Comics Picks of The Week 18.12.2013

Looks like its going to be the month of busy weeks. The last two weeks I’ve read two graphic novels each along with all my regular monthlies and this past week proved to be no different. Both Detective Comics Volume 4 and The Flash Volume 4 proved to be exceedingly good and now I have two more series that I need to catch up on for the New 52. Tall order, but doable. And as regards the usual monthlies, there were comics across the board, in all sorts of ways: genres, publishers, characters, etc, etc. The year has slowly transformed over the months into a really solid year for comics overall.

I still haven’t made any dent in the pile of graphic novels I have to read, but I’m not too worried about any of it, to be honest. Already used to that phenomenon from my novel reading.

Anyway, here’s another edition of this new feature. Full reading list, as always, is available here and all my comics reviews are available here.

Batman: The Dark Knight #23.1 by Gail Simone (Comics Review)

The Ventriloquist’s previous appearances in the New 52 DC universe have been within the pages of Gail Simone’s fantastic Batgirl #20-21, which are two of the most creepiest comics I’ve read with a superhero, ever. A large part of the creepiness was how Gail portrayed her villain, Shauna, and Shauna’s puppet, Ferdie. If you’ve ever seen the Chucky films, then you’ll know what I’m talking about, with respect to Ferdie. Such a bloody creepy character, and his dialogue has a large part to do with it.

One of my main problems with Villain’s Month extends to this title as well, largely because it doesn’t make any sense within the context of New 52 that the Ventriloquist would be a “Batman” villain and not a “Batgirl” villain, especially not when we’ve seen that the villain is obsessed with Barbara’s hero-persona. This issue should really have been Batgirl #23.1: The Ventriloquist, as a recognition of the fact that Batgirl has been one of DC’s most successful and consistent titles in the New 52.

Either way, despite that… misstep, I loved this issue for three reasons. Hit the break to find out what those are.

Note: This review contains potential spoilers for Justice League #23 and Forever Evil #1.