BATMAN & ROBIN: BATMAN REBORN by Grant Morrison (Author), Frank Quitely (Illustrator), Philip Tan (Illustrator)

Published by DC Comics in 2011.

Goodreads Choice Award nominee.

Synopsis

Batman is dead. Nightwing (Dick Grayson) has returned to take over the role of Batman and mentoring the latest Robin, Damian Wayne. With the help of Alfred, Grayson is getting into the mindset of Batman and they are trying to gel into a team.

But, a crime wave sweeps the city in the form of new villains. While Robing and this new version of Batman struggle to counter the crime wave, Red Hood (former Robin Jason Todd) returns to Gotham to fight crime in his own over-the-top super-violent style. Red Hood has picked up a new vigilante sidekick, Scarlet, who is also a mutilated victim of the criminals Batman and Robin are hunting.

My Review

Batman Reborn is a victim of a couple gigantic missed opportunities.

Missed opportunity number one: an in-depth look at why Nightwing is taking over as Batman rather than just being Nightwing. If nothing else, it's a chance to restate the symbolic importance Batman has in Gotham.

Missed opportunity number two (and the bigger one by far): There are scenes with three Robins and a Robin stand-in. They are all interacting and somehow failing to talk about what they all have in common - being the most famous sidekick in comic history.

Red Hood's new outfit.

Red Hood's outfit was pretty nifty, with the exception of his helmet / face mask. I seriously thought that he was a new character (this graphic novel is full of them) called Red Pill when I saw him. Then I looked up the publication date and realized that "red pilled" was too new of a term  to be used in this book. To be fair to me, Red Hood is pretty danged red pilled. 

Anyway, Red Hood's helmet / face mask looks like the top half of a cold capsule. It makes no sense if you imagine someone's head actually fitting inside of this long narrow tube - unless Red Hood has the widest shoulders in the world and the helmet / mask just looks tiny in comparison (I'm talking Bane level of shoulders.)

What Red Hood's
headgear reminds me of.

The worst thing for me was that the graphic novel revels in being grotesque. Rather than having a mystery for Batman to solve, it deals in grime, grit, gruesome acts, with displays gratuitous and graphic violence. Rather than make a cohesive story line, the plan seems to be to have yet another unique character come to Gotham and commit more insane violence. 

Plus, the horrific act of violence committed by Professor Pyg is literally the same thing done by Joker in the first Michael Keaton Batman movie. No spoliers, but re-watch the movie and read the graphic novel and you will see it. Just me, but if you are going to have someone commit a series of grotesque atrocities, at least make them original grotesque atrocities. 

Note: I liked Damian Wayne in this one. Usually, I don't. 

I rate this graphic novel a generous 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman and Robin: Batman Reborn. 

SUPERMAN: AMERICAN ALIEN by Max Landis (Author), Francis Manapul (Artist), Jock (Artist), Jae Lee (Artist), Joelle Jones (Artist), Tommy Lee Edwards (Artist), Matthew Clark (Artist), Nick Dragotta (Artist), Jonathan Case (Artist)

Published by DC Comics in 2016.

Will Eisner Award Nomination – Best Writer

Synopsis

A team of different artists worked with writer Max Landis to come up with a different kind of Superman origin story in Superman: American Alien. It takes a few liberties with the traditional story and really focuses on Clark Kent and how he transitions from Smallville to Metropolis. 

Each story has a slightly different look and tells of an episode in his development, beginning with an elementary school aged Clark discovering that he can fly (but he cannot control it) and ending with Superman sporting an early version of the red trunks outfit confronting Lobo (Lobo was sent to get someone, but was pretty sloppily destroying chunks of Metropolis while doing so.)

The first draft of a
Superman outfit

My Review

Overall, I enjoyed this graphic novel. I didn't particularly enjoy the second story and the Lobo chapter for the same reason - they were disjointed and kind of hard to follow because they were trying to make the action go fast.

On the other hand, the story where young Clark Kent gets confused for young Bruce Wayne at a yacht party starts out weakly, but turns out very strong.

This story goes out of its way to get at the humanity of the man from Krypton. If you liked James Gunn's Superman movie, you will like this graphic novel.

I rate this graphic novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Superman: American Alien. 

BATMAN: DARK AGE by Mark Russell (Author), Michael Allred (Illustrator), Laura Allred (Illustrator)

Published in 2025 by DC Comics.

SYNOPSIS

Batman: Dark Age is a sequel of sorts to the award-nominated graphic novel Superman: Spage Age. I say of sorts because Superman: Space Age featured a multiverse problem and how a Superman in one multiverse dealt with it. I do believe that this universe is the universe of the second Superman in the original graphic novel. 

This graphic novel is told as the recollections on an elderly Bruce Wayne who is in the memory unit of an old age home.

It starts with a fairly typical Batman origin story, except that Bruce Wayne is not present when his parents die. Bruce Wayne grows up as an arrogant rich kid who ends up in jail. He is released on the condition that he joins the military during the Vietnam War. He joins an elite military unit led by colonel Ra's Al Ghul who teaches them the tactics of stealth warfare.

When Bruce Wayne returns, he finds a Gotham City ravaged by a drug epidemic and he decides to figure out what is going on...

MY REVIEW

This was a pretty intricate story and I appreciate the world building that went into it, but it simply lacked the drama and tension of Superman: Space Age. It was interesting, especially the origin story of Joker, but I will just rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. 

This graphic novel can be found on Amazon.com here: Batman: Dark Age.

IRONWOOD: A CATALINA NOVEL (audiobook) by Michael Connelly

Published in 2026 by Little, Brown, and Company.
Read by Will Damron.
Duration: 7 hours, 45 minutes.
Unabridged.

Ironwood is the second novel featuring Los Angeles County Sheriff Detective Sergeant Stilwell. He is in charge of the Sheriff's office on Catalina Island, twenty two miles out from mainland Los Angeles County. The island has about 6,000 permanent residents and hundreds of thousands of tourists every year. 

While Catalina is a beautiful place, a sheriff department posting on the island is often considered to be a punishment of sorts and the department jokes that deputies on the island are posted on "the island of misfit toys." Stilwell is sent there as a punishment, but has found a new life on the island. He is living with a local woman and is getting a real feel for rhythms and politics of the island.

The story starts with a three deputies waiting for a plane to make a surreptitious middle of the night landing. A deputy who was recently posted on Catalina received a tip from a mainland conidential informant that a Mexican drug cartel plane would be making an illegal quick landing on the island's lone landing strip. When the deputies move in to make the arrest, all hell breaks loose and Stillwell's two deputies are gunned down...

My Review

One of the best things about the Catalina novels is that they are big city crime novels and small town crime novels at the same time. Stilwell is looking into vandalism cases while also investigating a murder. This book has five different cases at various phases of development going on at the same time. Some are very local, some involve the mainland.

A Sheriff's Jeep on Catalina Island

Stilwell ties in to the larger Harry Bosch universe. I can't think of a single Connelly book that is not at least indirectly tied in to that universe, but I may be wrong. In this novel, Stilwell stumbles across evidence that reopens a cold case with Renee Ballard's team. 

I don't want to make any spoilers in a police procedural book, so I won't go on about the plot. The book is well-paced and enjoyable. I listened to the whole audiobook at a very brisk pace. I intentionally slowed myself down and took a break for almost an entire day because this book just came about and there won't be another Connelly book for a while. 

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. Very enjoyable as an audiobook.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: Ironwood: A Catalina Novel by Michael Connelly. 

FREEDOM FIGHTERS: RISE of a NATION (graphic novel) by Robert Venditti (Author), Eddy Barrows (Illustrator)

Published in 2020 by DC Comics.

SYNOPSIS

Freedom Fighters takes place on Earth X - the part of the DC multiverse where the Nazis won World War II. In this case, Superman landed in 1930s Czechoslovakia and became part of the Nazi military machine. 

Not much can stand up to the might of Superman, so the Allies fell.

In the early 1960s the last bit of American resistance died when the last American superheroes were captured and later executed on live television. When Americans stop believing in freedom, Uncle Sam disappears from Earth and goes to a netherworld called The Heartland - the extradimensional realm of ideas.

The Nazis move their headquarters to the United States and use their genetically modified squad of SS men to terrorize the population. These new SS men have all taken an injection that shortens their lives but makes them into clones of the original Plasticman. They are know as PlaSSticmen. 

But, a new generation of superheroes is determined to reignite the spirit of freedom by starting a new resistance movement to push the Nazis out of America and eventually liberate the planet...

My Review

This graphic novel seems like a great idea, but the actual graphic novel leaves so many logic holes that it doesn't even make sense following its own comic book rules.

****Warning - lots and lots of spoilers.

The whole concept of Uncle Sam just fading away like a Star Wars force ghost only to return later has its own internal logic problems. He fades away on the night of the executions because the ENTIRE population of America loses its faith in the spirit of freedom. It has to be that the entire population 100% loses its faith because long after he has faded away he is stirred back to life by the belief of just a few people, much like Tinker Bell. 

Why did he ever disappear? He is powered by the people's belief in an American ideal. They can believe in these ideals even while they are under military occupation by a foreign power.

When Uncle Sam is awakened he laments that his friends have all died and been buried like he was. They are a lion (England), a bear (Russia), a fighting bull (Spain), a beaver (Canada), and so on.

Why are they all animals and if they are all animals, why isn't Uncle Sam an eagle, or at least be able to take the shape of an eagle? After all, the UK also has a human representation - John Bull.

Also, the artist's drawing of a fighting bull makes it clear that he has never laid eyes on a fighting bull. It looks more like a horse with elephant tusks coming from its head rather than the truly fierce-looking fighting bull.

Where is there no German character to take its place among Uncle Sam and the Russian bear and the Canadian beaver? Is this living avatar of a country's spirit only a thing that the Allies get? If that is the case, why would Spain have a fighting bull in this graveyard? After all, Spain was a nominal ally of the Axis powers during World War II (Spain stayed neutral because they were so weak after the Spanish Civil War that put the fascists in power that Hitler figured the Allies would invade Spain and use Spain to invade the rest of Europe. Hitler told them to lay low and join the Axis powers later.)

Why do all of the PlaSSticmen speak with a German accent? They are supposed to be American volunteers that turn into physical clones of the original Plasticman - why would they suddenly become Germans?

Why would the Nazis move their headquarters to the United States? They were turning Germany into a 1,000 year Reich to dominate the world from GERMANY. That was pretty much the point of starting World War II. 

*****End spoilers

I really was expecting a lot more from this graphic novel. The same writer wrote the Superman '78 series and I liked it quite a bit.

I rate this graphic novel 2 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Freedom Fighters: Rise of a Nation.

AMERICAN RAMBLER: WALKING the TRAIL of JOHNNY APPLESEED (audiobook) by Isaac Fitzgerald

Published in 2026 by Random House Audio.

I am a fan of books where the author goes on a journey and tells me about what he or she found along the way. I've followed authors on a bicycle journey from England to India, a hike from Mexico to the Darian Gap in Panama, a motorcycle journey around the borders of Chinese Turkestan, a run with a stray dog in the Gobi desert, and a drive along historic Route 66. 

I know I won't get to all of these places, but these authors have and I can learn from them.

However, I have been to the grave of Johnny Appleseed in Fort Wayne, Indiana so I was interested in seeing what else Isaac Fitzgerald could tell about the travels of the legend of Johnny Appleseed/Chapman.

Synopsis

In American Rambler, Fitzgerald starts with a two day hike in the area where John Chapman was born near Leominster, Massachusetts. It was a rough hike, but Fitzgerald basically finished it, with a little help from his parents. He then decides to truly look into Johnny Appleseed and explore the areas where he lived and traveled throughout his entire life. At first, he considered doing it mostly on foot, but he decided that he simply isn't that dedicated of a hiker. 

With the help and advice of his girlfriend, he buys a jeep and starts to explore different areas that are associated his Johnny Appleseed - a site with a tree that he actually planted, an area where he lived for a while, various Johnny Appleseed festivals, a minor league baseball team with a Johnny Appleseed-based mascot, and several stops with friends, and a lot of stories about his parents and his chaotic upbringing. 

My Review

Johnny Appleseed's grave in Fort Wayne.
It is surrounded by apple trees and visitors
pick apples and place them on the grave.
Photo by DWD

I liked the Appleseed-related material, but I quickly grew tired of all of the details about the author's personal life. I had never heard of the author, so when I started listening I assumed that he was a first time author and his editor didn't care enough to talk him into paring down his prose to make the book flow better by cutting out a bunch of the personal stuff.

Turns out that Fitzgerald is actually a minor celebrity - a regular contributor to the Today Show, a regular writer for various publications, and the author of four books before this one.

He tried to tie in his personal stories to the Appleseed narrative, but I found the connections to be weak at best and found myself wishing he'd get back to the rambling along the trail of Johnny Appleseed that the title promised.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed. 

STAR TREK / LEGION of SUPER-HEROES by by Chris Roberson (Author), Jeffrey Moy (Artist)

Published in 2013 by IDW Publishing.

Synopsis

In one universe, a team from the DC Comic's Legion of Super-Heroes are travelling through time (as they do), returning from another successful mission.

In another universe, the crew of the Enterprise NCC-1701 is safely in spacedock above Earth, looking to get in a little maintenance and shore leave. The bridge crew is beaming down to San Francisco together.

Suddenly, a space/time event happens (as it does from time to time on Star Trek) and the two groups find themselves in a different universe where Earth is the home planet for an evil galactic empire with a familiar face as its leader.

Brainiac 5 and Spock meet and come up with the science to make things right - but it will require a lot of luck and the kind of derring-do that a team of superheroes and Star Fleet officers just might be able to pull off...

My Review

Star Trek / Legion of Superheroes was a fun kind of throw away story. I didn't get the inside jokes and comments from the DC Comics side of things because I was, until I read this graphic novel, completely unaware of the Legion of Super-Heroes. I am sure I had seen their name before, but I figured they were just a repackaging of other, more well-known superheroes into yet another combination with a new name. 

I was kind of surprised that Star Trek let their first team of characters be included in a graphic novel that included less well-known characters. Let's face it, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy have been the face of Star Trek for 60 years. In their franchise, they have to be the equivalent to at least an appearance by Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman. Maybe even Flash or Green Lantern. 

Still, it was an okay read. Not amazing, not bad.

I rate this graphic novel 3 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: STAR TREK / LEGION of SUPER-HEROES by by Chris Roberson (Author), Jeffrey Moy (Artist)