Comic Book Rants & Raves This Week: 12/14/12

Welcome to this week's edition of Rants & Raves. Every week we read a whole slew of new comics, and this is the spot where you can speak your mind about what you really liked... and what you really hated. Each week I'll pick 4 things to address -- they can range from a single moment to an entire comic. At first, I divided them perfectly into 2 rants and 2 raves, but let's face it, some weeks are way better than others. This was a fantastic week and I was fortunate enough to love a vast majority of what happened in the series I follow. Because of that, there's 2 raves, 1 rant, and 1 twist that I just had to talk about (deemed "huh?!" because I need to see how it plays out!).

Once you're done with the read (thank you for your time), feel free to take a moment to chime in with your thoughts on my selections. And if you're feeling extra productive, you're more than welcome to present 4 rants or raves of your own.

SPOILERS! SO PLEASE PROCEED WITH CAUTION!

Rave: Greg Capullo's art

By all means, Joker should be a character that sends chills down your spine and invades your nightmares. Except for me, he never has. Despite his twisted ways, I've never found him haunting... at least, not until now. Yes, Scott Snyder is crafting a superb story, but Greg Capullo's art is undeniably eerie. BATMAN is packed with horror and I'm loving every panel of it. Go ahead and creep yourself out a bit by seeing how long you can stare at the following panel. Let it really sink in.

Good luck with your dreams tonight.

Rant: Harley Quinn vs Joker

Let me start by saying something nice first: this issue did have some cool moments. His face plastered to the wall was gruesome and there were some legitimately enjoyable segments. Now that I got that out of the way, holy sweet mother of Kal-El, this fight had some major flaws. First and foremost, a ripped piece of cloth from his shirt manages to hold both of them on the ledge? Wait, what?! I know they're both pretty light when compared to their world of bulky heroes, but that makes no sense to me at all (and that's not even diving into how he fell).

Next, she bitesoff part of his tongue (looks like the tip?) and he spends the rest of the issue babbling without any trouble whatsoever. Let me repeat myself: wait, what?! Now, I'm by no means an expert when it comes to the medical field, but I'm preeetty certain such a thing would significantly hinder his ability to speak. Did this irk you too?

Rave: ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #5

Fred Van Lente has created a masterpiece. Issue 5 was brilliant in virtually every way and had me in bliss the entire time. It was gut-bustingly hilarious, loaded with energetic action, and best of all, it was the ideal jumping on point (you hear that, people still not reading Valiant?!).

Armstrong's brother, the Eternal Warrior, is after the duo and the chemistry between all of them reaches some truly fascinating moments (most notably how Archer now views Armstrong as family). The issue is absurdly fun and I just can't praise it enough. If I had the opportunity to review it, I'd give it a 6/5.

Huh?!: BATMAN & ROBIN #15's ending

I know Joker said Batman would be the one to kill the Bat-family and now I'm dying to find out what's up with this twist. Is that actually Bruce Wayne, and if so, how'd Joker pull this off? And if that's the case, how can Damian even hope to compete with Batman? The poor kid couldn't even beat Tim Drake! I can't call this a rant or rave yet because we have no idea about how this came to be or will turn out, but Peter Tomasi now has a firm grip on my attention and I'm anxious to find out how this all unfolds. Will Damian be the first victim in 'Death of the Family?' I certainly hope not. What are you thoughts on this one?

Gregg Katzman is a freelance writer for Comic Vine and IGN Entertainment. He really, really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaaally hopes Damian doesn't die.

Yes. I AM reading Valiant!

And you are right, Their books right now (Harbinger, XO-Manowar, A&A) are awesome!

Haven't read Batman 15 yet, so I can't comment on that. (Hey, I've been busy! lol)

In regards to the Joker/Quinn part:

A) You could be surprised how durable clothes can be, depending on the material (which I assume is something he took from an auto-repairman.

B) Joker wasn't speech impaired either when Batman ran into him during the Black Glove story (where he sliced it in half).

the bus scenes were awesome. the batman art was best about the issue . the story hardly progessed

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

agreed !!! next xo and harbinger!

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

I really like B&R, it was my favorite issue from dotf so far, just because how funny it was. And Gleason's art was amazing I would had it as a Rave. Also guys, Damian isn't going to die, why do I keep seeing this? I think that B&R ending could possible be Batman, or Clayface. Cant wait for the next Rave/Rant article.

@Outside_85: If you tongue was bitten you'd be bleeding to death. I think it was kind of dumb that he doesn't have a mouth full of blood. This deserves to be a rant.

@k4tzm4n said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

As of right now, I have to agree with this. All 5 titles are excellent.

Yea I wonder if there going to expand it after Shadowman

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@k4tzm4n said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

As of right now, I have to agree with this. All 5 titles are excellent.

Yea I wonder if there going to expand it after Shadowman

warrren has said they would be . hopefully enturnal warrior book or ninjak on going

@Cavemold said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@k4tzm4n said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

As of right now, I have to agree with this. All 5 titles are excellent.

Yea I wonder if there going to expand it after Shadowman

warrren has said they would be . hopefully enturnal warrior book or ninjak on going

Thats cool, hopefully Solar, Man of the atom get's introduced at some point as well

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@Cavemold said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

@k4tzm4n said:

@Jonny_Anonymous said:

Everything Valiant does is amazing. FACT.

As of right now, I have to agree with this. All 5 titles are excellent.

Yea I wonder if there going to expand it after Shadowman

warrren has said they would be . hopefully enturnal warrior book or ninjak on going

Thats cool, hopefully Solar, Man of the atom get's introduced at some point as well

yea that woukd be great

I'm hoping that the Batman at the end of Batman & Robin 15 was just a muscled up stand in on Joker Venom

@k4tzm4n said:

@Cavemold: @Jonny_Anonymous: Ninjak needs one!

thats what im saying

Personally I think Damian will live. He has been building up and I think that may lead to something. However, you never know with a comic series like this!

As long as Damian is important in Batman Incorporated, he won't die. Morrison has plans for him, and he's not going to let another writer ruin it for him.

The Joker vs Harley scene was kinda flawed. 
 
But one thing i can't get my head wrapped round:  
Batman's faced Joker so many times with so much experience. He ditches his gloves and punches his face, cuts his knuckles and the toxin enters his bloodstream. Totally not a Bat moment =.=" we don't even see how or why his gloves are off. they just suddenly are. That really got me going: wait... what?! did i miss something?

@Cavemold: Snyder's good at that, Prodding is his specialty.

I absolutely love this feature. I don't read all the titles featured, but it's nice to know what all the rants and raves are about.

Wow, Harley bit of puddin's tongue, or part of it anyway. Yeah, it kinda does urk me because part of Joker's appeal is what he's going to say, and with his tongue kind messed up, his ability to talk is messed up too somewhat. All others, agreed!

Rant:

The Joker loves Batman? Seriously? Also, all of the activity going on at Arkham under Batman's nose. Weren't they just there in Justice League?

Rave:

Cable's smile after Forge showed him the "features" of his new arm. It's the little things man, the little things.

Great work, GK.

Yea the ending of Bat & Robin #15 confused me...Batman vs Robin? Bruce vs Damian? Father vs Son? Doubtful but that Tomasi oh he is a tricky/clever devil, remember during Blackest Night he "killed" Kyle Rayner at the end of a GL Corps but obviously he didn't die. Tomasi knows how to do a crazy cliffhanger.

Will Damien be the first victim in "Death of the Family"? I certainly hope SO! Will someone please cap the little @#$! now?

I missed the Joker vs Harley comic it was sold out but I would think that he would have a hard time talking.

When I was like 10 or 11 I was walking up the stairs I accidentally got elbowed by a kid running in front of me and bit like 1/3 of the way through my tongue at the tip. There was A LOT of blood, and I couldn't speak properly for over 2 weeks. But clearly I'm not the joker.

I think it was Batman & Robin, but the scene where Joker is talking to someone with his face upside down so his eyes are peeking through his grin and his teeth are visible through his eye sockets? That was effing creepy.

I actually knew a guy who bit of the tip of his tongue & he was talking fine. Also, I think watching a jokerized Batman's POV attacking the Bat-Fam would be cool, especially written by Snyder. That being said, it don't think it's Bruce. It'd still be cool.