Comicbook Rescue Project

      A Blog or so back I used to have a series called THE COMICBOOK RESCUE PROJECT.  The forces that meant me harm both personally and professionally caused the Blog to be buried.  It was sad as the series was one of the fun things I wrote about.  Basically, this was where I told of those books I rescued from Flea Markets and Yard Sales.  Some of these books are not in well kept conditions.  Many are carted from place to place and subjected to all types of weather and are close to being caused to deteriorate because of lack of care.  It is a sacred duty (I say with tongue firmly in cheek) to pull these lost gems from the jaws of demise.  I make no claim that these are books those that attempt to make money from buying and selling would want or buy.  Sometimes they are in a banged up shape.  Still, they deserve to be rescued.  What follows are the books I purchased during the Labor Day Saturday trip to the Hillsville, Va. Flea Market.

Marvel Tales Starring Spider-Man and Red Sonja #208

Spider-Man Unlimited #2 (Maximum Carnage Conclusion)

the Brave and the Bold Starring Batman and Zatanna Vol. 26 #169

Green Lantern

#75

#79

#131

#134

#136

#141

Green Lantern Our Worlds At War #1

Young Justice

#2

#3

Spider-Woman #3 (1978)

Iron Man

#130

#155

#158

#159

#160

The Mighty Thor #353 (The Finale of the Surtur Saga)

Marvel-Two-In-One The Thing and Moon Knight #52

The Official Batman & Superman Adventures World's Finest (paid $1)

Daredevil:  Guardian Devil  TradePaperBack  (paid $5)

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Batwoman #0

            So the restructuring of the Batman Family must have played into this title being so long in coming as a solo.  Issue #0 is our teaser.  The title is still a few months from launching, but we just know Batman had to check out this new player with his family’s motif that has taken to Gotham’s streets.  That is what this issue is about.  It brings the Detective Comics stories into the core and sets up what Bruce Wayne thinks of the new Batwoman.

            We watch Bruce basically stalk Kathy Kane to see if she is this Batwoman that has been seen in Gotham.  There is the dual page storytelling that J.H. Williams III seems to like.  I can be disconcerting for the reader.  Not sure I like it myself, but the story is good so I handle it.  I am disappointed in the art.  I dislike Kathy looking like a Jokerized female Batman.  The harshness is not nice to look at to me.  I am not asking for the typical glamorized look, but it just looks grotesque to me.

            Bruce does his thing and we get a nice look at the new defender of the weak in Gotham.  Whether she will get funding and a permit from the Batman Incorporated empire is unclear.  Sorry, the idea of Batman as a business tickles me.  This is just a nice setup for the title to come.

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Bruce Wayne The Road Home: Batgirl #1

            While reading this story that is a part of the larger Return of Bruce Wayne story I had an odd thought.  Was Bryan Q. miller trying to make a statement?  The Fangirl cry for a Stephanie Brown case memorial in the Batcave was the rallying point of a much larger concern with the treatment of female characters.  Stephanie was the first female Robin.  She ends up tortured and then murdered.  Yes, they retroactively brought her back and covered the whole mess up in a comicbook cliché way.  The bosses and creators from that period have sarcastically mentioned and very crudely talked about those wasting energy over the Death of Stephanie.  It has been a poorly executed meeting of corporate company and the fans that buy the product.  I just wonder if Miller is telling us he gets it and his Batgirl will treat Stephanie as a character to be respected.  That has been the tone in the series so far and it certainly is a strong tone here in this one-shot.

            Stephanie Brown as Batgirl has been a wonderful story to see unfold.  I have been reading the regular series since the beginning.  Batgirl is one of my enjoyable reads.  I make sure I savor it.  Sometimes I read it first and others I leave it to the end of the pile when I have slowed down my devouring of the stack of books.  It is one that I would hold on to if I had to start purging the pull list at the local shop.  From her costume to the witty thoughts and dialogue she has I just love this character.  She is very much like the kids I work with, slightly scattered, but so good hearted.  Each issue of her book has been a slow build of how the characters that knew her as Spoiler are seeing the growth of this amazing young crime fighter.

            She does something in this issue I have seen Black Canary do and that is slap Bruce.  It was just a well written scene.  Stephanie responds with shock at herself as she realizes she just slapped Batman.  It was deserved though.  Bruce has always treated her so hard and with an edge he never had with any of the others.  I even feel he treated Huntress better.  To see Stephanie stand her ground against him is wonderful.  It also is why I wonder if Miller is signaling something to Steph’s fanbase.  A promise maybe that as long as he is in control the girl will be the hero we love and treated as a true part of the Batfamily and the DCU.

I know I have rambled for a bit.  The thing I guess I will leave you with is that this book and the next Issue of Batgirl, number 15 are great jumping on points for a reader to try Batgirl out.  Stephanie is worth a read for a true fan of comicbook stories.  So try out Batgirl #15 and this book as well.

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Bat Family History, Stephanie Brown Style

 This was posted on the DCU Blog the other day and I wanted to post it to make sure it was seen.  I was lazy until Rich Lovatt saved me the time in gathering it up easily.  I really think this is a funny retelling of the Bat Family history.  Stephanie Brown has been my one bright spot in my buying and reading this year.  Issue #15 is probably a good jumping on point if you want to see what all the fuss is about.  This history is a follow up to Stephanie feeling Wendy needs to know the background on what she is stepping into as Proxy.  Wonderful tease here in these panels.

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