Review: Gotham Gazette- Batman Alive?

REVIEW: Gotham Gazette- Batman Alive?
WRITTEN BY: Fabian Nicieza
THE VEIL ART- Dustin Nguyen
VICKI VALE ART- Guillem March
STEPHANIE BROWN ART- ChrisCross
LESLIE THOMPKINS ART- Jamie McKelvie
HARVEY BULLOCK ART- Alex Konat and Mark McKenna
LETTERS- Steve Wands
COLORS- (p1-16, 22) Guy Major, (p17-21) Guillem March
ASST. EDITOR- Janelle Siegel
EDITOR- Mike Marts

Gotham Gazette- Batman Alive is technically the last chapter of the Battle for the Cowl series. It lets us know where the future of the Batman franchise is going. I hate the fact that Dan Didio has pretty much already said that BRUCE is coming back. I think they should have let him be dead. Knowing that he is going to come back is just ridiculous to me. Why even allow someone else to be in the costume for a year if you are just going to give it back to Bruce Wayne in a year. I am sickened by this. If you want honest change you have to just CHANGE things, but that has little to do with this actual issue, so I will move on.

The issue is broken up and told by several characters viewpoints. These are actually characters I enjoy in the Batman franchise and have wondered where they were going, what was up with them and what if anything would they do in the Batman franchise if ever again. I was pleased to see Leslie Thompkins in this because she is a character that while was never important she was one that I felt deserved redemption because she was not a villain, but had done things she was not proud of. Sometimes in life we do things that we are not proud of and have to make amends for it and she is doing that and that is what her piece of this issue shown that she is going to do for Gotham. I loved the piece with Stephanie Brown because it showed that she is a strong character and when she was able to tell Tim Drake that they both chose this life it showed that she was not only a strong character, but had a purpose in the batman franchise as well. I would love to see her become Batgirl in the new series it would feel right to me. I wouldn’t be mad if they made her of all people Batgirl for awhile. Make Cassandra Cain into someone stronger and more into the bat franchise then “Batgirl”. Cassandra has moved on from that title for me. She is a stronger person then when she was “Batgirl” sometimes you have to move on when you have become a stronger person then who you once were. I think Stephanie Brown deserves to be the new Batgirl and Cassandra should move on. I am not really sure who or what “THE VEIL” is, but her little bit in this series of Battle for the Cowl has made for a great way to show her and make us feel like she in a sense is GOTHAM CITY. I love the manner in which she speaks in this deeper more philosophical manner. Harvey Bullock is also shown in this issue and while I never truly respected him in his appearances in the Batman franchise he was always a character I didn’t want to go away as well. I thought he is a great thorn in Batman’s side from the appearances I have seen of him. He always seemed just like the big lug that does stupid stuff in the name of the law. This was no different then what I remember for him. Finally I wanted to touch on Vicki Vale last out of all the characters mentioned because she has the most honest and profound character development for me. She obviously still loves Bruce Wayne very much and finally lets just say that all the pieces connect for Vicki Vale and I hope this means that eventually she will become a superhero to help out with the Batman family. It would be a great fit if she did become someone. I don’t’ think she would be the right BATGIRL choice though in the new series, but she would be a shocking choice and one that people WOULD follow to see where it goes. We will see, but I am happy with this issue story wise because it showed all the minor characters that often get left in dust because of the bigger character having to progress further.

Minor characters often are never seen. DC within the last few years have tried desperately to boost their minor characters up and done so with moderate success. Some huge wins (Booster Gold) and some big FLOPS (Blue Beetle). Now you can tell they are trying to change things up by making minor characters in both Superman and Batman more important. You can see in Superman where the two focuses are NOT Clark Kent and in the other Action Comics title you see another character also. They are moving away from these BIG TWO. In Detective Comics we are see Batwoman take over and a co-feature with The Question (Renee Montoya). Now we see that Bruce Wayne will not be wearing the Cowl when Batman returns. I won’t spoil who is wearing the Cowl at this point but it is NOT Bruce and that means a minorish character got boosted up, which moves the character forward. Now I wonder if they will move Diana (Wonder Woman) out for a year also to try to give other characters a chance or if they will BUILD HER UP MORE.

The art of “Gotham Gazette” was all over the place which is normal for a book that is set up like this. Each individual story was done for that character in mind. I loved the artwork for each and every single story. It fit for the character and what the story was telling. I can’t complain over a single thing except that I was greatly confused by the coloring in Vicki Vale’s sequence and the last page she appears because throughout the pages she appears to be more blondish and such, but in the last page she is obviously orange-red haired. I was confused at first on who the girl was that might have figured “IT” all out, but then I reread and got it all. Remember to keep the colors more on par and you will have people going OMG THIS IS AWESOME. That is my only complaint over the entire thing.

I am pleased overall where the series “Battle for the Cowl” has went and where it could go in the future, but like I mentioned earlier I am not pleased that Dan Didio has pretty much already said that Bruce will be back. I don’t care where it is or when it is, but allowing us to know this makes for a bad series. You have made too many loopholes in this story for Bruce to be Batman again. You had “HUSH” have Bruce’s face. You have Red Robin hunting down Bruce Wayne. There is too much emphasis on him returning where I feel like what is the point of even reading the future of the batman franchise at all. I will pick up “Gotham City Sirens” but that is because some of my favorite Batman characters are appearing in that series, but if they don’t stay with the series I will probably drop it immediately after. I know this was a Marvel slogan for Secret Invasion but hell it fits for DC and is what I want to tell them. “DC you need to EMBRACE CHANGE” before you end up sinking your entire ship.

FAERIE POINTS: 4 pts
REASON: Told stories about minor characters in a great light that moved them ALL forward into the Batman Franchise. Very Happy with it overall, but they need to take a focus away from the Superman/Batman franchises and focus on other characters.