The Four Color Media Monitor

The LeHigh Valley Express-Times, in their fawning of Batman: Battle for the Cowl, signals how it's just more of the same in the Land of Gotham:

The city is in chaos. Gang wars have spread onto the streets; all the costumed criminals have escaped Arkham Asylum.

An over taxed police force is crumbling and more and more officers are walking off the job.

With Batman missing and presumed dead, Gotham has become a warzone.

Same old, same old. We've been this way before with Knightfall, No Man's Land, War Games, and countless other crossovers.

The only thing holding the city together is the small band of heroes gathered by Nightwing, aka Dick Grayson, the original Robin.

Nightwing's team is made up of all of Batman's allies including: Wildcat, Huntress, Batwoman, Robin, Damien, Catwoman, Black Canary and Oracle.

With all of their combined skill and talent, this group of heroes can barely keep the city from being torn apart.

What they are missing is the psychological impact of Batman.

Criminals simply aren't as intimidated by these heroes as they are by Batman.

Without that fear to keep them in check, criminals have gone wild in a mad grab for power.

Oh please, this is just such an exaggeration. Even when Bruce Wayne is around as Batman, there were more than enough rank-and-file criminals who weren't afraid of going on a rampage.

Things only get worse when an imposter picks up the mantle of Batman and begins a brutal and murderous assault of the criminals of Gotham.

Gee, even that sounds familiar!

On top of that the criminal mastermind Black Mask has returned and he's organizing the costumed criminals to help him take over the city.

"Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1" by writer/artist Tony Daniel paints a bleak picture for the city of Gotham and the heroes left to defend it.

By the end of the three issue mini series from DC Comics someone will be the new Batman.

Now it's just a matter of who it's going to be.

The front-runner is Nightwing. He's taken over for Batman before. But now he's reluctant to step forward because of Bruce's death.

Two other contenders are Jason Todd and Tim Drake.

Jason Todd was the second Robin and the one who died a few years ago. He got better. Jason is a little crazy and extreme in his crime fighting.

Tim Drake is the current Robin and is a master detective.

Sorry, but by now, if they're thinking of turning Jason Todd into the Batman, it'll be a pure joke. He hasn't changed much since his pointless return, if at all, and it's clear they don't have much of an idea what to do with him even now.

Each of these characters has one of the qualities it would take to become Batman but none has all three.

Nightwing has the fighting skills, Jason Todd has the intimidation and Tim Drake has the detective skills.

Whoever becomes the new Batman will be really busy after "Battle for the Cowl" concludes as DC has planned eight new books to showcase the all new Batman.

None of which need to be bought, as I figure this is their latest crossover, combined with bait-and-switch tactics, and all of which takes the place of real storytelling.

Labels: Batman, dc comics, msm propaganda