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Huntress #3 Helena stays on the trail of the mobster/slaver only to discover a wider plot to cover the escape of a North Africa dictator from the Arab Spring. With the corruption reaching into the police and government, Huntress has to kick a lot of different butt to get close to her ultimate prey. Another solid outing.

Batman #4 Snyder continues to tell a solid Batman tale. As Bruce gets closer to the Court of Owls, they also go after him. A nice scene with Dick, and some good Detective work. Only thing I didn't like was the flashback. "Young Bruce was on to something" stories always make me groan. I know it's an established Bat-trope, and we are in new territory continuity-wise, but creating a childhood nemesis/connection to a current story with "Young Bruce" just always seems ham-fisted to me, even when good writers do it.

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and Rhianna are teachers at a school for supervillains in Leviathan Strikes.

Grant Morrison got in my good books again.

Batman Incorporated, Leviathan Strikes - This one is full on Morrison, which will delight some (me) and frustrate others (the internet). Basically a one-shot collecting the last two unpublished Batman Inc. issues, followed by a nice multi-page recap of what's happened to date (Including things people are bound to have forgotten/missed).

The first story is a fun Batgirl story where she goes undercover in a private school for girl assassins. Totally fun, cool and campy, but not corny. It makes me regret I didn't give Stephanie much notice as Batgirl, because Morrison certainly has her rock out here.

The second story is about Batman Inc, closing in on Dr. Daedalus and what they think is the heart of "Leviathan". Bruce is exposed to Daedelus's gas, which gives him a form of Alzheimer's, and then we get things from Bruce's perspective (in which Morrison goes to town with disjointed narrative and time skips, that will give migraines to those who found Final Crisis choppy). The day is saved by Batman Inc, including a fateful decision by Damien that will resonate later when the series returns, and the not-so unexpected mastermind villain is revealed (which will make a nice endpoint to Morrison's run when it concludes next year).

Doesn't it make sense that the villain would be that one? I mean, it makes Morrison's work come full circle since his beginning work with Batman and Son.

Oroborous. The serpent that eats its own tail.

Agreed, which is why I said the "not-so unexpected villain", although on other boards a lot of people are claiming to be caught off-guard by the reveal.

And I think one of the teachers at Steph's school, Miss Hexley, might've been Madonna.

Huntress #4 - Kudos to Paul for trying to bring some "ripped from the headlines" geo-politics into the book, but honestly, the Libya-style dictator family make for some boring villains. Huntress tracks down some more of the crime ring and takes them out, but it still doesn't seem like a lot of progression happens. I think this series would have been better served compressed into 4 issues, because nothing in this issue was too different from issue #3.

It's also fun to see a competent Huntress, but she also needs some more threatening opposition soon.

Steph's three teachers at the school were Katy Perry, Rhianna and Lady Gaga (although since Lady Gaga is such a Madonna rip-off it's easy to see how one could make that mistake).

...

As for Leviathan Strikes - it was OK. I have been a HUGE fan of everything Morrison has done with the Bat-verse since he came on board (except for that muddled, messy Internet 2.0 issue of Batman Inc.) but this issue left me feeling a little underwhelmed.

I liked the first half with Steph as Batgirl. It had great art and some fun, zany ideas that reminded me of Morrison's superlative Seven Soldiers series.

But when we got to the second half with all the time-shifting I just felt like we'd done all of that before with Morrison. Reading an issue that constantly wrong-foots you with all of it's time and space jumping was really exciting the first couple of times he did it, but if it's going to become his go-to "thing" then it's going to start feeling old IMO. As it kinda did here.

I didn't really get into anything that took place on that sinking ship. When even just the concept of Batman fighting a villain on a sinking ship should have been a total winner!

I wasn't really into the villain reveal either. I get the symmetry to the beginning of Morrison's Bat-opus, and it gets points for being blindingly obvious and yet someone I never suspected, but I feel like that character has been used so much and so badly over the last few years (especially by Geoff Johns in Infinite Crisis and Gail Simone in Villains United) that I would really have much rather they been rested for a while before featuring in stories again. And I'm not sure I like where this story is going to take them either.

That said, I may not be around to read it anyway. As much as I loved some aspects of the old DCU (and this run on Batman would have been near the very top of that list) it almost felt like a relief to drop all my DC comics when the nuBoot happened. And I'm not sure this book has inspired me to re-think that decision when Morrison's new Batman ongoing starts up again.

DC's idea of "holding the line at $2.99": http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/01/07/will-join-batman-detective-comics-together-at-399/

I agree 100%... love the art, but the story is dragging big time...

Great little Catwoman back-up story in Detective #5 featuring the son (was this his first appearance?) of an old Batman villain... totally unexpected and totally more impressive than the lead story, sorry to say... may be dropping this book especially in light of the price increase...

So I admit to growing a little bored with Snyder's Batman, but #5 was a fun issue. The innovative page layout was great, and it was interesting seeing Bruce being so thoroughly undone. I'm still not convinced this needs to go on for another year, but I'm certainly interested again.

So after a few issues, I find myself REALLY not liking Batman and Robin at all. I could barely get through the latest issue, featuring an antagonist I cared little about, even with the Henri Ducard references. I would like to like this series, but at the end of the day, I'm just not. I think I'm done for a bit, as I am with Dark Knight.

Batman #6 - The Court of Owls continues as Batman, wounded and dying is at the Court's mercy. A lot of what he sees is drug-induced, but things get pretty bleak for the Caped Crusader until he turns the tables and makes an escape, but is in pretty bad shape.

I've been on the fence with this. It's a competently told, engaging Batman story but I'm just not feeling it. I think after Morrison blew the whole concept up and did such interesting things with it, I'm just not ready for a "standard" Batman tale, no matter how well it's told. Add to that, the super-mega upcoming crossover and I think I'm bowing out of this and switching to Batman Inc.

Huntress #6 was decent ending to a great 4 issue mini-series that was told in 6 issues. Despite the padding and muddling around, it was still intriguing. Not sold on a Helena Wayne who's a killer, but the opponents here were pretty scummy. I liked how she enjoys having the price on her head, and the bargain she makes with the dictator's son. I'll be giving World's Finest a look, for sure.

Is anybody reading Red Hood & the Outlaws ? It's one of my favorites of the DCnU... it's mostly Jason's story but Roy and Kory get plenty of panel-time too... I know some folks weren't happy with how Kory was presented in the first couple of issues, but I like this bad-ass version... Roy comes off a little needy but it's an interesting take... issue 9 is part of the "Night of the Owls" storyline, but doesn't seemed forced... Tim Drake made an appearance a couple of issues back, and another member of the bat-family shows up at the end of this issue... waiting for the inevitable meeting with Batman himself... highly recommended...

Regardiing the Batman book by Snyder. If what I just heard/saw is true...the book had completely jumped the shark in my opinion. Just sayin...

I've avoided spoilers on purpose, so I'm glad I don't know what you're referring to yet.

But at this point I've stopped reading all the Batman books (comic starring Batman) except for Snyder's Batman. I'm also reading Catwoman & Nightwing, both of which I enjoy immensely. Everything else was dropped.

Dropped Batman in favour of Batman Inc (which I haven't got to yet), but read the spoilers online. That's pretty wild stuff if it holds up.

I kinda like the spoiler if only because I'm a big fan of the

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> 1970s World's Finest series </span></span>

that got this whole story in motion. I really hated when they did it with

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text">Barry Allen</span></span>

though so I can understand the outrage. And it does seem a little creatively bankrupt.

I'm curious as to why you dropped the Morrison Batman book? I haven't been reading it but I was wondering how it stacked up against his old DCU run, which I know we were both big fans of.

Oh yeah, I'm getting this too.

Forgot about the earlier thing Blacula...does not make it any netter imho though. I also totally agree n the second point you make.

I just kinda expected more from Snyder. Glad I dropped a long time ago.

^ Having only read his previous Dick-as-Batman run and thinking back to the James Gordon Jr. as serial killer arc, it does seem like

<span class="spoiler_containter"><span class="spoiler_wording">Click Here For A Spoiler</span><span class="spoiler_text"> he has an obsession with screwing with his characters' back-stories so that there is always something even more DARK and EVIL at the heart of them than we realized. I hear he did it with his update on Mr Freeze's origin too. Seems like a story-telling technique that could get old fast.

It also seems kinda weird to go there with Bruce's back-story like this so soon after Morrison treaded similar ground in a much more imaginative way in his recent run. </span></span>

I love Red Hood. Never expected to, but it's one of my favourites now. Lots of action, some weird adversaries, all three characters get sufficient panel time and insight into what makes them tick. Their powers are unbelievable but their characters are entirely credible. Kory has been toned down considerably on the mindless sex front, and it's a big improvement.

It does look like a confrontation with Batman is imminent. At this point, I think I'm siding with Jason.

Court of Owls: I've liked the concept, but I've found the story dragging a bit. Less fighting, more detective work would be my choice. Didn't get all the Bat books involved in the story, I just figured it would be more of the same Bat person confronts Talon, wins or comes to a draw and Talon slinks off.

Catwoman continues to be a fun, thief-filled story. I like Selina's new partner in crime, although he doesn't really have much character at this point. Maybe he's just meant to be a pretty boy with a cool power.