Bountiful Batman appearances for this installment Moments of the Week, as Batman and his family invade the internetz in Batman Inc., steal the show in Flashpoint, and set the stage for Bruce's next big video game in Arkham City. Not only that, but the X-Men deal with the Age of X aftermath, Loki needs to talk to his big brother in Journey Into Mystery, and Reed Richards has a talk with all of his exes in FF, by which I mean villains. So fire up the Batmobile and set your destination to Fun Alley after the jump, before this Bat-theme gets its back broken!
Amazing Spider-Man #660
Carlie Cooper decided to get a Spider-Man tattoo instead of the neck snapping Green Goblin tattoo that is all the rage these days. What do you do when Spidey changes into his FF outfit, though?
Batman: Arkham City #1
Arkham City is the comic book tie-in to the mega successful Rocksteady Batman video game. Bridging the gap between Arkham Asylum and the upcoming Arkham City, this mini series sets the groundwork for why half the city is an open-air prison. Long story short, Titan + street thugs + Hugo Strange = chaos. This is worth a look as this comic's creators are the same ones who contributed to the game, Paul Dini and Carlos D'Anda.
Batman Inc. #6
This is one of those things that looks crazy and odd but actually works. Billionaire superhero Bruce Wayne spreading doubt about his real identity as Batman through message board posts. Even Damian, the literal embodiment of trolling, wonders if this will pay off. It's something that a lot of heroes might want to try themselves, maybe this is how Rip Hunter hides his identity so well. 
The kids obviously want Batman: the Brave and the Bold to be renewed for another season, by any means necessary.
Batgirl #21
Wendy is hallucinating her dead brother Marvin, and that on top of her broken back she has a broken spirit. Dr. Thompkins suggests a trip to Nanda Parabat will help do the trick.
FF #3
Val found out about the Council of Reeds, four of which escaped into our world when they were attacked by the Celestials and the universe hopping machine was destroyed in the process. They decide to sacrifice this earth in order to get back to their own worlds, and in doing so reach out to the Inhumans, Mole Man, Atlanteans, and.....
I'm just gonna throw this out there, having Nova come back to rip out the intestines of this Reed Richards would be nice symmetry, wouldn't it?
Flashpoint #1
Cyborg, trying his best to be Superman, has gathered the heroes of this altered world together in order to deal with the Aquaman and Wonder Woman problem that has pretty much destroyed Europe. 
A nice revamp of Captain Marvel, now Captain Thunder, with his S!H!A!Z!A!M! Agents. It's a little bit Captain Planet, a little bit Voltron, in that the kids have powers on their own but combine to form another personality complete with armored tiger (sold separately).
It's nice to know Batman can still be a jerk in any world. And Cyborg did so well to get everyone together. But while this is going on a powerless Barry Allen heads to the Batcave to find Batman, because surely he would know what's going on...
For a page that has few words, it says so much. This Batman is not a high tech playboy who collects trophies and raises sidekicks, he's just a man with a desk fueled by anger.
Oh, and he's actually Thomas Wayne, who is in his fifties a la The Dark Knight Returns.
Journey Into Mystery #623
Loki visits big brother Thor in jail while Asgard readies for war with The Serpent. Here, Loki isn't trying to trick anyone, or wear Sif like a fur coat, he's just trying to do what he can for his people. The only thing that could have been better was for Loki to put on some sunglasses after that last panel, David Caruso style.
Red Robin #23 
Red Robin has learned of a possible assassination attempt on Lucius Fox, and wanted to let Jim Gordon in on what he learned. A nice line of dialogue about Tim becoming more like Bruce in his hiding, but you can't fool Gordon. So Tim travels with captured baddie Scarab to Egypt find out what she knows, since the suspect is using similar armor.
Another cool touch of DC continuity by Fabian Nicieza, with all the big name CEO's being targeted in what is called an Assassination Tournament. Red Robin just got bumped up to the prime target.
Superman #711
In what seems like a last minute change to deal with the Action Comics #900 controversy from a few weeks ago, Superman lets us know he still loves America. This is actually a right way to do it, by saying that what Supes is fighting for goes beyond America, but it's not to the detriment of his past stories. Now, hopefully, everyone can stop using Superman as their political mouthpiece.
X-Men Legacy #248
Mutants need to be registered not because of their powers, but because they will go absolutely crazy if you break up with them. I have a feeling a Emma/Frenzy catfight will happen in coming issues, making it the fourth time that women have fought over Cyclops; so far we've had Jean vs. Maddie, Jean vs. Psylocke, and Jean vs. Emma.
And one of the bigger mysteries of Age of X is revealed. Revenant is actually Rachel Summers, who we know is out there in space with Havok and the other Starjammers. Like she says, it seemed the moment she made contact was when the world was altered, creating this half-real entity now. This actually felt like a real family moment between Cyclops and his daughter from another reality, which is something that is usually hard to do. And we get a springboard into upcoming X-Men Legacy issues where the team heads into space to find Rachel and the others.
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Posted byKen Boehmat11:19 PM
Thought Bubbles:Comic Book Moments of the WeekDigg it! | STUMBLE THIS | del.icio.us11comments:
Anonymoussaid...Awesome move with Rachel Summers! I've missed her and Havok soooooooo much!!!!!!!
May 14, 2011 12:33 AM
box-in-the-boxsaid...At what point does everyone at Marvel finally admit that Carlie Cooper is an objectively terrible character?
May 14, 2011 2:23 AM
Deansaid...Was a great week but I can't believe you didn't include the villian reveal from Birds of Prey.
May 14, 2011 2:37 AMAnonymoussaid...Absolutely love these reviews and look forward to them each week. Thanks
May 14, 2011 3:32 AMKlepsaid...@box_in_the_box I think it's clear the answer to that is never. I think it's hilarious and sad that Slott thought this would somehow make last issue's terribleness all better. Now, not only is Carlie still terrible for having seriously considered getting a Goblin tattoo, but this cliffhanger-copout nonsense is just terrible writing.
It's great to see Rachel coming back, it's great to see Loki being Loki but not also being evil, it's great to see Cass Cain actually in a comic, and it's great to see Hickman starting to pull threads together. Really this was mostly a good week for comics.
Also, I can't be the only one who thinks Tim is a much more natural heir to the cowl than Dick, can I?
Ken Boehmsaid...Carlie Cooper does seem to come across as being practically perfect in every way. While the Spider-Man aspect of ASM might be hitting the right gears since Big Time, the personal life of Peter Parker still feels off, no matter how much Marvel tries to tell us Carlie is his soul mate (a tattoo must be the new wedding ring that kids can relate to these days).
May 14, 2011 5:21 PMKlepsaid...@Ken Actually in 659 and 660, she comes off horribly. Even seriously contemplating (even while drunk) getting a Goblin tattoo is basically spitting on Gwen's grave. A "perfect" person would not go off and get hammered because of one little lie, and would not consider doing something that would be the grossest insult possible to a close childhood friend and a desecration of her memory.
The only reason she ever might have come off as perfect for Peter is because all the other characters in Peter's supporting cast keep telling him and her and us she's perfect for him. We rarely actually see any of these excellent qualities she's supposed to have. That's why their relationship feels wrong. Because it's being forced on us rather than growing out of the characters and actually making sense.
Ken Boehmsaid...Klep - oh I get what you mean in the first paragraph, but that's we the readers see. Like you wrote, the characters themselves are too busy telling us how great she is, and MJ telling us how great she is (that felt the most forced, in a way to tell naysayers "she's cool"), and how she has a backstory connected to Peter's first love and how she's pretty smart on top of it.
May 14, 2011 6:47 PMbtownlegendsaid...Marvel Girl!!!
May 15, 2011 1:40 AMNaymlapsaid...@kelp
I think you're making a big deal about Carlie. She's not the most amazing character, but she's not that a terrible character. She's just benign. The tattoo thing her being stupid. It's not some horrible thing because she doesn't know the details about Peter's relationship with Norman (or I don't think they've discussed it in detail), and the Spidey tattoo is just a punchline.
I think you're right that sometimes Slott is overselling her, but it's like when your friends are really positive about your significant other at the start of a relationship so that she can fit in with them.
Kirk Warrensaid...@Naymlap - The Green Goblin tattoo is pretty bad since a) hes a known murderer, b) Osborn is in jail for the whole Siege thing and c) they know the Goblin tattoos used in gangs are using them like nazi/aryan symbols based on the news stories and other events that have unfolded in ASM.
Hell, it would shock me that Carlie didnt know Gwen Stacy was Peter's girlfriend at one point and, you know, died from the Goblin seeing that her father was a police officer and well respected in the NYPD, where Carlie works.
I cant see anyone getting a tattoo like that. It's like syaing you were gonna get a Bin Laden tattoo while drunk to spite someone.
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