#artisticawesomeness

[about-faces]

That's a shame to hear. I really enjoyed Jurisprudence and the rest of the Detective material. I suppose I'll give it a whirl anyway to see for myself but I think part of the reason why I put off GC for so long was because of how bland it seemed to me.

Again, though, I really feel I should stress that my opinion of Gotham Central is not the average one. I just went to Facebook and saw that one of my friends has made the cover of Gotham Central #1 into their own cover image, and someone in the comments lamented how we should have gotten a GC show instead of Fox’s Gotham, so I’m very mindful of how much people love GC. You should definitely check it out, just on the off-chance that you enjoy it more than I did.

I forgot to mention, there is one issue I absolutely love: the Poison Ivy one-shot. She barely makes an appearance, but it’s a great, satisfying little tale of two corrupt cops, and Ivy’s brief but crucial appearance is--to me--the best use of a classic rogue in the whole series.

[about-faces]

So solicitations for DC reveal that they're planning a complete series omnibus volume for Gotham Central. Assuming you've read through the series, what stories would you pick out as highlights? I've only read some of the series but I heard there's at least one pretty good Two-Face story.

I’m... really not the person to ask about this, because GC is a pretty universally beloved series but I was never really crazy about it. The very best reasons to read it are for Crispus Allen, Maggie Sawyer, and especially Renee Montoya, and if you’re interested in those characters, it’s absolutely a must-read.

Beyond them, I can’t recall a single other notable character. They were all just a roster of bland nobodies, and the minimalist art by Michael Lark didn’t help flesh out any personalities for me. What’s more, I just kinda feel like... what’s even the point of a GCPD series without Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock?

Bullock, like Guy Gardner, is a magical character who is so huge and abrasive that other characters HAVE to react around him, which thus reveals their own character. In short: he makes other characters better. Instead, in the one Bullock story we got, he was a washed-up wreck, and that tale ended on a note too depressing for a Bullock-lover like me to enjoy.

I also think most of the Gotham rogues featured in the story were badly written. Mister Freeze is just a straight-up sadist, the Mad Hatter is a bland child murderer, and while people like Chris Sims love Soft Targets as one of the greatest Joker stories of all time, I thought that the Joker himself just fell flat to me. It’s a great story about people REACTING to the Joker, but the Joker himself was just badly written to me.

And then, of course, there’s Two-Face. Man, I hate how he was written in Half a Life, but that’s a whole other essay that I’ve put off on writing for years now. It’s a FANTASTIC Renee Montoya story, but an awful Two-Face one, especially if you--like me--enjoyed Rucka’s previous work with Harvey.

All that said, GC is still very worth reading if you’re interested in Montoya and Allen. And even if you’re not, most everyone loves the series, so you shouldn’t let my personal dislikes keep you away from a story you will probably love more than I did.

Beyond that, though, when it comes to Rucka and Brubaker’s work with the GCPD, I personally would just stick with their solid (though married by crossovers) runs in Detective Comics and Batman which preceded their collaboration in GC. Again, that’s just me, though.

[about-faces]

Where did that spoiler-y Dawn of Justice set photo you linked to come from? I can't seem to find any articles relating to it or anything.

I googled “Batman v Superman Dick Grayson” to see if I could find any of the articles I read when the story broke months ago, and it looks like the articles remain but WB asked for the pictures to be taken down, so you can still read the articles at places like comicbook.com and screenrant.com. The pictures themselves still show up in a Google Images search, which is where I found that one. I’m positive that it’s the same photo as the one that was originally included in the articles.

[about-faces]

Idk if you knew about this or not but Harvey has unique dialogue if you complete his missions after completing the main campaign. I don't know if it exists online yet or not but Harvey says some pretty interesting stuff and I was hoping to get your opinion on it.

I actually spoiled myself by watching a video of that dialogue before learning about the post-campaign situation. While I was thus spoiled, it was nonetheless an extremely interesting little monologue on Harvey’s part! I will have thoughts on that along with all the other Two-Face stuff just as soon as 1.) I finish the game, or at least as much of the game as I’m able to finish, and 2.) when I have the time. Rest assured, if I’m able, I definitely want to discuss Harvey’s role in the game in full, spoilery depth!

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Thoughts on Netflix's Daredevil?

I thought it was absolutely fantastic, although I strongly dislike what happened to one of the main supporting cast members near the end. A lot of people thought that worked, but I hated it so much that it almost derailed my love of the rest as a whole. 

Everything else was great. As sick as I am of grim ‘n gritty in superhero stuff, Daredevil is one of the few exceptions where it works in the comics, and the show knocked it out of the park. Had I the ability now, I could go on at length about the characters and performances in particular, all of whom are strong. 

Off-hand, though, I want to single out the Kingpin. Along with Wesley, this show did an amazing job of making Wilson a three-dimensional character instead of just making them one-note ultimate monster the way Wilson Fisk was portrayed in stuff like Jason Aaron’s Punisher MAX comics. I can’t recall the last time a villain has so disturbed and so moved me at the same time. I felt so much empathy for him while simultaneously wanted to see him finally, finally get crushed to earth by Matt, Foggy, Karen, and Ben.

Again, I could go on at length about everyone. All in all, I loved it, and I dearly want to see what comes next, despite a misgiving or two.

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How do you feel about Tomasi as a Bat-writer?? I've read a handful of his stories and have been flipping through the Arkham Knight tie-in and I'm just not sure how I feel about him.

I think that Tomasi is a reliably solid writer with a great grasp of character, dialogue, and emotion. In both his Batman and Green Lantern work, he has often shown greater care for the emotions and relationships of characters the characters’ primary superstar writers.

With Green Lantern’s Sinestro Corps War storyline, Geoff Johns told the main story, but Tomasi better explored how the characters reacted to the events in his fantastic Green Lantern Corps run. Similarly, Grant Morrison may have told the big death of Damian storyline, but Tomasi’s exploration of Bruce’s grief was, IMO, far more potent and heartwrenching. 

Now, he’s not perfect. He writes some so-so stories, and I don’t think his Arkham Knight tie-in has, thus far, been anywhere near the quality of either his best work or the underrated and great Arkham City comics by Derek Fridolfs. And then there are his two big Two-Face storylines, Nightwing: The Great Leap and Batman and Two-Face: The Big Burn, both of which are filled with frustrating moments and unfulfilled potential, while also brimming with some of the best Two-Face writing I’ve ever seen.

I loved so much of his work that it’s enough to make me overlook his subpar Forever Evil: Two-Face one-shot, as well as the fact that he oversaw one of the worst Batman stories I’ve ever read. That pretty much encapsulates how I feel about Tomasi. When he’s good, he’s great, so great that it’s worth sticking with him through his not-so-good stuff. I sure can’t say that about the vast majority of comic writers.

[about-faces]

I was wondering if you could (or did already) link to the full 30 day gotham rogues challenge you're doing? It looks like lots of fun and I'd really like to give it a whirl!

Sure thing! I *think* this is the original post!

[popculturebrain]

So wait there wasn't an alternate version of the Star Wars trailer released for the web right? Why did Rolling Stone say Luke Skywalker was in it?

They accidentally wrote up a fan made trailer.