Review: "Batman: Annual #1"

What better way to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year than with a Batman Annual? And 2016's entry, written and pencilled by some of the finest Batman heads of recent years (King, Snyder, Dini, Finch, Adams) certainly looks like it could give us some of that renowned Gotham Christmas spirit.

By both delivering on the Annual's quintessential promise of telling another story (both narratively and visually) and effectively capturing the uniting, disarming spirit of Christmas, Batman Annual #1 ends up being cheerful and insightful, private and public, grand and intimate, all at the same time. Whether it's the emotional tale of a rescue dog, a road trip with an unlikely companion, the introduction of an altogether new villain or a virtuoso treatment of the unexplored niches and moods of the Batman universe by Scott Snyder, it's an instant Batman Christmas classic. Just like "Merry Christmas From The Joker", this will be another must see/read for many Christmases to come.

10/10

Quickfire-Combo Reviews: "Poe Dameron" #6 / "Batgirl & The Birds of Prey" #2 / "All-Star Batman" #2

"Poe Dameron" #6: The galactic mouse hunt between Poe Dameron and Agent Terex continues to be a highly entertaining affair, and one of Marvel's best Star Wars comics to date. It's light, fun, and perfectly captures the Poe Dameron established in The Force Awakens.

8/10

"Batgirl & The Birds of Prey" #2: Neither Batman nor her father can convince Barbara Gordon to accept any help here, and the comic is all the better for it. Batgirl, Huntress and Black Canary wonderfully click in this series, with a plot that retains a clear focus on where its headed altogether.

8/10

"All-Star Batman" #2: 2016 has not been short of great Batman series, and one almost has to feel sorry for Tom King, whose excellent new take on the Dark Knight in the main series gets overshadowed by this beast of a comic book. The artistic freedom Snyder enjoys here makes All-Star Batman truly excel in every aspect, and one of DC Comics' highlight series of the year.

9/10

Quickfire Combo-Reviews: "Daredevil" #10 / "Black Panther" #5 / "All Star Batman" #1

"Daredevil" #10: It takes a while for this new story arc to get out of the gates, but once in full swing, it is a thoroughly strong statement, artistically and narratively, from Soule and Garney.

8/10

"Black Panther" #5: Not quite the action yet promised after #4, but the interconnectedness and complexity of the comic's themes and motifs still makes this a must-read of 2016.

8/10

All Star Batman #1: Its theme of the potential evil which lurks in every common citizen and just needs to be triggered is nothing new in Snyder's Batman lore (just think of the "Mr. Bloom" story line). However, everything else here isn't, as Snyder, Romita and Shalvey go crazy with what Batman can be in 2016. 

10/10