An old fan boy goes digital with Gotham Spirit and others

I cursed my closet fan boy self when I realized that I missed National Comic Book Day.  Not that I needed an excuse to go to the comic book store, but it would’ve given me a reason to opine what’s going on in the world of comics & graphic novels.   Thankfully the internet and blog don’t need to respect the laws of time….so let’s go!

For the record I am far from an expert on comics.  I like to read them as much as possible, but I (unfortunately) don’t know the pending projects of the top writers and authors.  I follow a couple artists and authors, but am too busy with work and caring for two small children to be a true fan boy.

Having said that, for the past year I’ve had a post called “My Breakup Letter to Batman” in my head.  I referenced it in my Free Comic Book Day post in May, basically stating that if Batman didn’t shape up soon that I would stop reading it.  Shortly after that, Batman got worse and the 1+ years of uninteresting plots in Detective Comics (this time), led me to finally break up with Batman.  He was replaced with an Avengers title and The Simpsons, just as I said he would be.

Enter digital comics

During this breakup period I also discovered digital comics.  Sure, they’ve been around for a couple of years, but I resisted.  It was a form of being a comic purist because you can’t turn the pages or smell the paper.  And digital comics don’t even have the chance to be worth more than you paid for them!!  OK, the days of buying comics as an investment may have passed, I now just enjoy them and don’t harvest any hopes of them being worth more than I paid.  However, since I’ve been getting digital comics I find that I like them more than printed comics.

You can look at the artwork at much greater detail.   Because I’m not afraid I’m doing to bend the spine of the book I can actually read the writing and not just guess at what is happening.  I enjoy reading them over, and over, without having put them in the boards and bags and worrying about the tape catching one of the book, not that I think they’ll be worth lots of money one day.

No DC titles

So just when I’ve stopped Detective and JLA, tired of the ‘new 52’, lame story lines and never ending 0 issues coming my way they did something cool.  In June DC comics launched BATMAN Digital a series of stand along stories that would be released online only.  I got the chance to look over the latest issue Legends of the Dark Knight #16 and it reminded me of all the things that I liked about Batman.

What’s cool about these stories is that they are one offs.  They aren’t designed to bridge you to the next issue, it’s a compact story about the Bat, kicking ass and being the dark vigilante he was supposed to be.

Legends of the Dark Knight, #16, Gotham Spirits is just about a liquor store robbery.  I say just, because reading so many monthly titles you get used to storylines.  Gotham Spirits is about a robbery gone bad and the Dark Knight laying down night time vengeance on a crew of robbers that make the city dangerous.

The art by Gabriel Hardman is fresh and unexpected.  A great example of this page 3, when we see the criminal being flung threw a window, pushed there by a pair of booted feet.  Jeff Parker writes the book and the balance between stalking the criminals and protecting the innocent is well done.

If you’re like me and gave up on Batman, try this new digital series from DC.  It’s refreshing, reminds you of why you liked someone and moves it to a new format that is great once you give it a chance.  If you haven’t tried digital comics they’re worth giving them a shot.

We were provided with a complimentary copy of #16 Legends of the Dark Knight by the writer.  All thoughts are our own and it did totally bring back faith that Batman, as a comic is still fun to read.