Geek of Oz

Presented herein are the five (subjectively) best readables from novels and comics which Chris breezed through in 2016, whilst pretending he has a real job (he doesn't). --- 5 - Batman, Volume 9: Bloom (Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Miki, Yanick Paquette & FCO Plascencia) As the DC Universe headed for its sixty-billionth reboot with the "Rebirth" event last year, the few beloved series left in the New 52 started winding down. At the top of that count-on-one-hand list of good books still going was Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's Batman , a superlative run for the character which will undoubtedly stand the test of time (especially when some of it's collected in such swanky hardcovers ). The penultimate volume of their run, Bloom allowed Snyder and Capullo to start firing off climaxes for a story five years in the making - and fire off, they did. The bulk of their swan song for Batman takes place here, as he battles the eldritch villain Mr. Bloom b...

Scott Synder and Greg Capullo's work on Batman has been nothing short of ground breaking. Somehow this dynamic duo have managed to reinvigorate a character that didn't really need reinvigorating. The world of the New 52 Batman is darker, harsher, more complex and infinitely scarier than any Bat-universe before it. It's a more intense version of everything fans have come to love about the character and the city he inhabits. After reading Death of the Family it seems that The Court of Owls and The Night of Owls storylines were a mere primer for the terrifying trials in store for Bruce Wayne. The horror elements introduced in those stories come off as mild compared to what takes place in Death of the Family , a story arc opens with the Joker slaughtering the cops at GCPD to get his face back and proceeds to get more disturbing from there.

Scott Snyder is certainly hot property at the moment. With his run on Batman wowing fanboys and critics alike, it's not surprising that he's become one of the most sought after commodities in the comic book world. Put the words "written by Scott Snyder" on just about any project and it's almost guaranteed to be a commercial success. Throw in the artistic talents of the venerable Jim Lee and you know you are in for something special. Enter Superman Unchained: what could be seen from a cynical light as DC's desperate attempt to return Superman to his former glory. And who better to do it than Scott Snyder and Jim Lee, right? Well, yes and no.