Batman White Knight #6 Review

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Batgirl, Batman, Batman White Knight, Batman White Knight #6, Batman White Knight #6 Review, Batmobile, comics, DC Comics, Jim Gordon, Mad Hatter, Matt Hollingsworth, Mr Freeze, NCBD, Neo Joker, Nightwing, Sean Murphy, The Joker

Batman White Knight #6

Review by Paul Bowler

Gotham’s most iconic alliance is shaken to the core in Batman White Knight #6 as Gordon’s trust in Batman reaches breaking point! The Dark Knight’s fall from grace has been orchestrated by the reformed Joker – aka Jack Napier – now seemingly cured of his homicidal madness by therapy and medication. But the drug Jack relies on is gradually loosing its effect, the city is slowly descending into chaos, and with Batman defeated it’s up to Jack to step up to the plate when the Neo Joker finally instigates her grand plan to seize Gotham…

Set in a world that has uncannily turned the Batman into the villain and the Joker into a hero, Batman White Knight, with its story and art by Sean Murphy, and colors by Matt Hollingsworth, continues to go from strength to strength with every successive issue. Napier’s ascension in this mini-series has seem him cured and released from Arkham, from where he’s gone on to expose the corruption that has festered in the GCPD for decades, becoming a champion of the middle-classes, and covertly using an army of super-villains – along with the collateral damage this conflict causes – to discredit the Batman‘s standing in the eyes of Gotham‘s citizens.

Batman White Knight #6 sees this mini-series reach a major turning point, as Murphy’s dark tale brings Batman’s world crashing down. Seeing Gordon resolve to bring Batman in is a powerful, defining moment here, as is Nightwing assisting him by delivering the means for him to do so, and the subsequent fracturing this has on the Bat-Family when Batgirl, aghast at Nightwing’s actions, refuses to have anything to do with the plan.

This book and its starkly grim take on the Bat-Mythos, especially the look and tone of Gotham itself – being more industrial and gothic, and less generically NYC like most of the main Bat-Books – are key elements that really make Batman White Knight stand out from the crowd. Sean Murphy’s edgy, moody artistic style further enhances the grim sense of foreboding in this issue, while Matt Hollingsworth’s richly atmospheric colors bring added gavatis to every scene. The sheer fan boy glee at seeing the Batmobile from the1989 Tim Burton Batman movie Vs the Batman White Knight’s Batmobile in a high-speed chase sequence is undoubtedly one of the big highlights of the issue, however, it is the blood-spattered, bone-churching face-off between Batman and Jack Napier that follows which really steals the show – whilst also vividly illustrating the warped schism Murphy has crafted between the Batman and the Joker in this mini-series.

With Batman facing an ignoble fate in Arkham, its not long before the Neo Joker, having taken control of the villains utilizing Mad Hatter’s technology, seems hell bent on holding the city to ransom after she unleashes a giant freeze cannon on Gotham. Other standout moments that shine in this issue are an especially poignant scene between Mr Freeze and Batgirl, and Harley tires in vain to get through to Jack again as he prepares to face Neo Joker.

This was another thoroughly enjoyable issue. With its intense action, brooding characterization, unexpected plot twists, and striking visuals Sean Murphy and Matt Hollingsworth constantly keep you on your toes in Batman White Knight #6, and as this mini-series enters its final act we are left wondering if the Batman can find possibly find a way back from everything that‘s happened, or will the Joker have the last laugh after all?

Publisher DC Comics

Writer / Artist / Covers / Sean Murphy

Colors & Cover Colors Matt Hollingsworth

Leters Todd Klein

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All Star Batman #6 Review

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Alaska, All Star Batman, All Star Batman #6, All Star Batman #6 review, Batman, DC Comics, DC Rebirth, Ends of the Earth, Ends of the Earth Part 1, Francesco Francavilla, Jock, Mr Freeze, Sci-Fi Jubilee, Scott Snyder

All Star Batman #6

Review by Paul Bowler

All Star Batman #6 brings the Dark Knight to Alaska as he attempts to stop Mr Freeze getting his frozen mitts on an ice core that could plunge the world into a new ice age! Critically acclaimed writer Scott Snyder is joined by the phenomenal artist Jock for All Star Batman’s new arc, Ends of The Earth, and their new take on Batman’s deadliest ice-cold adversary presents the Dark Knight with a hauntingly dark, wintry challenge as he battles to save the world from Mr Freeze in the icebound wilderness of humanities last frontier…

Scott Snyder continues to deliver a fresh slant on the Dark Knight’s rogues with DC Comics All Star Batman. Having successfully done so with Two Face in “My Own Worst Enemy”, Snyder now turns his attention to Mr Freeze (Dr Victor Fries), as the fearsome sub-zero villain embarks on a sinister plan to extract the world’s oldest ice core.

All Star Batman #6 gets Snyder’s new Ends of the Earth story-arc off to a confident start, plunging us directly into the frigid heart of this story right from the outset, with Batman – kitted out in a heavy-duty Mech-style Bat-suit that fires specially forged Batarangs – resolutely making his way to an outpost in Alaska, while the narrative gradually offers a chilling insight into his mission. Batman soon discovers the terrible fate of the researches, but it seems there’s an even nastier surprise awaiting him here at the top of the world!

Snyder masterfully builds the suspense and horror. Mr Freeze and his lumbering carbon bonded ice-zombie minions make fittingly terrifying adversaries for Batman in this issue. While its perhaps no surprise to see the familiar Mr Freeze tropes employed, such as his beloved Nora and themes of cryogenic resurrection, but its refreshing to seem them handled in a was that brings such a strong dramatic edge to the issues. The inclusion of the poem, Fire and Ice, by Robert Frost, is another masterstroke, and it’s this subtle half-guessed blend of mystery and suspense that Snyder uses to keep us guessing all the way to the final page. Even the story of how Batman’s Mech-suits Batarangs were specially crafted for this mission beautifully complements the bleak environment, stark brutality, and often reflective tone which this tale seamlessly shifts between at times.

Needless to say, artist Jock does a fantastic job with All Star Batman #6, Ends of the Earth Part 1 looks incredible. From the almost complete whiteout of the landscape 300 miles north of the artic circle, to Batman’s kick-ass Mech-Bat-suit, and Mr Freeze – who to my mind has rarely looked as ruthless and as fearsome as this – is at his maniacal deep-frozen best to provides a thrilling and palpable threat to the Dark Knight. Jock crafts so many standout moment in this issue, Freeze’s panoramic vision of the future, for instance, is gloriously realized, but my favourite scenes were with the screeching ice-zombies, I found them genuinely unnerving with their shuddering movements and blood curdling cries – especially when they overwhelm Batman at one point. Matt Hollingsworth’s colors provide a perfect accompaniment for Jock’s art, with exquisite artic blue tones, opaque, almost pearlescent whites, and shadowy hues that effortlessly melds the tension and emotional beats of the story.

All Star Batman #6 builds to a nerve jangling cliff-hanger, with danger closing in on all sides, and the Dark Knight in mortal danger. A resolution of sorts is found beating furiously at the heart of this story, one that drags protagonist and antagonist into the warped embrace of fire and ice in a scream of jaw-dropping action set-pieces, and it will leave you awestruck by the sheer overwhelming realization this arc is only just beginning!

The Cursed Wheel Part 5 written by Scott Snyder and with art by Francesco Francavilla continues All Star’s backup story focusing on Duke’s training through the wheel. Opening with a fiendish trap set by the Riddler for Batman and Duke to solve, events then flashback to their trip to Arkham to visit the Riddler in his cell, for a bizarre kind of Zero Year anniversary. But this year there’s something connected to more recent events waiting for Duke to confront. Snyder ensures the script it taut and engaging, and Francesco Francavilla’s artwork, with its angular panel layout, provides an impressively colourful mix form and shadow. This highly atmospheric story moves at a quick pace, there are some great moments of characterization for Batman and Duke, and everything quickly reaches a fittingly explosive puzzle-tinged final scene.

There is more than a hint of John Carpenter’s film, The Thing, about this opening chapter of Ends of the Earth, especially with its setting, remote base, something nasty frozen in the ice, and its themes of contaminated blood. I love this darker, more atmospheric, horror toned story, and I think Snyder and Jock have excelled themselves with this remarkable issue which splices story and art in such a way that it actually feels like it reads more like prose than a comic book – Steve Wands uncanny use of lettering makes every word leap from the page. It’s great to have Scott Snyder and Jock working on a Batman book again. No question about it, All Star Batman #6 is a must-read issue, with its terrific cover by Jock, as well as a Jock Variant cover , and Francavilla Variant, this issue sets the stage from one of Snyder’s most compelling story-arcs to date!

Publisher DC Comics

Writer Scott Snyder / Art Jock

Colors Matt Hollingsworth / Letterer Steve Wands

The Cursed Wheel Part 5 written by Scott Snyder with art by Francesco Francavilla

Cover Jock / Jock Variant / Variant Cover Francesco Francavilla

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Sci-Fi Jubilee My New You Tube Channel Batman Return to Arkham Collection: Arkham City Completed!

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Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Bane, Batman, Batman Return to Arkham Arkham City Walkthrough, Batman: Return to Arkham Collection, Catwoman, Clayface, Gotham, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, Killer Croc, Mr Freeze, PS4, PS4Share, Ra's al Ghul, The Joker, The Mad Hatter, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two Face

Sci-Fi Jubilee My New You Tube Channel Batman Return to Arkham

Arkham City Completed!

Hi, I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone for checking out my YouTube channel while I’ve been playing the Batman Return to Arkham Collection. I’ve completed Arkham City now, well, the main story anyway. Its been great of fun to revisit Arkham City, the storyline is really action packed, there are plenty of side missions to complete, and the game features lots of classic Batman villains including Two Face, Penguin, Solomon Grundy, Bane, The Riddler, Harley Quinn, Mr Freeze, Mad Hatter, Victor Zsasz, Hush, Deadshot, Clayface, Ra’s Al Gul, Talia Al Gul, and of course the Joker! I also played the majority of Arkham City using the Dark Knight Returns version of Batman, so that features in nearly all of the videos I streamed of the game.

　

This video features one of my favourite boss fights, the battle with Mr Freeze in the old GCPD building. It was a bit of a tricky battle as you can only use each form of Batman’s attacks once before Mr Freeze adapts to your tactics. Then it was time to save Vicky Vale after the Joker has her helicopter shot down.

Batman takes the fight to Hugo Strange in his tower lair right at the heart of Arkham City for a final showdown! Took me a few goes to get past all the guards, especially the ones at the entrance. Sorry, I’m a bit rubbish at doing the combos with all the Bat-Gadgets, but I got through and defeated Hugo Strange eventually!

Time for the final showdown between Batman and the Joker in Arkham City! I really enjoyed this part, it was a great finale to the game!

　

The remastered graphics in Arkham City were every bit as good as those in Arkham Asylum. I liked the wider scope of Arkham City, the side quests are good too, and it was fun to play the DLC content as well. The Batman Return to Arkham Collection is the first time I’ve streamed games like this on PS4, usually I’ve just done clips or edited the best bits together, so it was interesting to just play through the games and see how things turned out. It seemed to go down well, becoming a really popular feature on Sci-Fi Jubilee.

Thank you so much for watching and supporting me, its become such a fun addition to Sci-Fi Jubilee as well, especially with all your comments and suggestions. I hope you’ve enjoyed my return to Arkham Asylum and Arkham City as much as I’ve had fun playing these brilliant games again, and please feel free to hit that like button and subscribe if you did. I really appreciate the great feedback you‘ve given me, so keep an eye out for more videos as I might stream more games like this on my YouTube channel in the future.

　

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Sci-Fi Jubilee My New You Tube Channel Batman: Return to Arkham Collection Arkham City

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Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Bane, Batman, Batman Return to Arkham Arkham City Walkthrough, Batman: Return to Arkham Collection, Batmobile, Catwoman, Gotham, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, Killer Croc, Mr Freeze, Paul Bowler YouTube, Poison Ivy, PS4, PS4 Share, Ra's al Ghul, Scarecrow, The Joker, The Penguin, The Riddler, Two Face, YouTube

Sci-Fi Jubilee My New You Tube Channel Batman Return to Arkham: Arkham City

Hi everyone! Thanks for checking out my YouTube Channel while I’ve been playing the Batman Return to Arkham Collection. I had a great time completing Arkham Asylum, so, after short break I’ve now started Arkham City. I’m really enjoying revisiting Arkham City again, the scope and scale of the game is even bigger than Arkham Asylum, and there are loads of great story moments and villains for Batman fans to enjoy!

The first video I streamed features the opening of the Arkham City as Bruce Wayne is captured by Hugo Strange and sent to Arkham City. Once Batman suits up its time to save Catwoman from Two Face. We also get to see Penguin, Calendar Man, Harley Quinn, and Bane, before Batman tracks down the Joker’s hideout in the Steel Mill.

Having reached Joker’s lair its time for Batman’s first confrontation in this game with the Joker! I found a few Riddler trophies as well, sorry if I wander around a bit looking for them! There’s also the first part of the Catwoman storyline here as well, I’ve never played any of the DLC for Arkham City before, so that was fun.

In this video Batman searches the Old GCPD building to find out where Penguin has taken Mr Freeze. The Riddler and Deadshot missions begin, and this part concludes as Batman makes a poignant visit to Crime Alley.

I think the remastered graphics in Arkham City look really good as well, even better than Arkham Asylum. I’ll stream and post some more Arkham City videos on my channel as I play through the game, obviously it’s a much bigger game than Arkham Asylum, so I’ll probably concentrate on the main storyline and boss fights. I might uses some of the different character skins as well, like the 70’s Batman or Dark Knight Returns Batman, to mix things up a bit. So, look out for new videos on my YouTube channel as I explore Arkham City, I hope you enjoy them, and please feel free to hit that like button and subscribe if you do.

Thanks for watching and cheers for all your support!

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