. Scenes from the Cutting Room: Which included the following;

-Script of the deleted Rainbow Raiders Scene by Geoff Johns   

-Script of the deleted Ragman scene by Geoff Johns. I wish they could  have incorporated it into one of the books because it was cool to read.

-A unused Black Lantern Cover by Greg Horn

5. Blackest Night: The Toy Line: Gives insight in the toy process.  It is my least favorite part of the book but only takes up four pages.

6. Raising the Dead: Blackest Night Character Design: This was an awesome section and takes up about a third of the book.  In this section the Black Lanterns designs are shown and a small bit of background information on how they died.  Batman,  Nekron, White Lantern Sinestro, and The Entity, each, have a page a piece.

BLACKEST NIGHT: Directors Cut #1 (One Shot):

Writer: Geoff Johns
Penciller: Ivan Reis
Inker: Oclair Albert
Inker: Joe Prado
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Nick J Napolitano

Publisher: DC Comics
June 2010

BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #12 #13 Review

RATING: 3 out of 5 points:

This rating is on the story written by Paul Dini, not on the co-feature in the back of the issues.

These issues were good, but it was about a very minor character that I personally could care less about.  These issue lead into the sequel of Heart of Hush that starts in issue 14, but are not necessary to enjoy that next story line.

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included:

I'm reminded of a joke..., but  what was the punch line?

A Carpenter, a Broker, and a Director went into a bar....they all ordered a beer.

-The "Carpenter" asked for a Ridgeway Santa's Butt (yes that is a real beer).

-The "Broker" asked for a McQuire's I'll Have What The Gentleman  On The Floor Is Having Barley Wine(also a real beer)

-The "Director" asked for a Miller lite.

-The "point": I'm not sure.

Yes, I still love my entro...BUT all joking aside,  this story is about the Carpenter, Duffy,  who gets a commission from the Broker to do carpentry work for the Director. The Broker takes 40% of the commission, and the Director gets a death trap built for Batman, so that he can make a movie out of it.  Some fighting, as Duffy proves that she can fight.

Batman only plays a cameo role in these books but saves the day, and is the best part, but there is not enough of him to swing my view of these issues as a whole.

If you are Damian and Abuse fans, there are a couple pages of them being buddy buddy in issue 12, but doesn't look like any major character development.

If you are wondering about Hush, yeah he has three pages of issue #13, which only has him making nice and a caption from him saying "... bide your time...the next phase is about to begin".

Ohhh.... I've got it... The punch line:

All three are kicked out on their ....dare I say ...duff, because this bar only serves... Ky Bourbon.

In the end, this story, left me dry. [wink]

Note: Duffy had appeared before in Gotham City Sirens doing some work for Selina because her place had been trashed.

BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #12 and #13

Title:The Carpenters Tale Part 1 & 2 of 2

Writer Paul Dini

Penciled & Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Inker/colors/letters: Derick Fridolfs/John Kalisz/Steve Wands

Publisher: DC Comics

BATMAN: THE STREETS OF GOTHAM VOL. 1: HUSH MONEY TPB

RATING: 3.4 out of 5 points: 

This TPB is mostly filler. It gives the background as to how HUSH became the puppet to the Wayne family by being  Bruce Wayne's face to the public, but it is not all inclusive story with a set end.  It has its moments, but when you get to the Streets of Gotham you will find that you have to wade through a lot of unnecessary additional story lines that also don't end in this trade paperback.

Reading order for the books that are included in this trade paper back:


1. DETECTIVE #852
2. BATMAN #685
3. BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #1
4 .BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #2
5. BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #3
6. BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #4

BELOW are my Reviews of the individual issues as they came out.

REVIEW 

 DETECTIVE #852

 

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 points:

This was a cool character development issue of HUSH.  If you like the criminal Hush, this is the issue for you.  If you don't know anything about Hush, this is still a good issue to read.  Dini quickly gives  a refresher on who Hush is in the first couple of pages, and then goes on to show  the despicableness of Hush's character.  This story continues in BATMAN # 685, so... IF you buy this issue you will end up buying that one. 

This is a great read, but nothing of Batman is actually in it.

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included, go to the next review in Blue if it isn't for you.

  

This issue takes place directly after the story line of  Heart of HUSH. Tommy Elliot, HUSH, thinks that he is finished and tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge.  A couple of fisherman find him and mistake him for Bruce Wayne.  Thus..he discovers that the everyday man on the street can't tell the difference between him and Bruce. The rest of the issue is of Tommy.... diving into the role of Bruce Wayne so that he can goose Wayne for as much money as he can.  It's important to know that at this point in the continuity, Tommy doesn't know that Bruce is really missing in action, and that is why, he doesn't try to take over at the top,...yet.

REVIEW 

  BATMAN # 685

The interaction between known characters was fun to read, but it felt like a filler issue.

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included, go to the next review in Blue if it isn't for you.

  

HUSH, while masquerading as Bruce Wayne in the jungles of Vietnam, meets up with Catwoman, who takes a bit of vengeance upon his hide.  I enjoyed the story but found it very uneventful. It does give transition in the overall story because it does tell how HUSH gets captured. 

REVIEW 
BATMAN: Streets of Gotham #1 #2 #3

Issue #1: IGNITION!, Issue #2: CITY ON FIRE, Issue #3 HUSH MONEY

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 points: 

This rating is on the story written by Paul Dini, not on the co-feature in the back of the issues.

These first three issues of the Streets of Gotham series, is a mosaic of backgrounds for several different stories lines that Dini develops later.  While it would make my life easier if he didn't shuffle these stories like a stack of cards, it does give you the feel that the  characters lives  are not singular, but weaved together upon one another, even if they don't knowingly acknowledge it.

I had to go back and reread these issues to actually understand what Dini was trying to do with these issues.  They contain background information that set up different stories that he will touch on in the future, but I also can see the interplay between the villains on the 'Gotham streets' and how their actions affect each other.

The storyline that got my attention the most, was the one with Thomas Elliot, Hush.  It travels through all three of these issues and is the reason why I grouped these issues together.  All story lines, even those in other series, that use the Wayne name, is affected by this plot, because it where Hush starts impersonating Bruce Wayne on a full time basis, with Wayne family approval, with limits of course.

In these issues we do see ABUSE for the first time, but it is not explained who, or what he is until issue 10. Also these three issues has Zsasz, and how he becomes "Mr Zsasz", but nothing of what he plans to do with his new persona.  Although... ,this information is nice to know, and helps with characterization, you don't necessary need to read these issue to enjoy the other stories when they finally unfold.

BATMAN: HUSH MONEY

Writer Paul Dini

Penciled & Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Inker/colors/letters: Derick Fridolfs/John Kalisz/Steve Wands

Publisher: DC Comics

BATMAN #685 : CATSPAW Part 2 of Hush Money

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 points: 

The interaction between known characters was fun to read, but it felt like a filler issue.

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included:

  

HUSH, while masquerading as Bruce Wayne in the jungles of Vietnam, meets up with Catwoman, who takes a bit of vengeance upon his hide.  I enjoyed the story but found it very uneventful. It does give transition in the overall story because it does tell how HUSH gets captured. 

Have I put enough spaces in this review? Because it's the shortest I've ever done.  It's hard to do a review when the issue doesn't Wow you or the issue isn't bad enough to trash.

BUT the cover that Nguyen did was awesome.

BATMAN #685
Title  CATSPAW
Part 2 of Hush Money

Writer Paul Dini

Penciled & Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Inker/colors/letters: Derick Fridolfs/Guy Major/John J Hill

Publisher: DC Comics

Detective Comics #852 : Part 1 of HUSH Money

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 points: 

This was a cool character development issue of HUSH.  If you like the criminal Hush, this is the issue for you.  If you don't know anything about Hush, this is still a good issue to read.  Dini quickly gives  a refresher on who Hush is in the first couple of pages, and then goes on to show  the despicableness of Hush's character.  This story continues in BATMAN # 685, so... IF you buy this issue you will end up buying that one.

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included:

  

This issue takes place directly after the story line of  Heart of HUSH. Tommy Elliot, HUSH, thinks that he is finished and tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge.  A couple of fisherman find him and mistake him for Bruce Wayne.  Thus..he discovers that the everyday man on the street can't tell the difference between him and Bruce. The rest of the issue is of Tommy.... diving into the role of Bruce Wayne so that he can goose Wayne for as much money as he can.  It's important to know that at this point in the continuity, Tommy doesn't know that Bruce is really missing in action, and that is why, he doesn't try to take over at the top,...yet.

This is a great read, but nothing of Batman is actually in it.

This is one Great cover.  Nguyen is fantastic.

To be continued in BATMAN # 685

DETECTIVE COMICS: Issue #852
Title: RECONSTRUCTION
Part 1 of HUSH Money TPB

Writer Paul Dini

Penciled & Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Inker/colors/letters: Derick Fridolfs/John Kalisz/Jared Fletcher

Publisher: DC Comics

Batman: Streets of Gotham #4 Part 6 of HUSH Money

RATING: 3 out of 5 points: 

This rating is on the story written by Paul Dini, not on the co-feature in the back of the issues.

 Nothing in this issue is very memorable.  It touches several story lines that Dini is working on in this  series but none of it is necessary to enjoy those other stories.  There isn't even much as as heros in it, just mostly bad guys. 

FULL REVIEW: ******SPOILERS of the Story included:

The main story in the book is about a real estate broker Mr. Fine.  He appropriates various property for clients that plan on doing nefarious deeds.  This is a story on how he turns a blind eye to what his clients do, in order to make a buck.

"Mr." Zsasz makes a appearance in buying a slaughter house for pigs and Great White buys a yacht from the Broker.   The cover of the issue has the typical Zsasz posed on it, but the issue really doesn't represent what Zsasz typically does. Zsasz is wearing the suit and shades from issue #3, and he wants to be called "Mister" Zsasz and has his own set of henchmen following his orders.

Hush only has two pages in which he says how tired he is of being a puppet to the Wayne family by impersonating Bruce Wayne.

Batman/Dick Grasyson and Robin/Damain show up and try to get information from the Broker, but it doesn't look like they got anything from him despite beating him to a pulp, so kinda of a Meh ... ending.

Like the first three issues, Dini is showing the interplay of interaction between the villains on the streets level of Gotham City, and how their actions effect each other.

Issue #4 Business

Writer Paul Dini

Penciled & Cover: Dustin Nguyen

Inker/colors/letters: Derick Fridolfs/John Kalisz/Steve Wands

Publisher: DC Comics

Learning to Ride A Bike - Just Keep Pedaling

You're not really riding a bike until you take off the Training wheels, Otherwise it's just creative leaning.

Sure it's tricky and scary, and you're a little wobbly, BUT if you.... just... keep... pedaling... all is well.

The start, and the stop, need a lot of practice, but once conquered..., it's just a short step toward Trick riding.

BUT.... to do the stuff that really WOW's the crowd ..., takes a lot of time...AND you got to learn to fall..., Actually... expect to fall-- a LOT.

I guess that's true about anything that you want to succeed at.

If it's writing, drawing, music, or biking....just ... keep...pedaling...you only fail if you stop.

.
.