roge antonio

On this chilly December day, as we're sipping hot cocoa and listening to carols, we've got an exclusive look at the covers and solicitations for DC's Batman Family offerings in March --- including Batman taking on the Mad Hatter, and a Batgirl/Supergirl team-up that finds the two heroes breaking into Arkham Asylum! Check them out!

The Batman books tend to be at their best when they're working with self-contained storylines that focus on a different aspect of the character. That's been especially true with the Rebirth era, where Batman was relaunched with grand, over-the-top superhero action and Detective Comics put the spotlight on the Batman Family operating as a team under Batwoman, and where Nightwing was specifically about distancing Dick Grayson from his mentor --- at least for a while. With that in mind, it was pretty easy to worry that "Night of the Monster Men," a six-part crossover that ran through all three books, would derail that focus. Instead, it shored everything up, tying those ideas together in a way that strengthened all of it, and managed to pull off one of the best revitalizations for a villain that I've seen in a long time.

Batman and Robin Eternal is a treasure. Weekly comics can be a pretty mixed bag, and I'll admit that I was a little leery of following up last year's Batman Eternal with another rapid-fire series so soon, but we're heading into the third month of this one and it's working really well. The tighter focus on Batman's family of sidekicks --- and the sheer number of Robins, Batgirls and even the occasional Bluebird that you can use to bounce the story around --- has made for a fast-paced, engaging adventure. Oh and also, it's got the Order of St. Dumas and Bane, who debuts a new catchphrase in this week's issue. In case you missed it, Batman and Robin Eternal is going full '90s, and it's amazing.