I made a New Years resolution last year, and boy oh boy did I fail to follow it. So here’s the deal, I’m not going to make a New Year’s resolution. I’m making an end of the world decision. This is 2012. The last year on the Mayan Calender. Not that I actually believe in that tripe, but the end of the world is a good motivation. Some might say that an incoming meteor or earthquake or invading aliens provides incentive.

I am going to devote a minimum of two hours every weekday to creative flow. Everyday I am going to try to develop and execute  new ideas. For some people that means programming,  or playing music, or drawing. For me that means being a aware of my surroundings and writing whenever I get a spare chance. The results will inevitably revealed through five avenues of output:

1. This blog. This is where I will keep my longer commentary pieces on news and analysis. I don’t expect I’ll end up using this as much as I will like; however, should I need a 1000 words, this shall be its destination
2. My tumblog: This is for shorter articles on news. I expect to regularly update this blog with links to news pieces I think are confounding and wild.
3. A Movie/Game Review Site: I’ve been meaning to do this for years and nearly got started over the break. I watch a stupid amount of movies and my friends play a stupid amount of games. Together I think we can spawn enough content to create something great. Right now I’m just securing art assets to make the site unique enough that it won’t get lost in the infinite screaming match. When I have it ready, I’ll first post about it here.
4. A second feature for the Toronto Standard. My first feature was well received by the online newspaper, but if I want any real credibility I need to have a second article published. They’ve already asked me for another proposal.  I’m thinking about street art in Toronto, with a focus on a certain Posterchild. Other ideas include the lack of appreciation of Canadian movies and a larger piece on the potential resurgence of Canadian comedy.
5. CTMedia. This site stinks. They’ve been slow to change and slow to update, two of the great Internet sins. We have a 24-hour news cycle. How can they not have an article released within a day of receiving it? Yet, they also need a tech reporter and pay almost minimum wage. That’s incentive enough.

While this is all running, I shall begin work on Pass the Word, a political commentary site that’s been fermenting in my mind for far too long without any action. This is going to require a quite a bit of work, so I’m going to break it down to bite size pieces and see if I can get an infrastructure working by exam season.

And let’s not forget my fictional endeavors. By the end of this week I will finish the first chapter in what will be a groundbreaking Nightwing novel. It will be good or I will burn it to ash. Below that on my priority list is my the start of my original time travel series and work on a couple short story ideas. Not to mention the long overdue conclusion to my Bleach fanfiction. I already have a 100 pages on that sucker. I might as well finish it. I just have to be careful and not start writing a Mistborn fanfic as well.

So, why am I telling you all this?

A friend of mine taught me that one of the biggest motivators, beyond fear and stress and even the end of the world, is social obligation. I write to you with the hope that the Internet and the friends who read this blog will keep me honest. I also hope to inspire some end of the world decisions in you as well.

Mark make that blog and start writing. It’s about time you started yelling into the hate void. ( By the way, I suggest the name Unsettled Tides) Holly start work on your refrigerator app. It sounds like a cool idea and it would be a great shame if someone implements it before you do. And Matthew, you said you would make a chess game months ago.

2012, as much as any other year, may be our last year on earth. Better get these things out of the way before the earthquake/meteor/return of the dinosaurs.

On Monday October 16, I was walking towards Ryerson when I encountered a bunch of protestors sitting at Yonge and Dundas. Actually, I first noticed the buzz of a police helicopter flying above me, followed by the whistles from the policemen. What I found were Occupy Toronto members protesting the cancellation of wheel transit (buses carrying people in wheelchairs or other mobile disabilities) to 120 King Street, a church which also happens to be their headquarters. And along the way back to the church they protested anything else they could along the way.

My intention at the start was to write an article on them. But, it turned out I simply have too much sound and not enough time to write it. So instead, I’m going to give you more or less the raw footage. This work has been edited to get rid of dead air, and set it up in a chapter by chapter basis. I’ve removed parts of interviews that are too meandering to use or where I make an intrusion that doesn’t help the interview. It takes an hour and thirty minutes to listen to all of this. All of this being, protest movements, personal ramblings, interviews, and exploration. You even get to hear my horrible biases, such as when I mumble that there are less homeless people here than I expect, or my surprise that the place didn’t smell like pot.

I should note, I have no affiliation with Occupy Toronto. I do think it’s impressive, but I am doing this because I found it fascinating to witness. Furthermore, if I say anything during an interview, that is likely just to get the interviewee to talk more.

Speaking of interviews, the second one that shows up is not mine. Not mine in the sense that I didn’t conduct it. A freelance journalist (for the Star, I think) ran up to someone in charge and started talking to them. I was nearby and had a recorder. This is why you’ll here the man talking, but no one asking the questions.

As for everyone else I talk to, their names are, in order of appearance:
M. Rossi, Policeman (I read this from his jacket)
Antonin GovernmentName, Occupier and Free food organizer
Wally Williams, Homeless Worker
Celeste Bouviour (If this name sounds outrageous that’s because it’s super fake.), climate analyst
Mark Harwood-Jones, volunteer
Micheal Pinto, volunteer

If you want more information about each clip, it’ll be in the description and comments on the audio.

Thousands of fans and collectors rushed into a comic book store to witness the death of an icon. They had seen it on the news, heard it on the radio, been told by their friends. Superman was dead. The cover of Superman 75 showed Superman’s torn cape blowing in the wind like a flag, while his family and friends wept in the background.

On this day in 1992, a single store in Detriot sold nearly 200 000 copies of a comic, as consumers raced to pick up that issue. The store began to see that they were running out of issues, so they marked the prices up higher and higher. By the end of the day, the issue that had started off at a $1.50 was going for twenty times its original price. This was a common sight in comic book stores across North America.

DC Comics, publisher of Superman, and comic book retailers made around $30 million in one day. This was the third time an American comic book publisher had hit the jackpot. It was also the last.

It was clear by the end of that same year that the comic market was shrinking. Sales dropped, the collectors cashed out and sent the whole system into what Grant Morrison, a writer at DC Comics, called “a death spiral.”

However, comic book creators see a way out of this tail spin through a new distribution system: the internet.

“I love digital comics. I will always have a heart for paper and a book I can hold, but I have an iPad that is stocked with comics,” says Kelly Sue Deconnick, a new writer for Marvel Comics. “Digital comics” are mainstream print comics that have been scanned and edited to be read on a computer, smartphone or tablet. Deconnick carries at least fifty comics with her at any given time, since those issues weigh no more than her tablet does.

“I have a favourite reader, and I love the ease of downloading. I read most of my comics this way.”

Readers like ComiXology, Graphic.ly, and iVerse are popular on Apple Inc.’s iOS market and Google’s Andriod market, which sell apps for smartphones and tablet computers. According to analysts from PCWorld, the iPad has become the de facto device for reading comics outside of print thanks to its ability to show vibrant colours and a simple lack of competition.

While other publishers like Viz and Dark Horse have a regular release schedule for digital comics, DC and Marvel have been reluctant to approach the new system. For many years, they refused to offer their comics digitally for weeks if not months after they had been released in print. That is until DC Comics decided to take the initiative. Beginning in September all of their comics are available the same day in print and online.

Yet, for some people this isn’t enough. There are complaints of the price of digital comics being too high and that the way comics are edited to fit on a phone or tablet fundamentally change the way comics are read.

“If [comics publishers] want to reach a wide audience, their price has to be two digits, 99 cents. That’s the magic number where it doesn’t feel you’re spending money,” says Cameron Stewart. Stewart is an artist whose work includes a run on Batman and Robin, and his own award-winning webcomic, Sin Titulo. Comics are currently priced at $2.99 and $3.99, depending on size, in print and digital. Stewart believes that the closer you get to five dollars, the more the consumer has to think about what they’re purchasing.

“There is so much on the app store that I bought without any idea if it was good. I bought games, movies, apps, completely on impulse, because it was a dollar or less.”

Ty Templeton, a comic book creator who’s worked for the Marvel and DC Comics for popular series like Justice League International and The Batman Adventures, doesn’t mind either format. He likes web comics and has all of his comics for sale online. Templeton, however, sees a bigger issue with the digital format than the price. He believes that it fundamentally changes the way comics are read.

“A lot of apps show the comic panel by panel, and for a comic that’s like watching a movie in the 80s. You would lose a bit of the left and the right and soon, the movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers becomes five brides for four brothers. It doesn’t work,” Templeton says.

Apps like ComiXology tend to show comics through individual panels, due to smartphones’ smaller screens. Without this feature, the dialogue and narration become difficult to read.

“I object to the idea that you have to change the shape of the screen to enjoy the content.”

Deconnick, though more positive, says that “digital doesn’t work with the double page spread.” A double page spread is when an image is spread over two pages. It’s often used for dramatic impact and surprise.

“Because you have to pull out and shrink down to see the full image, and then zoom in to see the detail, it doesn’t have the same power as it does [in print].”

While discussion behind digital comics isn’t exactly unanimous, almost everyone agrees that it’s the way of the future, whether the publishers take initiative or not. Ask any creator if their work is available online and the answer is a resounding yes. Though, they’ll add that they didn’t have choice in the matter.

In recent years, comics have become victim to rampant piracy. Within an hour of a comic hitting store shelves, it will be on every major peer-to-peer downloading network for free.  It’s worse with the international market, as comics from Japan and Europe end up online before they’re even released in North America.

And it works both ways. Dan DiDio, co-publisher for DC Comics, has blamed piracy for weak international sales, since the time difference between countries allows comics to be scanned in the US before the stores open in the rest of the world.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to find that the books that don’t sell as much are going to suffer even more. All the variety of content is going to disappear,” says Francis Manapul. Manapul is a critically lauded Canadian artist. His new Flash comic will be one of DC Comics’ first to be immediately converted into digital. “Superman and Batman will always sell, but lesser known characters like Martian Manhunter or Aquaman are going to suffer.”

“Pay for the damn thing,” he quickly adds. “If you can buy a five dollar coffee, you can pay for a two-ninety-nine comic.”

Stewart, however, doesn’t think that piracy is a big deal. He knows that most of his work can be pirated easily, but feels that all media are subject to this, not just comics.

“We’re adopting a new paradigm in which everything is free first and then anyone who wants to support will buy it afterwards,” He takes this belief to heart. Stewart offers his own web comic, Sin Titulo, for free on his website, and then sells a graphic novel version once he finishes enough pages.

“Besides, the only people who are pirating comics are into comics to begin with, they’re more likely to buy a copy than anyone else.”

Despite many of the challenges ahead for comics distribution and sales, there is an overwhelming belief that digital comics and web comics are expanding the medium and the readership.

“I love that young creators who don’t have connections to Joe Quesada [Marvel Comics’ chief creative officer], or don’t have the money to self-publish can still publish online,” says Templeton.

“These days you don’t have to go through the system and talk to a publisher, by gum, an artist could just put it online every week and see if they can build an audience.”

Web comics are a popular phenomenon that has been around for almost as long as the internet itself. Well-known comics like Penny Arcade, XKCD, Questionable Content and Achewood all came from independent artists and writers.

Graham Moogk-Soulis began his comic, PostScript, in his freshman year of university. It ran the student newspaper Imprint and by his second year, he had a website and was posting them online.

“My ultimate goal was always to be in newspaper comics … I would look at my website and say, ‘there’s no career in that,” Moogk-Soulis says with a sheepish grin. “But as I started researching newspaper syndication I realized I was born ten years too late.”

The funnies and other newspaper syndicated comics have had a worse time in the last decade than the rest of the comic book industry.  The Village Voice reported in April that most cartoonists need multiple jobs to sustain themselves, as many of them are forced to work for free. As newspapers continue to decline in sales, demand for syndicated comics has as well.

“[Web comics] are still incredibly difficult, you still need a day job or if you’re like me, be a student, to support you,” says Moogk-Soulis. He’s optimistic that someday he’ll be able to make a living out of his comic, and sells prints on his website and at conventions to generate revenue.

Stewart is confident that web comics are the next stage in comic production. He’s willing to bet that Marvel and DC would generate a lot more interest if they had exclusively online series. Not to mention that he thinks focusing on the web will fix many of the glitches found in digital comics.

“Print comics are limited by the amount of ink you can fit on paper, but online you can do whatever you want. If you think about the aesthetic of digital, one panel at a time, you’ll be able to take advantage of it,” he says. There’s a concept in comic design called the “infinite canvas” which implies that on the web, you have literally infinite space to make a story. No need for turning a page at all.

“No matter where this industry goes, I’m sticking with the web. I’m at a stage in my life where I don’t like accumulating stuff.”

Many love saying good bye to dusty basements and garages filled with thirty-year-old periodicals. The iPad can store just as many issues of X-Men and Wonder Woman without all the clutter. Yet, Templeton is quick to remind people that there will always be a place for print comics.

“If you want a first edition copy of the Old Man in the Sea by Ernest Hemingway you’re going to pay a thousand dollars for it while the paperback is out this week for eight-ninety-five and there’s a reason for that,” he says. “Print is a moment in history that you can hold in your hand. ”

Thanks to Comic Vine and XKCD for the images.

Clemencio feels that having a physical copy of a game, especially an indie game, immediately increases its value and uniqueness to the player. While many developers find producing physical copies to be an actual barrier to publication, Clemencio believes that this is a phenomenon unique to North America.

“Back when I took my internship in Japan, I went to Akihabara. Right when I got there, I saw a store selling independent games from local developers,” said Clemencio. Akihabara is a region of Tokyo famous for its shops that sell “niche market” or “geek” merchandise. It is no exaggeration that within this region, you can find almost every video game released in Japan.

“[In North America], you hear people yelling ‘Digital download! Digital download!’ but you almost never hear about physical copies of [indie] games,” says Clemencio.

The twenty-five-year-old is the founder of Sakura River, an indie video game company. Clemencio got started in 2007, two years into his computer science degree at the University of Waterloo.

“[Sakura River] started as an on and off, sometimes full time, sometimes part time job. I had to be able to manage making the game and my studies,” says Clemencio.  “The main challenge was getting artists. We use freelance artists … to do the artwork. This took up most of the time.”

To put the game together Clemencio had a small team, only about five to six people. Clemencio does most of the coding and writing himself, and hands off the rest to the artists and composer. His team mostly consists of university students or recent graduates.

“I don’t set out to hire students, I look for quality. I just so happens that a lot of students are pretty good at art and music,” Clemencio explains. Once he had all the pieces for his team together, he found that making his first commercial game took up those last two years of university.

Despite his base in Canada, it’s not just his marketing techniques that have a Japanese tinge. His games Falling Hearts and now Infinite Game Works, are heavily influenced by Japanese culture. Had his games been released in Japan, they would have been defined as “visual novels”.

Visual novels are a distinctly Far East style of game. They focus entirely on story, limiting their gameplay to occasional choices the player can make to guide the story in one direction or another. Visual novels have a massive independent game scene in Japan due to their relative ease to create. There are entire stores and conventions devoted to these games as demand for them in the Far East continues to grow.

“There’s a certain class of visual novel that are called ‘crying games.’ The stories are tragic, and they’re known to make a lot of men cry,” he explains. He’s referring to games where the whole story is focused on coming to a dramatic and horrifying end, with the hope that it leaves the player in tears. It’s one of the many subgenres of visual novels. “I’m not at that level yet, but this is something we’re trying to approach.”

Falling Hearts and Infinite Game Works are available at sakurariver.ca, and in person from Clemencio and staff at Fan Expo during the last weekend of August.

The cover of Justice League 1 invites you in bold gold text to DC Comic’s “New 52″. It’s not just the headline either. The costumes look different, the attitude looks different, and we’ve even got a brand new logo for it. It’s too bad that the actual content doesn’t feel all that different. Geoff Johns provides a serviceable first issue that works as a good opener to the New DC, without trying too hard.  It’s an enjoyable read, but nothing substantial.

Justice League 1 opens big. Batman is running across rooftops trying to catch a bad guy while Gotham helicopters fly above, chasing him as if he was another criminal. The monster is about to get away, when Green Lantern smashes the beast into the ground with a green firetruck. It does the trick, but now the police see them. Batman vulnerable and the Green Lantern in plain sight, the helicopters turn their guns and fire. It’s good stuff, it just ends far too early to mean anything. Justice League 1 feels like the first half of a television pilot. Except, the reader has hit a commercial break that’s going to last a month. Regular comic readers will probably take this in stride. At least they got three extra pages, compared to the 20 page standard. As for the mainstream crowd DC is hoping to extract, they might be more disappointed.

However, Johns must be commended for writing a story entirely free from continuity. This is a brand new origin for the Justice League, there’s no reference to the other universe or how things used to have been or might have been. It’s a straight forward introduction to these characters and to this universe. It may not be entirely satisfying, but at least it’s not confusing.

The biggest complaints are for the art. The art in itself is not bad, as expected, Jim Lee has a good grasp of how to make superheroes look impressive and larger than life. The cause for concern is the layout. It is perhaps one of the least dynamic layouts done in a recent comic book. Most pages are three panels long or entirely symmetrical. The lack of fluidity and variance, doesn’t wreck the comic in any way, just makes it on a whole, less interesting to read. Alex Sinclair has moved over from Flashpoint to colour this series as well, and his work is again one of the highlights of the issue. While he seems paralyzed by some of Lee’s busier scenes, on the whole he makes Lee’s pencils pop.

Justice League 1 is a safe comic, in every sense of the word. It’s decompressed without being atmospheric, it has a layout from the early 80s, and feels almost like a buddy-cop show. It’s only real innovation is that Johns doesn’t rely on prior continuity. This is a blessing for new readers, but for a book that is meant to usher in a new DC for new and old, it just doesn’t offer up a big enough bang.

Score: 3/5

Flashpoint is one of the least impressive stories about the Flash. I want to get this out of the gate immediately. Flashpoint can hardly be called a story, it’s more like staring out of a car window as scenery passes you by. There was always great potential here, perhaps even the beginning of a great Flash story. It’s just so damning on writer Geoff Johns that he could not use this interesting new world to any greater extent than undeserved shock moments and window dressing. Johns has had an impressive run of comics so far, but this is easily his weakest. A reader will rarely be so underwhelmed by Barry Allen than in Flashpoint.

Let’s recap the story so far. There’s an alternate universe and the Flash is going to fix it with Thomas Wayne Batman. This is all that happens. There is no character development. You don’t learn anything new about Barry Allen or Thomas Wayne. There is semi-witty banter followed by screaming and death. It’s a slideshow almost, like the ones your grandparents show you about their trip to Milan. And like watching their grandparents’ trip, the reader will have the same reaction, boredom and disappointment. So badly does Flashpoint want to you be awed by its climatic moments. It practically screams at the reader ‘look how badass this is’ or ‘look how dark this is’. It is all undeserved, a knife meant to twist in a non-existent wound. Only within a four page stretch does it ever come close to matching its potential, and even then it just feels dumb.

The conclusion to this series is insulting, to the reader and to Barry Allen. The ‘change’ that caused this drastic shift in timelines is ludicrous, and breaks the suspension of disbelief. As for the ‘hero’, without knowledge of Johns’ run on the Flash, Barry appears to be a petty man-child. The final revelation may have come across better, had the story been better written. However, crushed underneath the iron fist of Johns’ literalism and lack of subtlety, it is easy to point Barry Allen’s motivations as being silly and child-like.

Not to mention that Flashpoint is hardly about Barry Allen at all. It is far more about Batman (or Batmen) than it is about the Flash. The Reverse-Flash barely shows up in this issue, despite the entire series building up to his appearance and attempting to find him. And when he does, that battle concerns Batman more than it does the Flash. Barry is reduced to a courier status, a guy who delivers messages between universes, but never does anything.

The art is fine. Alex Kubert lays out scenes traditionally, without much dynamism. His lines look scratchy and more busy than other issues, likely because he had to draw a whole backgrounds filled with people. The art feels tired and while it’s good for the most part, it’s not impressive. It simply exists to push this story to a close. Alex Sinclair continues to be one of the greatest reasons to read Flashpoint, but here, he just doesn’t match what he’s shown in other issues. The thematic colours are not as evident, and it doesn’t have any emotion behind it.

Again, the beginning of this series sparked a lot of promise. Johns is great at building worlds. It is practically his job at DC, to elaborate and unify concepts in under-appreciated superheroes. It is so disappointing that this series’ sole existence is to have an in-universe explanation for why DC has a relaunch. Not to tell an interesting story, not to build character, but to placate a niche audience who would have moaned had there not been anything to lead into the “new 52″.

Score: 1.5/5

This fan-made series is pretty hilarious. Written by Brian Clevinger, known for Atomic Robo and 8-bit Theater, it’s like a more violent, lower budget Firefly. There’s set to be about ten episodes in this series, with future episodes being 5 minutes long. I didn’t think this would be any good but colour me surprised, it is. There’s a witty script, and while the acting’s not comparable, the setting is interesting enough that I could overlook some of the mumbled lines. The props are reasonably authentic and it captures Fallout’s post-apocalyptic wasteland atmosphere remarkably well.

I recommend at least taking a gander at the first episode, especially if you’re a Fallout fan. They even use VATS in one scene, which is good, I guess. I thought it was weird, but it is pretty cool how they included that in an episode.

As I’ve stated throughout this website, I am a great fan of the Ultimates. I read all of Ultimates vol. 1 in a day, and from then on prayed every month that Mark Millar will finally get an issue done on time. Millar has since turned into a bad taste in my mouth, due to some questionable writing choices in his independent comics and his more or less apathy to his remaining Marvel comics.  This is no reflection the Ultimates, but boy, am I happy that someone who isn’t Jeph Loeb is finally getting their hands on this series.

To counter my dear love for original Ultimates series, I should also note my tepid reception of Jonathan Hickman. Despite owning most of his independent work, I have grown tired of him since discovering that he writes every single comic with the same unsubtle underlying themes.

With my own biases aside, I will now say that “The Ultimates” 1 (now finally an ongoing series) is an amazing first issue. The plot continues from Ultimate Fallout and Avengers vs. New Ultimates (though you don’t need to read those series to understand what’s going on here). Nick Fury is director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and organization which has expanded past the United States-mandate into an organization that spans the globe. The Ultimates, a team run by S.H.I.E.L.D., includes Thor, Hawkeye, Iron Man and, perhaps most significantly, not Captain America. Fury is shown to nearly have a personal empire as he commands some of the most powerful people on the planet. However, Fury fails to realize that in his expansion, he may have over-extended his reach.

Hickman writes most of the story from Fury’s perspective in the briefing room as the team flies around the world. This means there is a lot of exposition as each situation is explained to Fury. Despite this, Hickman provides some involved character moments. Tony Stark talking to his new butler and to Nick Fury are standouts, not to mention the end of this issue, which is especially powerful given Fury’s prior characterization. It has a couple funny moments, and manages to build tension, in spite of Hickman’s focus on Nick Fury.

Out of the writing, I think what I enjoyed the most were the brief shots of the Ultimate Future Foundation, who appear to be the villains of the arc. Just through the short intro narration the reader understands their perspective on the world, and what they’re attempting to build. Hickman is creating a version of Reed Richards who, unlike his mainstream incarnation, is devoted to solving everything, no matter the cost.

As for the art, the art is absolutely gorgeous. Thankfully, Hickman knows when to shut up and let Esad Ribic and Dean White tell the story. Their artwork repeatedly steals the show. Ribic’s lines are delicate, yet intricate whether it is drawing Thor’s face, the halls of Asgard or a futuristic vehicle. Ribic created machines in one panel, where just by looking at its design, the reader can understand how it works. That is a rare talent in this industry, where the focus is often on bigger, but not better.

White’s colours compliment Ribic’s pencils beautifully. The characters and scenes have a unified aesthetic and portray the fairy tale realm of Asgard and the Future Foundation’s dome with the same amount of vigour and intensity. Visually, the comic is easy to follow because of his colours as they transition between reds and blues. Colour helps distinguish whose story you’re following and where that character is. I cannot stress enough how Ribic and White are perhaps the best addition to this series.

The Ultimates 1 looks to be a fantastic start to a series that has been abused and neglected for a while now. The art is beautiful, and the simplest reason to recommend this book. As for the story, while I hope future issues narrow down the scope, this issue is an easy jump on point and introduces what could potentially be three or four arcs. Hickman is likely going to return to his traditional themes of progress despite human nature within the next two issues, but for now, the Ultimates feels fresh and a lot of fun.

Score: 4.5/5

This is one of the worst things Grant Morrison has ever written. Search the Internet for spoilers, avoid the actual issue like the plague if you can. The writing is mediocre, and the art burns your eyes with the heat of a thousand suns. The issue is more or less nonsensical. Despite his attempts to make the internet look like a video game, Morrison has little to no understanding as to how a video game works. A better artist might have saved this issue, but as it stands, it only contains the worst parts of Morrison’s habits and the art of a sociopath bent on the destruction of humanity.

If you want, I can give you the only reason to read this comic right here: Jezebel Jet is alive and works for Leviathan.

There, now you never need to wonder what happened.

Score: SATAN/5

Scott Snyder has proven himself with American Vampire and his run on Detective Comics to be one DC’s best writers. Gates of Gotham, however, is not quite at that level. It is by no means bad or unreadable but it doesn’t capture the same thrill and intrigue that his other comics have done.

The story of Gates of Gotham regards the destruction of Gotham’s landmarks, where the city becomes a character in a plot that spans decades of its history. Batman (Dick Grayson) and all of his allies must stop whoever is responsible and discover their motives before Gotham becomes unrecognizable. The best attributes of the story are its characters and how it elaborates on Gotham’s past. I really enjoyed seeing Damien antagonize Cassandra Cain, and  Tim Drake’s wit and Dick trying to hold all three of them together. They all make the story interesting and better realized.

The other aspect, Gotham’s past, is another welcome addition to a Batman story. The reader finally gets to see a definitive history of Gotham, almost to the extent that the city becomes a character. And I say almost, because of its villain, who is likely the biggest disappointment of the miniseries. The mastermind behind this is actually a relatively unimpressive character that contradicts efforts to make it appear like this unraveling of the city’s past is an act of self-destruction. Gotham only becomes a better explained backdrop, never a entity that is responding to its inhabitants.

However, I have to commend this series for its consistency. Gates of Gotham has three writers working on this simultaneously, Scott Snyder (the lead), Kyle Higgins and Ryan Parrott. While Snyder and Higgins handled the story, Higgins and Parrott wrote the scripts. You rarely see a series these days that has more than two writers working on it, so this is not so much praise, as it is surprise that the story ended up as good as it did.

The art is equally scatter-shot, as the later issues prove. Issues one to three and five were penciled and inked by Trevor McCarthy, but there are at least three others involved in the last three. McCarthy isn’t involved at all in issue four. I imagine this has a lot to do with the DC relaunch happening tomorrow, as DC scrambles to release five comics in four months. I couldn’t help thinking that the series might have been better suited to just have been released on a normal schedule, as the sometimes jarring shift from 3-4-5 does not help Gates of Gotham in any way.

McCarthy’s art is decent and was well-suited for the historic parts of the plot, not as well for the modern day aspects, but it’s fine. The art has good execution and flow, even if it is busy at times. Backgrounds were visually more impressive over characters.  I was not a fan of Dustin Nguyen’s and Derec Donovan’s art in issue four as it left far too loose by comparison to how tight McCarthy played his work in the other issues. They weren’t bad per se, just too different and didn’t quite fit the story. I must commend Guy Major who was the only consistent visual element of all five issues, and his colouring is what really brought the artwork together. In fact, I would ascribe to him much of the visual flow and the distinctive look of Gotham in this series.

Gates of Gotham is a good series that could have been better. It helps transition Batman from pre-Flashpoint to the relaunch, but fails a critical ambition, to create Gotham as a living creature.  In some ways it feels rushed towards the end, as the conclusion seems to be the weakest part of all. If you come to read about Gotham’s Gates, come for the dysfunctional (but oh-so-entertaining) Bat-family, as this is probably the last time we’ll see them in their current state.

Score: 3.5/5