Death of the Family Issues Review

This is Kevin Conway, and I am the goddamn Batman.

Well, I don't suppose I'll be needing that anymore,

will I? Oops. Spoilers. Hello, everyone, and

welcome to another edition of a GCRN spotlight

of Death of the Family. And this episode will

be a little bit different than the last one in

the sense that we won't be just covering one

issue of Batman. Death of the family will be

covering many issues of death of the family from

the various comic lines We've we did that last

issue to our last episode too because I was talking

about that girl 14 last time too But this is

much much more. Oh, yes. This is much much more

and We've kind of missed the boat on doing this

when these books were originally published as

as you all know the minds lied to us uh... things

move on we are now in twenty thirteen and there

will be two batman spotlight episodes this month

uh... this one here that you're listening to

which will cover the fifteen issues uh... batman

fifteen bad girl fifteen nightwing fifteen uh...

you've got detective and batman robin fifteen

right yes Yeah, so it's gonna be all -encompassing

with this whole death of the family stuff. I'll

go ahead and get Nightwing 15 out of the way

It actually well nightwing 15 It takes place

after some of the events that happened in Batman

15 so it kind of doesn't make any sense for me

to do it now, but just the What's in that book

is it's it's very unique and very interesting

It shows you how Dick Grayson has gone back to

protect his circus family And that's how Spoilers

that's how the Joker is going to get to him through

his circus family It is an interesting book uh...

what do you pretty much the only reason why initially

even picked it up was because it had a joker

cover on it so it's joker's face over overnight

wings face uh... but after reading it uh... it's

it's pretty good and i'm really really enjoy

it and i'm gonna pick up nightwing sixteen probably

through twenty and i'll probably put it well

probably put that book down after she twenty

after the events of death of the family unfold

all that stuff uh... so that was really good

back girl fifteen Know a lot of people out there

don't agree with what DC is doing with Barbara

Gordon Batgirl But she's Batgirl again Yeah Well,

I know I know a lot of people like the Stephanie

Brown Batgirl. I never read that stuff. I I would

like to eventually But I never did but I've always

liked Barbara Gordon Batgirl What they're doing

with her is Extremely creepy and I can't believe

they're doing this in order to save her mother.

She has to marry the Joker They're making her

marry her attacker the guy who put her in a wheelchair.

Oh boy I will say in this issue. They're way

too many The art's great, the story's great,

but there are way too many word bubbles like

her narrating. The narration is, it's just way

too much. And there are certain moments where

the narration just kinda, like her emotion, it

should be more than what is given. I'm not sure

if this took place before or after. I think it

took place like just before Gil Simone got fired,

then hired again by DC. I liked Batgirl 15, it

was interesting. I liked Batgirl 14 and 15 both,

because they're further, the Joker was introduced

in 14. Batgirl 13, the Prelude, it really, honestly,

I didn't find anything in that that had anything

to do with what's going on now. I don't know,

maybe I need to go back and read it, but the

art is great. There's a page in here. It's a

full spread where Batgirl attacks the Joker.

And on the second page there's a scene where

she's attacking him and she's punching him but

he's screaming. Just the image aren't. Just the

way his face is and the blood spewing out of

his mouth. It just looks so badass. Yeah, it's

just it's very very awesome So I can't wait to

see what happens in 16 later on this month Very

very very cool the thing about the word bubbles,

and I'll get more into that with when we hit

Batman, but The the whole thing with the word

bubbles in this particular The December month

all the issue 15s that it was very very Speech

heavy It was speech heavy because all the 15s

have to be outside of Nightwing and I haven't

read the ones that you're gonna talk about but

Outside of Nightwing Batgirl and Batman it had

to be very speechy because of the fact that these

are the issues like right before the finales,

like before the 16s and obviously whatever happens

in Batman 17. These issues in December are essentially

the expositional issues, where you have to get

all the background stuff out, you have to get

all the monologuing out, all this and all that.

Yeah, and I can kind of see that, but I do think

that they were needed at some point. Oh, yeah,

so I mean yeah, I mean it's a little bit of a

downer from the the constant go -go -go action

that we were you know getting and that we will

continue to get but it's it's very helpful for

telling some of the story and for Kind of annoying

us a little bit into Being like okay. Come on.

I want to see what's gonna happen next Yeah,

yeah exactly Batman 15 For one I always loved

the art that's been going on in this death of

the family I loved the court of owls too, but

this is even better and It's you know it starts

out with just Batman breaking out of his Captors

hands or the the net that Joker put him in yeah,

it's intoxicated Which it's water -soluble so

when he falls in the river. It's just he's fine,

but I love the the fact that he wakes up and

He's in one dream sequence, then he's in another

yeah, and it was it was mighty like it was like

a complete mind screw and you can tell how bad

the jokers in his head and He gets in a battle

of you know argumentative in any way of with

the rest of the bat family in the Batcave. And

they're all debating whether the Joker's really

gotten in there before or if Batman's in denial,

why he didn't tell them and all this other information.

And so it's a complete mind screw there. And

after that scene, after that scene ends, that's

where Nightwing 15 picks up with Nightwing is

after that whole argument. Because in Batman

15, obviously Bruce goes off and and, you know,

finds a way to track the Joker. This whole scene,

this whole argument scene in the cave... I've

said this before, and I'll say it again. I have

not read comics since I was in my early teens

in the 90s, so these are just my first impressions

on some of these characters. I want to bitch

slap his fucking kid. I hate Damian Wayne. What

a whiny little bitch he is. Well, you got to

figure it this way. You got to add some of the

young Tim Drake in there and then you add the

the old, you know, Bruce Wayne as as Batman.

You add mix the two together and that's what

you get. So you get a completely unbalanced.

You get a kid that's cocky as all hell. He's

been raised by the League of Assassins by Talia.

Then goes and has to relearn everything under

Bruce. So it's it's kind of a complete You know

it It's a complete, you know Like mini Bruce,

I mean that's why He's but he's very vocal which

is the difference between Bruce and him Well,

okay, if you look on the page past the initial

screaming wake up Past where they're all just

standing there that next page It's like the page

after that is the explosion and all the Joker

stuff that page right there were Where they're

all egging Bruce to continue the story and Damien's

little panel is Father and he just he looks like

a whiny little bitch to me. I don't know again.

This is my first impression This is my first

time ever reading this character. So, you know,

this isn't me just saying that I you know I don't

like the kid. I honestly wish they would have

done something in DC Comics where they worked

around the whole future thing and Terry was his

son. That to me would have made a hell of a lot

more damn sense than this dumb Damian character.

Well, I mean, you never know. It's still kind

of early. Oh, I know. So I mean, you know, you're

just going to kind of wait it out. In any case,

the last panel you see is Bruce walking into

the asylum, and then you can't talk about that

without talking about kind of the little three

to five pagers at the end, which is the Joker

with various Arkham inmates. For instance, this

one you have Joker baiting the Riddler saying,

you know, come on, you're the only one with the

wits to battle Batman. Yeah, and It's true and

He's like you should not be locked up in here.

He's like you should be out there causing hell

and the Riddler's like I didn't really have a

need to get out and Joker forces him to get out.

So, you know, he's like he reveals, you know

I've kind of had this way picked out for about

six months that I could have gotten out I just

didn't feel like it Which I thought was humorous

Yeah, but you know you're seeing the Joker gathering

all these inmates who clearly don't want a damn

thing to do with him yes, because he's lost it

completely and So it's it's interesting to see

how the other villains are squirming at the sight

of the Joker Going forward in that What I absolutely

love about Batman 15 is seeing the Bat Boat and

the Batmobile in co - like this is the first

time I've seen these in comic form in a long

time and Wow so awesome And what gets it even

better is You know you get to see These issues

are really pitting everybody against each other

and it's really gonna tear the whole That family

up yeah, but it's They're very interesting to

say the least Now do we know if Like as I've

been reading these and a couple of people have

pointed out to me that this may not even be There

was this whole thing of this might not even actually

be the real Joker. I don't know it is Okay, he

was in jail the first issue of I want to say

I want to say it's the Dark Knight or Detective

Comics. It's one of those two. And they have

Doll Master who he says, hey, rip my face off,

please. And you just see the face plastered against

the wall and no joker. And so he's clearly been

in hiding this whole time and stole his face

back from Gotham City Police. But to me it seems

like just by reading back girl. I'm sorry to

cut you off, but just by reading back girl It

seems to me. It wasn't it wasn't James Gordon

that fed her to the Joker it is I don't know

I've just got this weird vibe that they're gonna

pull a twist on us and say oh, hey James Gordon

dressed up at James Gordon jr. Dressed up as

the Joker I don't know I have that weird I could

see that but in one of the bad girl issues I

believe he's the one that turned her over to

the joke Right, and that's what I'm saying. She,

you know, yes, that is what happened, but at

the same time, I can see some sort of weird twist

where even within its own series, it might retcon

itself. That's clearly possible, but it's, you

know, that remains to be seen. Yeah. But is that

in on Batman 15? Yeah, I love the cover. I love

the covers on all of them. on all the 15's that

I have. The covers are just with the entire series

so far, just been great. Did you want to mention

Detective? Detective Comics surprisingly wasn't

anything to do with it. I mean it could have

been, I just didn't see it. You have Poison Ivy

in it with Clayface. And that they're pretty

much just running around through that whole issue.

It's You know, she drugs clay face into thinking

they're married and they're clearly not But um,

I just can't see a poison ivy clay face team

up that it he was drugged and No, and she yeah,

she got hers in the end But yeah, it's Now like

Nightwing does does Batman and Robin take up

after the meeting in in Batman? What's it again?

In Nightwing 15 the story for him starts after

the meeting in the cave that happened in Batman

15 Detective I couldn't tell where the hell it

took place. I'm asking about Batman and Robin

does Batman Robin pick up after the meeting.

Yes, okay. Yes, it does and getting into Batman

and Robin it's it's interesting but it's it's

a lot of dialogue it's actually more in a sense

than Batman 15 okay and you have Damian you know

being grounded by Bruce in the Batcave because

you know no Alfred so they need somebody in the

cave And so he's stuck there with his dog. It

looks like ace, but it's different name. I can't

remember right now, but It you know, he's like,

well, you know the Joker broke in and Took Alfred,

you know, so he's gonna look for clues and in

doing so he goes outside in to like us the cemetery

and there's hyenas that attack him and the Joker

abducts him and then he's mildly sedated him

he's put ammonia in his eyes, so we can't see

or fight back and They're having a back -and

-forth argument and He's making this correlation

between how Robbins function better during the

day and less at night and bats function better

at night than in the day and how you know Robins

and and bats don't work together and it's always

destined to fail and how everybody else is dragging

down the bat or stealing the the moonlight as

the Joker calls it from the bat you know the

from going in on the bat basically saying that

they're all and then he makes a pez reference

saying You know, everybody wants a piece, you

know, pushing back his head, taking the next

piece of Pez. And he says, and I want my share.

Oh, and it's it's hilarious, but it's yeah, he

he basically leaves. It's almost like the under

the red hood where he leaves Robin. Right in

an abandoned warehouse kind of thing by the end

of it, except there's not bombs, it's like maggots

and bugs and dirt covering him. So it's it's

you know and he starts out in that this issue

the Joker does with his face upside down so his

eyes are through his mouth hole and And then

he flips it around while he's talking, so it's

real weird and freaky, so I mean it's They're

keeping consistent with the Joker through all

the different lines. It's just like wow Yeah

That is so creepy Yeah, you know I'll go ahead

and say this folks we got these issues obviously

back in December When I got Batman 15 like Batman

and Batgirl 15 because I only got Nightwing like

Three days before we recorded this When I got

Batman and Batgirl 15 I Breezed through Batgirl

right away. I absolutely really enjoyed it. Yes.

I felt there were more moments where she should

have shown where The the artistry and the writing

should have shown more emotion for her as a character

But I breeze through that and I enjoyed it. It

took me two weeks to get through Batman 15 because

majority of it is the expositional stuff and

Yes, I understand we need that but at the same

time Out of the entire bat family. There's only

two Robins. I like Tim Drake and Dick Grayson.

Jason Todd. Jason Todd is the red hood. Well,

yeah, he is the red hood. But I mean, Jason Todd,

I can tolerate. He's all right. But yeah, that

kid needs to go. Well, Damien isn't actually

as bad as you make him out to be. But. It's I'm

just giving my impression I want in the comic

itself Early on but that's because I didn't Like

I didn't care for that particular line I have

nothing against that Robin because you know at

some point Bruce should have had a son and Tally

is kind of fitting Yeah, and It's it's an interesting

dynamic instead of going with the same old same

old but I Mean, I still prefer Dick Grayson and

Tim Drake honestly, but it's still you know,

they're not Robin anymore and Batman usually

has to have a Robin so It should be Batman and

Nightwing damn straight But anyways Yeah, so

it would have been nice to been able to do this

the entire run of the death of the family Except

issues have been hellaciously difficult to get

unless you're there the week it comes out or

you have them holding it for you Because I had

to go all over the place to get Batman 15 You

want to know the funny thing is when I went into

the comic shop To get Nightwing and to get the

other stuff that I was getting there. They had

a bunch of them Batman 15 was full in stock Nice

But yeah, I knew I Wish this is kind of off -topic

I'm gonna be getting back into some spider -man

comics and I read the last three issues of amazing

spider -man and Sadly, I know well if I want

amazing number 700 the final issue I'm gonna

have to pay Amazon like 15 bucks on Amazon or

something to get it cuz it sold out the first

day So yeah, that was one I kind of missed the

bone on but that's one of the reasons why I like

having The account at the comic shop where I

can call them up and say hey Can you hold on

to this for me or add this to my queue or add

this or add that and whatever else and? But I'm

only going by characters like the bat family

stuff through death of the family I'm probably

gonna stop reading the Batman stuff after issue

20s after the issue 20s And then when Snyder's

next event pops up I'll start up again, but I

mean I'm loving it. I mean we're still doing

all these podcasts on the issues I mean we've

got Batman 16 and all the 16s coming out later

this month, so we'll have that Just in time for

February and then in February death of the family

ends Yeah, I mean I am good I'm gonna say I'm

looking forward to the rest of it, but I still

will be getting Batman after this and Probably

detective comics depending on what the story

arc is. I will continue with Batman no matter

what but Detective comics will be kind of hit

or miss for me and then I kind of I was doing

the Dark Knight and then I decided I just didn't

care for it and then I was doing Batman ink and

then that just I really stopped caring because

they went back to the original plot line It's

like new 52 never even happened in that one Oh,

geez. And so it's very convoluted. Because Morrison's

still doing it, but he's still referencing crap

that actually never happened now. And so that

series just got to be too much for me, and I

was like, screw it. Batman and Robin, I just

didn't want to spend the money, honestly. But

I think there's another one. I don't know. Can't

remember. But anyways, there's so many damn different

Batman lines, it's difficult to keep track. But

I just, I decided to stick with the main two,

the original two and just kind of leave it at

that. Yeah, for me, like I said a second ago,

I picked by characters. So Batman, Batgirl and

Nightwing are the three that I'm reading. I have

no, like I guarantee you if I started reading

Batman and Robin, because it is Bruce and Damien.

Oh, boy. This would be so much more hate filled

than what it already is. But yeah, no, I mean,

we're actually in the process, kind of as a teaser

for people, in the process of coming up with

our own comics dedicated show, because Steve

said he's still going to be reading Batman. I

will jump back into Batman once Snyder does his

next big event. I'm gonna start jumping into

a superior spider -man when it gets released

later this month, so we may end up branching

out into a whole just Podcast for comics, but

we're not gonna do it's not gonna be full -on

comics It's just gonna be a select of whatever

it's just gonna be select for me. It's gonna

be select characters It's gonna be for whatever

we're currently interested in I refuse to start

reading everything number one. I can't afford

it number two I'm not interested in everything

With Amazing Spider -Man ending, I wanna see

where they're gonna take that. With Death of

the Family, you and I will most likely cover

the 18s and the 19s and the 20s, just to see

kinda like the aftermath of Death, because Death

of the Family ends at 17, so. we'll we'll see

the aftermath and see how that happens and I

mean I'm sure if you want to do your if you want

to do individual reviews or hell even if you

could make the Batman comic stuff you can make

those alter geeks like the ones that I'm not

gonna be on you could do alter geeks for those

so yeah probably that's an idea but no the 15s

are are pretty cool exit exit ex uh Expositional.

And, uh, we'll see what happens in a couple of

weeks on 16s, I guess. You wanna take it out,

Joker? No, not really. You lazy bastard. I'm

not lazy. I just took the entire Bat family and

killed them all. Oh wait, that would be too much

for Bats. So, we will see in a couple of weeks,

folks, when we talk about Batman 16, Batgirl

16, and all the other 16s from DC Comics.