The Book of Hsssh

Technically Beryl was created during Morrison's JLA run, but I think that she became a bit more well known in the pages of Batman. Her "communication powers" also got eventually downplayed (or removed entirely) so I feel like she is definitely more of a Batman character than JLA's. Her appearances in Morrison's JLA and Batman are obviously must reads for any fan of Morrison, but is there anything else worth checking out? There was Knight and Squire miniseries by Cornell and Hodgkins. It fleshes out their partnership and tries to expand DC universe in UK by introducing (and re-introducing) various characters. Nothing spectacular, but solid stuff and it is not like we can be very picky for content with Beryl. After that there was a guest appearance in Batgirl #22. Again, nothing spectacular, but solid stuff that is worth checking out. As a bonus it works as a set-up for Stephanie getting involved with Spyral in Morrison's Batman Inc. storyline.  A bit of a side ...

Before Flashpoint happened Metal Men didn't really move lots of units, but since Didio is a big fan of them it was only a matter of time before they appeared in this "new" continuity. So how was it and can we trace any of it back to Morrison? I don't know if it was a push from Didio or it was Johns' idea, but Metal Men got their first appearances in New 52 JL book. And it is not a random appearance, but they get a decent amount of pages for 2 part story with Cyborg during Forever Evil event. So you know, high profile debut all things considered. Technically Tina appears several issues earlier in JL #18, but I'm not a fan of Trinity crossover (and the road to it) so I'd say that issue can, and probably should, be ignored. Anyway, Cyborg was removed from Titans environment and he needed new allies and enemies. For enemies we got Grid and Metal Men helped Cyborg overcome it. This was basically their origin story so there wasn't anything Morrison related, ...

Young Justice was a popular team book back in the day. It featured a new generation of DC's teenagers and was written by PAD. Probably everyone who follows DC comics knows that. So what Morrison has to do with it? For most people Young Justice and PAD are joined at the hip. But the entire thing started with Dezago and he was supposed to write the ongoing before he was replaced, for one reason or another, by PAD. But before getting replaced he did three important issues: Young Justice Secret #1 and JLA: World Without Grown-Ups #1-2. Secret one-shot introduces... Secret. Character that would later become a regular, but from what I know has nothing to do with Morrison. More relevant is World Without Grown-Ups issues because they have "special thanks to Morrison" in their credits. So supposedly Morrison had plans for JLA Jr. story arc. DC editors probably had plans for launching something like Young Justice for a while as well. So probably both sides decided (or editors decid...

Morrison's Batman run ends with Batman Incorporated special where other creators tell some stories about these characters. Morrison starts and ends the book with Batman wondering if he should archive the project. He decides against it. So what happened with Batman Inc. after that?  Jiro makes an appearance in Batman Eternal #9, but it didn't lead to anything. It also looked like Tynion wanted to include Talon into the team (Talon #14), but that series got wrapped up like two issues later and the idea of Talon joining Batman Inc. was dropped. There is also Batwing: Futures End #1 one-shot that focuses on Lucas Fox Batwing and his adventure with Batman Inc. It is not a bad one-shot, but it is just a one-shot. And thats really it. Not much when you think about it? But I guess it makes sense considering that Snyder's Batman was hot new thing at the time so it probably made sense to spin things out of it instead. Things didn't really change till years later when DC had ran o...

On paper Aztek should have been a bigger deal. Written by Morrison and Millar? Playing a role in Morrison's JLA run? A cool idea in general? Sure he died at the end, but it is not like that has stopped anyone in comics. And yet it took couple of decades for Aztek to return. While original Aztek ended up dying we did see his potential successor, a female called Azteka, in the alternative timeline of Rock of Ages. So it is probably debatable if Orlando created a new character in his Justice League of America #20 or just continued what Morrison started. But regardless of that, was Orlando's follow up any good? To cut things short Orlando's JLA run wasn't good and issues with Aztek weren't an exception. Oh and yeah, DC (or Orlando?) decided to go with Aztek instead of Azteka for a female version of Aztek. To make matters worse Orlando's writing is very blunt in trying to make her look like a better hero than the original Aztek. I'm not sure if such strategy with...

It is probably important to start this by saying that I don't like Gunn's movies or TV shows. I have tried few of them and it just isn't my thing. So naturally I'm not interested in the upcoming DC cinematic universe. But then again, it is not like there are many adaptations featuring Frank, Bride or Nina... So I decided that I should watch this new CC animated series and see if anything good or interesting was done with few characters that I care about. Overall it didn't change my opinion about Gunn's work. I think that this animated show was mostly bad and script needed few more revisions. But it is not all bad. I think that voice acting and animation itself was fine. It did what it was supposed to do and didn't detract from the experience. There is always a risk that adaptation will change too many things that you liked in comics and due to adaptation being popular these changes then will trickle down to comics and force a change on the character that you...

Morrison's Batman run ends with Talia getting shot by Kathy Kane and delivering a warning to defeated Batman. No surprise that DC decided to follow up this Kane (and her organization, Spyral) plot thread left by Morrison. But did it work? History of how we got Grayson ongoing is rather weird. After Forever Evil and Dick Grayson's "death" DC was looking for new direction. Supposedly someone hired Seeley to write it and someone else hired King to write it. So people in charge figured what the hell, let them both write it. As a result we got one of the best Dick Grayson runs that heavily focused on Spyral and Kathy Kane to lesser extent. Now, New 52 was funny time and King is a writer who likes to do things his own way so Spyral obviously does not map 1:1 with Morrison's version. But on the other hand I think that, in spirit, it does feel like a continuation of what Morrison started. Creative team of Grayson really fleshed out the organization and it was "hot...