Triple Shot With a Digital Chaser: ITTY BITTY HELLBOY #1, BATMAN INCORPORATED SPECIAL #1, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #4 plus FIGHTING STRANGER VOL. #1

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Art & Franco take a lighthearted all ages approach to Mike Mignola’s Dark Horse superhero and movie star Hellboy in Itty Bitty Hellboy #1, Chris Burnham curates a send-off to his team-up with Grant Morrison in Batman Incorporated Special #1, and Adventures of Superman #4 gives us some all star shorts in red shorts! Wash it down with a post-apocalyptic ComiXology Submit creator owned title Fighting Stranger Vol. #1.
  

ITTY BITTY HELLBOY #1 (of 5)
WRITERS: Art Baltazar & Franco
ART: Art Baltazar
Publication Date: August 28, 2013
Price: $2.99
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
UPC: 76156823936200111
Buy it HERE

Aw, Yeah Hellboy!

You might recognize the team of Art & Franco from Tiny Titans at DC as well as the most recent Superman Family Adventures. 

Perhaps you’ve seen the DC Super-Pets on Cartoon Network.  The point is, Art & Franco have been doing kids or all ages comics for years and now they have broken away from DC to give the cute mischievous humor and art to the Hellboy Universe and the fun keeps on coming!

From our usual inside jokes, referring to running gags on the Aw Yeah Podcast to Lil’ kid versions of everyone from Johann the spirit, Liz and Hellboy this book is just pure fun. They face off against kid friendly Karl (with exclamation point on his head), Rasputin and Herman The Head in varying sizes of cardboard box forts.

The book is worth the price of admission for the Johann chicken soup gag alone. True Story!

BATMAN INCORPORATED SPECIAL #1
WRITERS: Chris Burnham, Joe Keatinge, Nathan Fairburn, Mike Raicht, Dan DiDio
ART: Chris Burnham, Ethan Van Sciver, Emanuel Simeone, John Paul Leon, John Stanisci
Publication Date: August 28, 2013
Price: $4.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194131789200111
Buy it HERE

Chris Burnham was the artist chosen to work with Grant Morrison to close out the chapter of his Batman run known as Batman Incorporated.  Burnham filled in on issue #11, featuring Jiro and Canary, the Batman of Japan (Introduced in Batman Inc., Vol. 1 #1).   The first internationally franchised Batman character Jiro (also known as Mr. Unknown - too many names) is more Bruce Lee than Wayne and all of his adventures are fantastical weird sci-fi kung fu flick futurist tales of Tokyo.

Burnham introduces a new  organ harvester villain, Dr. Inside Out in this issue that has the best use of a capsule hotel as a story device I’ve ever seen. Let’s hope Burnham moves to the writer/artist part of the business because I think he is great at both.

This book is an anthology looking at various international Bat-Associates from El Gaucho, the somewhat controversial Night Runner, Squire, Raven Red and Man-Of Bats. You’ll never guess it, but when DC Co-Publisher Dan DiDio writes a story about some wacko DC C-Lister (See OMAC, Wednesday Comic’s Metal Men), its quite good. DiDio and Ethan Van Sciver drive it home with a Bat-Cow backup that’s something to be seen to believed. Damian Wayne’s former pet, Bat-Cow, is absolutely the hero. And he has a cape. Bat-Cow wears a cape.

I WAS LIKE:

WHAT?

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DigBoston and LeaguePodcast Comic Book Picks of the Week for August 28, 2013

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COMICS

Aw Yeah, Hellboy! We’ve missed Superman Family Adventures and Tiny Titans, now we can get our fill of cute heroes in the Aw Yeah style at the popular Dark Horse character, Itty Bitty Hellboy #1 from our pals Art & Franco. Its an all ages funny book, from hell! … The Joes amp up to take on Cobra and defend Manhattan in Fred Van Lente’s G.I. Joe #7. Yo Joe! … Grant Morrison ran out the clock on his two volume end cap to an epic run on Batman with Batman Incorporated. Superstar co-creator on the series, artist Chris Burnham leaves the series with an all-star special in Batman Incorporated Special #1. DC Publisher Dan DiDio and Ethan Van Sciver (Flash Reborn, Dark Knight) spin off a BatCow backup! … Picks this week from LeaguePodcast.com.

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Triple Shot: BATMAN INCORPORATED #13, BATMAN ANNUAL #2, IT GIRL AND THE ATOMICS #12

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Two very different but special Batman titles come our way this week as Grant Morrison scratches a seven year itch with the Dark Knight and the New 52 celebrates two years of Scott Snyder’s Batman in Batman Annual #2. Over at Image, from the pages of Madman, It Girl and the Atomics ends a 12 issue run.

BATMAN INCORPORATED #13
WRITER: Grant Morrison
ART: Chris Burnham
Publication Date: July 31, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194130642101341
Buy it HERE

It is the epic conclusion of Grant Morrison’s run on Batman! He gave us Damian Wayne and took him away. He put a mirror up to all versions of The Dark Knight including the disturbed Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, brought Bruce Wayne back to life after being killed by Darkseid in Final Crisis and here had assembled pre-New 52 a globe spanning army of Batman associates called Batman, Inc. 

Those who have been enjoying the book from Morrison’s polarizing run may also have read his treatise on superheroes and Batman in Supergods: Our World in the Age of the Superhero. The book explores why Morrison has such a natural feel for the history of the DCU and our relationship to superheroes as modern gods. 

A sword fight between Talia and Batman comments on the medium and the series conclusion by reading the Talia’s dialogue at least one of three ways. “Your son lies dead and buried! The line! Of Wayne! Cancelled!” or “Batman! Is! Dead!” versus “Batman! Is! Cancelled!”

All of which Batman replies “No. Not Yet.” — implying through flashbacks that the icon will never die. “It never ends”, “It probably never will.”

This issue surpasses his final Superman comic (for the time being, at least), Action Comics #17. Batman deals with the loss of his Robin and son by way of Talia Al Ghul, Damian Wayne in a final confrontation in the Batcave co-starring a Batwoman, Jason Todd (in Knight armor), Jim Gordon and Alfred. 

Chris Burnham’s art is amazing once again, and hope to see him on more DC books.
Batman Inc., spanning both timelines will be missed in my nearly monthly rotation, all of the trade paperbacks in both timelines are highly recommended. Morrison gets the evergreen qualities of Batman and his family. All are worth a re-read for bizarre call outs to Silver Age easter eggs and comments on comic books themselves.

[READ MORE at FORCESOFGEEK.COM]