Fantastic Universes

“The Fall Of The House Of Kane” – Part One Writer: Marguerite Bennett Artists: Fernando Blanco & John Rauch Review by Steve J. ray After the earth shattering events surrounding  Batwoman , both here in her own book, as well as in the pages of Detective Comics , “The Fall Of The House Of Kane” is an ominous title, indeed. From the opening scenes, depicting a pixellated video-chat between Kate and the warden in charge of the asylum where her sister Beth is being kept, writer Marguerite Bennett is dropping breadcrumbs for the readers to pick up. The way Bennett builds tension in this issue is truly remarkable. Kate Kane has always been formidable, but in this issue she is just, plain  scary . All Fall Down I don’t think there are many writers that can drop clues and red-herrings better than Marguerite Bennett. I’ve been following Kate Kane’s adventures since the character was introduced, and this issue still surprised me. The last year on this title ...

Article by Steve J. Ray One of my favorite assignments for Dark Knight News is reviewing  Detective Comics  every two weeks. It’s been a joy writing about DC Comics’ oldest title for twelve months now, as it’s consistently excellent, issue after issue. James Tynion IV  has been writing this series since the launch of DC’s Rebirth, and he’s done an incredible job. People who read my reviews regularly know that I have become a huge fan of his work. I was very disappointed when he announced that issue #981 would be his last. What made this all the more frustrating was the fact that I had no idea who would be taking over. Thanks to Den Of Geek, we now have an answer, at least for issues #983 - #987: TV and comics writer Bryan Hill. Mr. Hill has a pretty impressive resume. He’s the author of DC Comics’  The Wild Storm: Michael Cray,  and one of the writers on hit T.V. show  Ash Vs Evil Dead . Mr. Hill also has a few more DC projects in the wor...

“Batmen Eternal” Part One Writer: James Tynion IV Artists: Javier Fernández & John Kalisz Review by Steve J. Ray From the alternative cover, depicting a shattered, blood red Bat-Signal (evocative of the vintage 90s Bat Epic “Knightfall”) to the very last page, “Batmen Eternal” is an emotional powerhouse of a comic. The script is tight, tense, and emotional, and the art elevates the tension to nerve shattering levels. This issue of  Detective Comics  is cinematic, atmospheric, and action packed! The title “Batmen Eternal” sounds positive, but seeing the strained relationship between Bruce and Tim, and Kate leading The Colony makes the future feel very bleak. Batmen Divided The glimpses into the recent past, with Cass fighting side-by-side with the now deceased Clayface, really tug at the heart-strings. James Tynion IV is really crafting drama of note. I would love to see the original script for this...

Article by Steve J. Ray Cameron Monaghan’s Jerome has returned to our screens on  Gotham . In recent months, the actor has been posting teasers of classic comics stories panels. Fox have already confirmed the season four finale’s title as “No Man’s Land”, so it seems that these teasers may actually bear fruit. According to an article on ComicBook.com, and the actor’s Twitter feed, “No Man’s Land” may NOT be the only vintage tale hitting our screens. Monaghan Tweeted a classic Image from Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “The Long Halloween” in January, with the simple tag-line: It’s not Halloween. So why am I posting this?  # subtle A Modern Classic In regards to his enigmatic post, Monaghan had this to say: Most of the characters on that page are the ones that are going to be teaming up. They’re interacting with each other. They’re all taking over cities, and doing things in interesting ways. I think that a lot of what we’re doing this season is very insp...

Article by Steve J. Ray Sometimes, we receive news that’s so exciting that it blows our minds. DC Comics have always innovated: Prestige format books, Vertigo, Elseworlds… now the comics giant has unveiled their “Black Label” line; high quality, mature themed standalone books, featuring DC Comics’ greatest characters. Now, if that’s not exciting news, then I don’t know what is! DC LAUNCHES NEW PUBLISHING IMPRINT  DC BLACK LABEL BRINGING EDGY AND PROVOCATIVE STANDALONE STORIES TO THE LEGENDS OF  BATMAN, SUPERMAN AND WONDER WOMAN ALL-STAR WRITERS FRANK MILLER, SCOTT SNYDER, BRIAN AZZARELLO, KELLY SUE DeCONNICK,  GREG RUCKA AND JOHN RIDLEY BRING  THEIR ULTIMATE TAKES ON MODERN SUPERHERO STORYTELLING COLLABORATING WITH SUPER-STAR ARTISTS JOHN ROMITA JR., GREG CAPULLO,  LEE BERMEJO AND PHIL JIMENEZ The list of talents creating these comics is outstanding. When we find out what the initial releases actually are, things heat up even ...