Category Archives: Batman
Duke Thomas’ New Costume! I Don’t Like It
I try not to get all comic book crotchety too much on this blog. That’s not what I’m about. I’m a happy and positive guy! But I am a big stickler for what becomes of Batman’s sidekicks, and man, DC keeps screwing over Duke Thomas.
Revealed yesterday was his new costume as The Signal, the daytime operative of the Bat-Family. It stinks.
He’s Batman, but yellow
It’s basically just a modified version of his already Yellow Batman costume. It’s going to debut in Batman & The Signal, which is either an ongoing or a mini-series. It’s coming out soon.
Basically, to reiterate my point, this whole thing sucks. Duke Thomas earned the right to be the new Robin. Nobody will ever remember or care about The Signal. It’s a dumb superhero name and it’s completely forgettable. Whereas Batman & Robin are iconic the world over. Remember know and care about them.
So why not have Duke Thomas make history and be the first black Robin? Is Damian Wayne really still that important as Robin? Why not have him graduate to a new identity and let Duke be Robin. Let Duke have a part of the legacy!
Let Duke Thomas be remembered!
Also, while I’m at it, why wasn’t Harper Row made Robin? Remember Harper Row? Of course not, because DC sidelined her with the unmemorable Bluebird identity and then got rid of her.
Man, I just want a cool Robin again…
————————
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 8/5/17
Kind of a quiet week for comics this week. There were a lot of good releases, but not many on my normal review pile. In any other situation, this might prompt me to try out some new comics. But nope! I’m a bit too lazy for that!
Instead, we’ve got new and entertaining issues of Batman, Iron Fist and Hawkeye, as well as Unstoppable Wasp, the adorable and awesome Comic Book of the Week!
The feels!
I’m serious, it’s mostly adorable and awesome.
After a great pair of issues focusing on Janet Van Dyne, I kind of want this title changed to The Unstoppable Wasp and the Regular Wasp! Or writer Jeremy Whitley should get a Janet Van Dyne comic!
Comic Reviews: Batman #28, Hawkeye #9, Iron Fist #6 and Unstoppable Wasp #8.
Yep, Still No Robin in Batman Telltale
I’m mostly looking forward to Batman: The Enemy Within, the sequel to the first Telltale version of Batman. I liked the first one, but there’s something so slow and meticulous about the Telltale games that I’m not too jazzed. I can’t just drop in and play. I need to set aside time at night to play a whole chapter at once. It’s a little stressful!
Anyway, my biggest point is that there’s still no sign of Robin. If you don’t know already, I judge all Batman projects based on whether or not they include Robin. And so far, this sequel is failing.
At the very least, Riddler puzzles should be great in a Telltale game!
———————
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 7/29/17
Light week this week, for no good reason. I guess I just didn’t read enough comics I liked enough to review! But we’ve got solid and exciting issues of Iceman, Detective Comics and Infamous Iron Man, so that’s good enough for me.
Comic Book of the Week goes to Batgirl #13, as Hope Larson delivers possibly my favorite issue yet of her Batgirl run! She’s definitely having fun with this comic, and it shows!
Batgirl tries on a sidekick for size
Secret Empire has reached a grinding section. There are bits and pieces here and there that get exciting, like the final page cliffhanger of the new issue, but overall, I think the scope of this story is just a little too big. It feels like I’m reading a big What If…? comic instead of an actual, in-continuity story about these characters.
Comic Reviews: Batgirl #13, Detective Comics #961, Iceman #3 and Infamous Iron Man #10.
They Picked a Bad Name for Duke Thomas
After giving up his Robin gang, during which he was particularly awesome in Scott Snyder’s Batman, Duke Thomas was officially recruited into the Bat-Family in a golden yellow Bat-suit. And for reasons that never really went explained, he did not get a codename to go with his outfit.
Seriously. How does Batman not give Duke a new codename? Aren’t those things necessary in the field? What did they expect Commissioner Gordon to call him?
Welp, DC and Snyder have finally revealed Duke’s name: The Signal.
He’s also going to get his own comic, from Snyder, called Batman: The Signal. Duke’s role is going to be the Batman-of-the-daylight. They’ve done this very concept before with other characters, but now it’s gonna be Duke’s thing. Aaaaaand I don’t like it.
I still like Duke Thomas, for sure! But what kind of superhero name is ‘The Signal’? It suffers from the banality of modern superhero naming conventions.
Nobody ever has the guts to name their new character something like ‘Batman’ anymore. It’s all about trying to be cool and hip, even though superhero comics were built on the backs of heroes with dorky names.
Plus, an argument I’ve made before, nobody is going to remember The Signal. Batman and Robin are the Dynamic Duo. They are household names. Grandmothers have heard of Batman and Robin. Whereas nobody has ever heard of Huntress or Azrael or Batwing or Onyx or The Signal. These hangers-on don’t matter, not in the long run. There will come a time when nobody cares about Duke Thomas anymore. But there will never come a time when nobody cares about Batman and Robin.
Not making Duke into the real Robin is a mistake.
Though I will definitely buy and read Scott Snyder’s Duke Thomas comic!
—————————–
