I haven't really dug into this 'project' yet, so I don't know what all it entails, but . . apparently this is the opening chapter of
FirstWave. From the back of the book, with notes from Brian Azzarello, it looks like there's going to be a lot of characters involved in this before it's over. They include Doc's crew . . Monk, Ham, Long Tom, Renny and Johnny. But also other DC characters such as Justice Inc, the Spirit, Black Canary, Rima the Jungle Girl and the Blackhawks. This story takes place only a few months after Bruce took on the role of Batman. So apparently, we're retroactively slipping Doc into DC continuity to establish him as an important character in the DC Universe. In the beginning of the story I was wondering what the Batman was doing using guns . . 45's to be exact. At first I kind of thought that it was someone dressing up as Batman to get him in trouble or something. But this was the beginning of his career when he was trying out different things . . trying to establish his means and motives. Anyways, he comes across Doc because Doc has come to Gotham to try to put a stop to this Bat-menace. Up until this point Batman was just an urban-legend. But then people started spotting him, and pictures started circulating. So the legend could no longer be ignored. Apparently Doc, being sanctioned by pretty much every police force he's ever worked with, even though he's basically a vigilante himself, decided that he needed check up on this 'Batman' and make sure he was acting responsibly . . even though his main motivation appeared to be fear. One of the things I liked about this story was the portrayal of Bruce. He hasn't been through everything that he's been burdened with in the current DC Universe, so . . he seems a bit more light-hearted. Almost cocky. I think he's just as devoted to his cause, but this early on . . he pretty much sees things as 'black & white'. He hasn't yet accepted compromise as a way to attain his goals,
even if they may be what's best for Gotham. Anyways, Doc figures out that the Batman isn't responsible for the murder that he's being accused of and decides to have a conversation. He finds him to be responsible and intelligent, and I think he feels he's pretty much on the right path. Bruce tries to explain to him about the corruption in Gotham, and why he has to fight it the way he does. I actually think that Doc was willing to help Batman find the murderer and positively clear his name, but before they can even start the guy is found . . dead. 'They got to him before we could. Leave Gotham to me . . you save the world.' Brian Azzarello is a fantastic writer, and this type of story . . set in maybe the 50's or 60's is right up his alley. If these specials segue into a Doc Savage series, and Brian writes it . . I have a feeling it'll be some fantastic stories. I'm very interested to see where all of this leads. Phil Noto does the art on this issue. It looks fantastic. The covers are by JG Jones and Rags Morales. They both look great.
I haven't really dug into this 'project' yet, so I don't know what all it entails, but . . apparently this is the opening chapter of FirstWave. From the back of the book, with notes from Brian Azzarello, it looks like there's going to be a lot of characters involved in this before it's over. They include Doc's crew . . Monk, Ham, Long Tom, Renny and Johnny. But also other DC characters such as Justice Inc, the Spirit, Black Canary, Rima the Jungle Girl and the Blackhawks. This story takes place only a few months after Bruce took on the role of Batman. So apparently, we're retroactively slipping Doc into DC continuity to establish him as an important character in the DC Universe. In the beginning of the story I was wondering what the Batman was doing using guns . . 45's to be exact. At first I kind of thought that it was someone dressing up as Batman to get him in trouble or something. But this was the beginning of his career when he was trying out different things . . trying to establish his means and motives. Anyways, he comes across Doc because Doc has come to Gotham to try to put a stop to this Bat-menace. Up until this point Batman was just an urban-legend. But then people started spotting him, and pictures started circulating. So the legend could no longer be ignored. Apparently Doc, being sanctioned by pretty much every police force he's ever worked with, even though he's basically a vigilante himself, decided that he needed check up on this 'Batman' and make sure he was acting responsibly . . even though his main motivation appeared to be fear. One of the things I liked about this story was the portrayal of Bruce. He hasn't been through everything that he's been burdened with in the current DC Universe, so . . he seems a bit more light-hearted. Almost cocky. I think he's just as devoted to his cause, but this early on . . he pretty much sees things as 'black & white'. He hasn't yet accepted compromise as a way to attain his goals, 
even if they may be what's best for Gotham. Anyways, Doc figures out that the Batman isn't responsible for the murder that he's being accused of and decides to have a conversation. He finds him to be responsible and intelligent, and I think he feels he's pretty much on the right path. Bruce tries to explain to him about the corruption in Gotham, and why he has to fight it the way he does. I actually think that Doc was willing to help Batman find the murderer and positively clear his name, but before they can even start the guy is found . . dead. 'They got to him before we could. Leave Gotham to me . . you save the world.' Brian Azzarello is a fantastic writer, and this type of story . . set in maybe the 50's or 60's is right up his alley. If these specials segue into a Doc Savage series, and Brian writes it . . I have a feeling it'll be some fantastic stories. I'm very interested to see where all of this leads. Phil Noto does the art on this issue. It looks fantastic. The covers are by JG Jones and Rags Morales. They both look great.
good review
ReplyDeletei kind of like the "new earth" timeline in the book
it seems to have various decades of time
all happening at the same time
similar to the feel of Watchmen in that regard
I think it's kind of a retro-active continuity. They'll insert Doc into the timeline of the various characters, and then when we read about him in current situations . . it'll seem like he's been in the DC Universe since the very beginning. It's rather ingenius . . actually. This time next year we'll probably feel like Doc's always been around.
ReplyDeletei just received a reply back
ReplyDeletefrom someone at DC
this is a "new" earth
with this and the new Earth One
starting up
i count 4 seperate Batmen running around with regular books next year
(add the "regular" and the All-Star)
as long as the stories entertain
i'm ok with this
Hey . . Marvel has the X-Men running around through 3 or 4 different dimensions, or 'Earths', so why not Batman? I guess they can't incorporate him into the regular DC Universe because of his long involved history. I mean the guy is pretty much 'iconic' on his own. I kind of got the feeling from this story that he would be like the 'Superman' of this Earth. Not that he's necessarily trying to replace him, but that he would be the established 'go to' guy. The political conscious or moral compass, if you will.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I was talking about Doc Savage, not Batman. I realized it might not have been clear after I read it. Oops!
ReplyDelete