The Best of DC Digest #30 (2025 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

It's not often that the Dark Knight is wrong. However, when he claims that 11 crimes have been committed on the cover of The Best of DC Digest #30, there are actually only 10 infractions in need of solving. That's because the Robin/Batgirl story is a 2-parter. 

The run down for this issue is as follows:

• 'Wanted for Murder One: The Batman'. A talk show host with a grudge against the Caped Crusader is found dead. Off in the distance, Batman is witnessed fleeing the scene. With the GCPD on his trail, Batman must clear his name or surrender in disgrace.
• 'The Assassin Express Contract'. Christopher Chase accepts a mission to impersonate a wealthy industrialist who has a hit out on him. Already confined by the limits of a racing train, the Human Target must restrict himself further when it's revealed that the subject he's tasked with portraying now has an injured eye.
• 'Riddle of the Unseen Man' sees Roy Raymond, the famed TV Detective who investigates strange but true occurrences is besieged by a seemingly invisible person throughout his daily operations.
• 'Burial For a Batgirl' and ' Midnight is the Dying Hour's sees Barbara Gordon at Gotham State University for a festival honoring Edgar Allen Poe. When a controversial figure is found murdered on campus, Batgirl and the Boy Wonder swing into action to find the killer.
• Magical Mirror Mystery.' When the new mirror Ralph Dibny buys for his wife, Sue, shows the image of a missing woman, the Elongated Man travels to the mansion of the girl's father to solve the mystery.
• Famed magician Mysto aims to solve the 'Three Feats of Peril' that his fallen mentor seeked to perform before his untimely death.
• Crippled private investigator Jason Bard aims to solve how a daredevil skydiver was stabbed to death in the middle of a jump in 'The Case of the Dead-on Target.'
• Captain Mark Compass finds his attempts to crush a ring of smugglers thwarted at his ever turn in 'The Ocean Pest.'
• J'onn J'onnz, the Martian Manhunter, appears in 'The Man With 20 Lives.' Gifted with mental telepathy, the Martian knows that a Gotham City thug committed an impossible murder. But in order to solve the crime, he must operate as human police detective John Jones to extract a confession of guilt.
• Batman bursts into the middle of a performance of MacBeth as a sniper takes aim at the star in The Stage is Set - For Murder!'

Each story appeared previously in the pages of Detective Comics. Talent such as Frank Robbins, Dennis O'Neil, Irv Novick, Joe Certa and Vince Colletta worked on these tales which at some point all challenge the reader to solve the mystery from clues sprinkled throughout each story before the hero does. Some of the clues are easy to piece together while some hints require expert level expertise. It's those more difficult leads that feel like cheats, playing upon obscure knowledge of animals, cultures and even the laws of physics in able to solve the mysteries. 

Len Wein was this issue's contributing editor with Mike W. Barr acting as special consultant. 

Completing this review completes Task #38 (A Comic Book Digest) of the 2025 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Nightwing: The Target

Some of you might not know this but after Dick Grayson went off to Blüdhaven to make his way as Nightwing, the former ward of Bruce Wayne attended the police academy and became a cop. It turns out that Blüdhaven's police department is more corrupt than Gotham's thin blue line has ever been. Fighting both petty and organized crime overlooked by dirty cops at night as Nightwing and pursuing justice during the day in uniform, Dick Grayson is on a mission to clean up his new home town. 

Dick's firm boundaries of right from wrong has put Officer Grayson in the crosshairs of the Blüdhaven brotherhood in blue. On his first night on solo patrol, Grayson assists in a pursuit of a pair of thugs with know gang ties. When Officer Grayson witnesses police brutality first hand against two wrongly accused suspects, he takes action. Only the numbers are way wrong and Dick is savagely forced to accept a beating, less someone suspect him of being stronger than he really is. 

Grayson awakens in a hospital room, handcuffed to the bed. His fellow boys in blue have seen to it that neither of those brutalized suspects will ever testify against their misconduct. Not only that, Dick Grayson has been accused as the perpetrator of the violent assaults. With Officer Grayson now under the microscope of Blüdhaven's Internal Affairs Unit, not only does Dick face the rest of his life behind bars, but the entire Batman family is at risk of being unmasked to the general public.

Shelving his Nightwing costume, Dick Grayson dons a new vigilante persona called the Target. Finally free to explore his playful side that came about as a former circus performer, as the Target, Dick Grayson is like a much safer, righteous version of the Joker and I love it! 

Over the span of Dick Grayson's 75 year plus career, he's taken on a number of secret identities. Not counting his time as Robin, the Target is my favorite of them all because of how loose and mischievous Dick becomes. He never crosses the line, but since the Target is an unknown player in Blüdhaven, Grayson is able to do things his own way instead of in the shadow of the Batman.

I'm rather disappointed to research that this prestige format comic book is the only time Dick Grayson becomes the Target. I would be all over a continuation of this persona. If it was an older storyline, I'd be adding those back issues to my wish list. If DC ever decided to rebrand Dick Grayson once more as the Target in an all-new series, I'd add it to my subscription pull over at my favorite LCS right now! 

A great era of Dick Grayson that was over way too soon and obviously all but forgotten. I'm adding this unsure keeper to my permanent collection. But I want more!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Bruce Wayne: Not Super (Family Comic Friday)

I know of a lot of comic book fans that would not enjoy this book because it's not canon: true to the comic books. But I really thought Bruce Wayne: Not Super was a delight. 

In Gotham City, there is a special academy for students with special powers. Called Gotham Preparatory School for the Really, Really Gifted, the student body is composed of heroes and villains. But NO VIGILANTES! And that's a really hard rule for young Bruce Wayne to follow as he's the only student at Gotham Prep without powers and being a vigilante is what the teen put as his career goal. 

Typically, if you do not have powers, you're not allowed to attend Gotham Prep. However, because Bruce's parents basically put up all the money to build the school, the heir to the Wayne family fortune was given an exception. Yet, if you ask me, I really think Stuart Gibbs got it wrong with this plot point. 

Dick Grayson, Oliver Queen, and other regular Joe (non-powered) characters from the DC Universe are students at Gotham Prep. Being an acrobat isn't a super power. Neither is being a crack shot with a bow & arrow. They're skills. Not super powers. So, in my opinion, Bruce Wayne isn't the only pupil who is not 'really, really gifted.' 

Bruce Wayne: Not Super was a fun book with lots of funny moments. Seeing Bruce working with his faithful butler Alfred to design an animal costume that strikes fear in the hearts of villains was very funny. Once Bruce decides to become a Bat-Man, his Wile E. Coyote-like misadventures with his array of bat-themed gadgets was hilarious. And seeing Bruce forge relationships with Dick Grayson, Selina Kyle and other characters was rather heartwarming. I just wish that Stuart Gibbs hadn't made Clark Kent such an unlikable character. 

I guess in high school, as Clark develops his powers, he'd be rather smug about it. He'd want to try and use his abilities to get the upper hand at things, especially sports. But I don't think Clark Kent would ever be a bully. Ma and Pa Kent just won't stand for that!

Okay, I realize that I've pointed out a couple of problems I had with this book. But I like to think that I've overlooked enough to really have enjoyed what I read. Everything is set up for a sequel and I couldn't have been more thrilled with that prospect. 

I think young readers of the recommended age of 8-12 years will not mind at all seeing their favorite heroes and villains as classmates. Parents may not like seeing some future icons of truth and justice acting the opposite of those innate ideals. But I think the real message behind this story is growth. Whether it be in growing more confidence in yourself to seeing your flaws and improving on them; failing at things but learning to get better from those times of disappointment is an important lesson both children and adults seem to have not been taught anymore. 

Life is hard. It can get better. Bruce Wayne learns this through help from his father figure Alfred, good buddy Dick and most importantly, himself!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #3

    Hiding from an army of Amazons tasked with finding the Helmet of Nabu, Boston Brand must bear the weight as Dick Grayson's new guardian while the lad's father slowly dies.

     An amazing finish to a great Flashpoint tie-in. Too bad the New 52! wiped out Flashpoint because whole this chapter ends, this would have been one hell of a series.
    
    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #2

 There's dozens of thrills and surprises in this issue. Nobody is safe and that's why I really don't want to get to in depth in this review, least I give away a major spoiler.

     Yes, I know that this issue is almost 6 or 7 years old, but with Flash season 3 being about Flashpoint, I know that there are others such as me reading this series in order to gear up for the TV version. So, really, there will no spoilers here!
   
    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
   
   By the way- I just adore the circus poster like cover by Cliff Chiang! Just magnificent!

Flashpoint: Deadman and the Flying Graysons #1

Haly's Circus. In the DC Universe, it's a travelling show that has had more than it's fair share of tragedy. It's where the Flying Graysons met their tragic end. It's were a sniper made Boston Brand a Deadman. Flowing through the tarps of beleaguered carnival's big top is deception and corruption so deep, many of its employees have faced mortality, including the owner, Mr. Haly.

   But this is the Flashpoint Universe and one of it's few bright spots is the success of Haly's Circus. The Graysons are one big happy family. Boston Brand is a Deadman in name only. Even sideshow act, Kent Nelson, under the stage name of Doctor Fate is doing pretty well, except for the hour or so it takes for his mind to recover from wearing the mystical Helmet of Nabu.

   Unfortunately, the circus has run into a little problem. Haly's Circus was performing in Central Europe when Aquaman decided to unleash his fury on the human race and flooded much of Eastern Europe. The performers find themselves stranded overseas and must venture from town to town in hopes of making ends meet and eventually earn themselves a way back to the US.

  If the voyage home wasn't treacherous enough, during their last stop, Kent Nelson accidentally tapped into the timeline and has learned that there is another reality trying to burst through the Flashpoint. It's the time stream of the DCU and it's trying to correct whatever made history change into this fractured universe. However, Kent's contact with the real timeline has made an even more deadlier force aware to the circus's presence as Wonder Woman's Furies are on the hunt for the Helmet of Nabu!

  The Flashpoint tie-ins just keep getting better and better. There's not much action per se in this issue. But I think that this issue was essential in showing the effects of the Atlantis- Themyscira War on Europe. Having it seen through the eyes of the performers of Haly's Circus helps to make the struggle familiar and more grounded to the reader. A great job by writer J.T Krul!

  Equally impressive is the artwork. The realistic looking poster by Cliff Chaing (Secret Six) was really cool looking. But the cover wasn't the only visually stunning material. Mikel Janin’s (Justice League Dark) almost painted approach captured both the magic of the big top while exposing the cramped and dirty conditions of life on the road.

  All around excellent stuff. I can't wait for issue #2.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

 

Just Announced~ Lego Cover Variants!!!

Just announced yesterday, DC Comics will be issuing Lego variant covers of most of it's titles this fall. They're supposed to hit stores for the November issue. However, because DC still pre-dates their covers by 2 months either the books dated November will have the Lego variant (thus available in September) or in November, the books dated January will boast the special fronts. I'm not sure which but the covers are due to coincide with the release of the new video game Lego Batman 3, I'm betting  they'll all be in stores before Christmas!

variant cover to Catwoman #36

  In honor of the Lego Batman video game that started this craze (and because I use Batman for all of my avatars) here's a first look at some of the Batman-themed covers.

variant to Batman #36