Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024, Day 15

This was another Advent I found in Mebane North Carolina the other day. We went to the Sweet Grace Market at the Melville Trading Company where I found a handful of this calendar: the Harry Potter/Jelly Belly Advent Calendar 2024. With days 1-24, you get 1 of 10 randomly inserted flavors which include cinnamon, toasted marshmallow and candy floss. For those of you who don't know, candy floss is what Brits call cotton candy.

Too bad that Jelly Belly didn't make this a Bertie Botts selection of flavors. They still license the  'Every Flavor' brand of Harry Potter inspired jelly beans. So why couldn't they have used ear wax and toothpaste flavor instead of green apple and cherry? And would it have been too much of a problem to include some of Jelly Belly's holiday flavors like egg nog and peppermint? No Bertie Botts and no holiday flavors. Just seems like a missed opportunity if you ask me...

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.

Arkhamaniacs (Family Comic Friday)

This is a toughie to explain. Mostly, because this Batman universe story is just so un-Batman. But I loved it!

This graphic novel by the dynamic duo of Art Baltazar and Franco is set when Bruce Wayne's parents are still alive. One day Bruce goes with the Waynes' butler Alfred on an errand to Arkham Apartments, a Gotham City property owned by his parents. During his brief visit, Bruce runs into some of the eclectic clientele of the complex, including a manic clown wearing the biggest grin you've ever seen.

The visit intrigues Bruce, whose life at Wayne Manor is pretty dull and boring. Seeing a different view of the people of his city, the young Master Wayne decides one night to sneak out and visit Arkham Apartments to understand just why the property is so unusual and well, fun. Once at the tenement, Bruce will meet all of the residents of Arkham, folks with special powers, fun costumes and unusual pets, such as a crocodile in the swimming pool!

Arkhamaniacs reminded me a little bit of the FOX Batman prequel series, Gotham. That show was set when Bruce Wayne is a child; years before he'll even dream up the idea of becoming the Dark Knight and I feel like that very mature TV series was an inspiration to this DC graphic novel for kiddies. 

See in Gotham, Bruce Wayne meets the Joker (well, Jokers, as there are 2 in the series- at least), when the budding criminal is also in his very early years. In fact, Bruce becomes really good friends with one of the Jokers before that character is tragically turned into a raving lunatic thanks to some nerve gas. To me, I get the feeling that Art Baltazar and Franco were looking to expound on what that friendship could be like before things got real with the advent of Bruce becoming an adult. So there were elements of JM Barrie's Peter Pan at hand as well. 

This graphic novel was a fun read. It was just weird seeing the Joker being friends with young Brucie. The Joker is almost like a guide towards opening Bruce's mind up to the world of play and imagination. So, there were elements of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as well.

I think the most difficult thing about this book was knowing that all the joy and bliss between Bruce Wayne and the residents of Arkham Apartments is going to one day come to an end. Joker not only does horrible things to Bruce Wayne and his Batman Family, the Clown Prince of Crime goes on to betray and manipulate a whole bunch of his so-called friends. It's rather unsettling no matter how bright and cheery the creators of this book make things seem.

Art Baltazar and Franco have another masterpiece on their hands. This is another fun-filled romp full of DC Comics nostalgia that readers young and old will like. I just hate that uneasy feeling my knowledge of the adult Batman world gives me when I'm trying to read that paints an extremely rosy picture of things between Bruce Wayne and the Joker. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Batman, Volume 7: Endgame (The New 52!)

   This volume collects the epic Batman storyline that changed everything you know about the Dark Knight!

   The Joker has returned to Gotham City and he's completely changed. He's more cunning, more insane, more deadly, and more powerful than ever before. Along with a newly reconstructed face, the Joker also carries a deadly virus in his system that has turned him into a walking biological weapon- along with now bearing seemingly instructive regenerative properties. 

   The Joker's virus has turned the people of Gotham into raving lunatics. With the sickness spreading, the Caped Crusader must call in all of the members of his Batfamily along  with some of Gotham's must dangerous to save the city before the America military carpet bombs the entire burg as a containment measure. But first, Batman must defeat his allies in the Justice League who have been infected with the Clown Prince of Crime's contagion.

   Issue #40 marked the final confrontation between Batman and the Joker. I had read it before as I received it as a gift during Free Comic Book Day weekend from my brother-in-law. I was so thrilled that I couldn't wait for this volume to come out. It was a good decision as I consider it one of the best issues of 2015. 

   But just as I read that issue with a little bit of confusion having not read issues 35-39, I was a little bit confused here when I started this book. During the Death of the Family storyline, the previous Joker appearance in the comics, the Joker severely beat Alfred. As a result, his daughter came to help him recover and fill-in as Batman's right-hand man. 

   Now, in issue #40, Alfred was in the hospital, so I figured that one of the chapters of Endgame (I didn't read yet) was when this mystery daughter came into the picture. Yet, she's almost on page 1 of volume 7 already helping out (and Alfred's recovering from the Joker's assault in Family.) So, where in the heck did she come from? She didn't show up in volume 6 of Batman, which is a collection of random tales, so again I ask, where did she pop up and what did I not read first before Endgame?

    Questions aside, this was a fantastic read that adds mystery to the Joker mystique and ushers in a new phase in the Batman mythos. 

   You don't want to miss out on Endgame!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Untold Legend of the Batman

   The Untold Legend of the Batman reprints the 3-issue miniseries written by Len Wein. Originally published  in 1980, it features art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo. The book is a virtual encyclopedia of the life and times of not just the Wayne family but the Batman Family as a whole and a few of the Dark Knight's Rogue's Gallery.

    When I first read this book in 1989, I thought this was one of the biggest piece's of crap I had ever read. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the first Batman? Bruce was the first Robin?? And just who the heck was Lucius Fox, Jack Edison, and Philip Wayne?

    I must admit, at age 12, my scope of knowledge about the Caped Crusader was severely limited. So, much of this book felt made-up or in complete error to me. Now with an addition 25-years of reading and watching Batman comics, books, films, cartoons, and much, much more- I must say that this book got it right. Well, they did until the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' erased much of the history contained in this epic miniseries in 1985. No longer did Batman know who killed his parents, Thomas wasn't the original Batman, and a young Bruce now lived with Alfred at Wayne Manor after the death of his parents.

    Then a little bald man named Grant hit the scene in 2000...

    When the Scottish Wunderkind started writing Batman, Grant Morrison re-established many of the previous bat-facts that I thought were preposterous. In a way, it was Morrison's work on the various Batman titles that validated the Untold Legend of the Batman to me. It also made me want to read the book again.

   Fast-forward about 15-years. Last month, I took some books to a used bookstore in hopes of A) making more room and B) getting some new stuff. Well, as I waited for my trade credit totals to come back, I shopped around where thanks to my lovely wife, I finally found a copy of this book!

    The original copies I had were reprints that came along with cassette tapes that read the story to you. I think my mom gave them to me for Christmas or my birthday. The book my wife found was a pocket-sized paperback, reprinted around 1982 by TOR books. I have seen this book a couple of times on Facebook, but that was about it. Needless to say, this book is kinda hard to find. It may not be rare, but it is scarce. (Okay- a quick check of eBay reveals that the online bidding site had quite a few of these. But in terms of running across this at a con or comic book store at a price I liked- I've not been able to find it before.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.