One-paragraph reviews: Gates of Gotham, Teen Titans, Booster Gold, Silver Surfer

(No spoilers unless otherwise indicated.)

Batman: Gates of Gotham #1 (of 5)
Written by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins; art by Trevor McCarthy; DC

My expectations for this mini-series were insanely high. Partly because Scott Snyder's recent work on Detective Comics resulted in one of the best Batman stories I've ever read and I was looking forward to more of the same. And partly because Cassandra Cain, former Batgirl, is set to play an important role in it. Cass has a very passionate fanbase and she's a character I've read a lot about but haven't had much first-hand exposure to. While this first issue doesn't quite live up to the hype I built up for it, it's still pretty good. I'm not the biggest fan of the art style. It has a cartoony feel that doesn't appeal to me and I really dislike the character designs for all the bat characters when they're out of costume. But these are mostly due to aesthetic preferences, not a lack of skill on the artist's part. The important thing is it's good storytelling. Kyle Higgins' dialogues don't pack the same kind punch that Synder delivers with surgical precision in Detective, but it does the job. Cass only makes a brief appearance in the end, but it looks like she's going to play an integral part in the story going forward. We only get hints of what is really going on in this first issue, but it sets up an interesting mystery. Looking forward to the next issue.

GOOD

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Booster Gold #44
Written by Dan Jurgens; art by Dan Jurgens and Norm Rapmund; DC

(SPOILERS)

This is the first issue of Booster Gold that I've ever read, although I've previously enjoyed him as one of the main characters in 52. I was thankful for the in-story recap, which make this a very easy jump-on point for readers like me who are mostly picking this up because it ties into Flashpoint. This issue is mostly set-up, as Booster finds himself stranded in the Flashpoint timeline and realizes that something is very wrong. Booster and Barry Allen (who's not in this) seem to be the only two people so far who remember the old timeline. Jurgens' dialogues have a very old-school feel, which I don't mind at all. Considering how exasperating the ongoing Doomsday crossover in the Super titles has been, I wasn't too thrilled to find that he's going to be an antagonist in this series as well, albeit as a transformed, Flashpointified version of the character. I guess Jurgens did create him, so it shouldn't be too surprising. In any case, I'll keep reading, as I want to know how Booster pulls through this mess and what part he's going to play in restoring the timeline.

OKAY

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Silver Surfer #4 (of 5)
Written  by Greg Pak; art by Harvey Talibao, Iban Coello and Sandu Florea; Marvel

I don't have a lot to say about this issue. I think the art continues to be pretty weak, while the story continues to be pretty good. This concludes next month. Maybe I'll have more to say then.

OKAY

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Teen Titans #95
Written by JT Krul; art by Nicola Scott and Doug Hazlewood; DC

Nicola Scott is one hell of an artist. I suspect this title is going to end with #100 in August, but you can be sure that I'll follow Nicola to whatever book she'll be drawing next. In the meantime, she and inker Doug Hazlewood are drawing the shit out these characters and the story could be the most inane, boring crap and you would hardly notice. Thankfully, though, this story is actually pretty good. The combination of decent story and stellar art makes this one of the best books DC currently puts out, which is remarkable when you consider that before this creative team took over it had long been considered awful by fans. (I wasn't reading it, so I can't confirm that.) The one thing that has me feeling a little uncomfortable is the way this story turns Hindu mythology into supervillany. Obviously, a lot of comic book stories and characters are inspired by myth or religion, but int he case of Greek or Norse mythology, these are religions that are largely "extinct" (although some people still believe in them) and in the case of Christianity, it's usually the writer's own culture that is being mined for inspiration. Here, JT Krul steps dangerously close to cultural appropriation and exoticism. Solstice, the Indian girl who will apparently join the Teen Titans, brings some much needed diversity to the team, but did her first adventure have to be one against comic book versions of her culture's religion? From what I understand, Rankor, the god/demon/villain in this story, is a made-up character not based on any actual Hindu deity, so I don't want to overplay this. It's not that I disapprove of this story or anything. All I'm saying is that these questions remain in the back of my head while I'm reading (and enjoying) this.

GOOD