Batman Cacophony #1 (OF 3)

4$. Pass.

Kevin Smith...Walt Flanagan...Pick of the Week...I can't wait.

@JumpingJupiter - Get used to it, it's the unofficial new price point.

I'm totally in for this. I wonder if Smith is going to pimp the book on SModcast.

Did Walt Flanagan done other work in comics? I only know his voice from hearing the Smodcast.

@Conor: Yeah I know. But I'd rather not get used to it. I'll have to go with trades or buy even less titles than now. Which is saying a lot when you're buying so few titles like me.

@Spooky: Flanagan did 2 different series at IDW; Karney and War of the Undead. Both were written by Brian Johnson aka Steve Dave (from Kevin's flicks). Both are available in trade and very twisted. Karney is about (you guessed it) carneys who come to a small town and carnage ensues. War of the Undead involves Nazis and classic horror monsters (Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula).

Buy the first issue and save it. This issue would be worth a lot of money in tree years when this mini finishes.

This just smells 'Wait for Trade' doesnt it?

I'm giving it a shot. But if it sucks I'm giving it the drop.

I'm a huge Batman & Kevin Smith fan and for some reason I have no desire whatsoever to read this.  I'll check it out at the shop though and see how it is.

i just saw the preview for this on myspace comics. someone dies on the fourth page and it makes me think that gail simone is gonna put a hit out for kevin smith.

I'll wait for thr trade on this one

@cyberauron: In contrast to the past all 3 issues have already been written. From what I have heard and read, the scripts were done before this was even announced so that there wouldn't be a repeat of Daredevil Bullseye or Spider-Man Blackcat.

$3.99 doesn't help convince me to buy this.  If that's where the price of comics is heading I will be dropping A LOT of titles.

Does anyone think Onomatopoeia is a retarted villain? I mean I know it's Smith's guy and the idea of him saying sound effects is funny....But there really isnt anything to him other then that. The more I think about it, the better the idea of waiting for trade sets in.

@micah: Yeah Simone is gonna raise hell for doing that. Unless this isnt in continuity.

I thought the preview looked good. And don't worry, it's way easy to undead somebody.

Oh, I thought it looked good too, I'm picking it up.... I will just be pissed if they actually kill him off like this (which I'm sure they won't, not with Secret Six just getting going) ... but if they do kill him, it's not like he's got super powers or anything to be used as the explination for bringing him back to life (although neither did Green Arrow).

Jeeze! Spoilers, people!

WHOA WHOA WHOA - No spoilers before the book comes out.  I deleted the offending comment.

I'm both a Batman fan and a Kevin Smith Fan, which means I am definitely going to read this. I hear Walt whenever he guests in Smodcast, so it'll be interesting for me to see his art for the first time. It's three issues, so I'm interested in picking it up, but I'm worried that we might have another Spider-Man/Black Cat situation wherein we have to wait three years before the last issue comes out. Since Smith's film Zack and Mirri is already done, I'm hopeful that he'll be on schedule for this book. I REALLY hope it stays on schedule.

I didn't pay attention to this when I ordered it. Apparently DC is taking a "because we can" approach to pricing on this for the extra buck. Goddammit, I'd cancel it if the order wasn't already in. As someone may tell by my AXM "column" last week, I'm not a fan of this. Say the price is going up officially, or keep it at $3. I'm going to start making cuts now in anticipation.

I want to pick this up, and its oversized right?  So at least thats one reason for the $3.99 price.  I really enjoyed Smith's run on Daredevil, and found his Green Arrow work so hilarious.  I had tons of great laughes with that book.  The fact that he can do both serious and funny work makes me think this will be a pretty good read.  But for some reason...still need that extra push to get me to pick this up.  Help me out ifanbase!!  Let me know on Wednesday whether its a good read.

I've liked both his Daredevil and Green Arrow relaunches, but man Walt Flanagan's art is not so great.

@drakedangerz - It's not oversized.  It's 32 pages, the normal comic book length.

sorry for the spoiler... I had just read the preview and it was on like the third page of it and I was pissed....

Again.... SORRY :(

@conor: i am sorry about the spoiler too. i tried to be vague so someone could go look at it if they wanted.

Alternate title: "Batman and Onomatopoeia make a Porno"  Inevitable/unstoppable tagline: "You won't believe the sounds coming out of his mouth."

In my opinion, Kevin Smith nailed his Green Arrow and Daredevil stuff and the Spiderman/Black Cat stuff was pretty decent (I read the trade, so the delay had no effect on my opinion).  I hope this will be solid.  Between this, RIP, "What ever happened to the caped crusader", and the inevitable relaunch of the Robin and Nightwind books (and of course the phenomenal movies), this is a good time to be a Batman fan.

@stuchlach: That might be the most disturbing joke I've ever read. Good show! *gives him a 1st prize trophy*

What did everyone think of Zack and Miri? As a huge Kevin Smith fan I was disappointed. It just felt more like a Seth Rogan/Judd Apatow film than a Kevin Smith film. I think Kevin should stick to Jay and Silent Bob.

I refuse to pay 4 bucks for 32 pages. OUT

@Connor-What?? Not oversized and still $3.99??!?!  I thought only Bendis with his SI could get away with something like that. :-(

@Comicdork37-Not to start a debate about Kevin Smith films, but if you say it felt more like a Seth Rogan/Apatow movie, thats probably a good thing.  I enjoyed only a few of Smith's films, the rest were meh.  And I disagree that he should stick to Jay and Silent Bob.  No one wants to get stuck with the same characters and labelled in hollywood, no matter how much of a cult following his characters have. :-)

@drakedangerz: I agree with you that no one wants to get labelled and stuck with the same characters but I just felt Zack and Miri lacked the heart that I saw in his other films. I know lots of people hated Jersey Girl but I recently rewatched it and I think it was a great movie and showed that Kevin could do something other than Jay and Silent Bob well. I just felt that Zack and Miri was more about making a buck and trying to capture the Seth Rogan/Jud Apatow craze that is happening right now. With that said I am still looking forward to Kev's next flick "Red State" as it will be his first attempt at "horror" although he has said it is not traditional horror. I guess it all comes down to me being a big fanboy over all the Jay and Silent Bob flicks as I grew up on them and they really spoke to me in many different ways.

didn't flanagan do the jay and silent bob comic?

@comicdork37-I see your point, a totally valid one.  To be fair I have yet to watch Jack and Miri, I'm watching it next Wednesday with a bunch of friends.

@s30: According to the comic book database Walt has only drawn War of the Undead, Karney and now Batman Cacophony. I know there have been Jay and Silent Bob comics about Walt Flanagan's dog (maybe that is what you are thinking of). If memory serves me correct the Jay and Silent Bob (Clerks) comics were either done by Jim Mahfood or Phil Hester.

I always thought that the standard comic book size was 22 pages.  How long have I been thinking "Geez, they really packed a lot of story into 22 pages"?

Hmm, a bit of googling has learned me that 32 pages is standard, but 8-10 of those pages are ads, so I'm not crazy after all. 

I really don't think that solicitations should quote the number of gross pages, rather than story pages.

@Harper: I agree that solicits should list the number of actual pages of content.

I'm still waiting for the second part of the Daredevil Mini he starte with Glenn Fabry!

Trade wait!!!

@Harper - agreed, when you look up running times for movies in theaters they don't factor in the trailers or those awful commercials do they. Companies shouldn't factor in pages nobody cares about

I usually read Batman in trades... couldn't wait here. POTW! Is there a better villain than the Joker? I don't think so.  

I just counted and it is OVERSIZED...30 pages of actual story.

You know this is Kevin SMith when the Joker offers himself

Not to spoil anything but for anyone who has been worried cause of the previews of this issue....DONT WORRY! Smith does an incredible comic book B.S. move to make sure it doesnt stick.

Anyone else noticed the cover reads "January 09"? Glad I didn't have to wait until then for this because it was so much FUN. Very funny and entertaining. Can't wait for the next issue. Hope it's on time (or early).

I decided to wait for the trade.

Yeah, I'm going to wait as well.  It sounds like it will be a pretty solid mini, but I think I can wait.

P.S.  Not to be a continuity whore, but does anyone know when this story is supposed to take place?

this was one of the worst comic books i've ever read.

@JesseG - how so?  Not to defend a book I haven't read, but if make such a bold statement I would be curious to know why.

first off, i like kevin smith movies and i like smodcast  (except when they start role-playing). i'm a kevin smith fan... but this was just plain shitty. the art was really sub-par. the story fell flat on all levels i.e. the jokes weren't very funny, the serious stuff seemed corny, and the overall plot-line wasn't intriguing.

maybe it's not the absolute worst comic book of all-time. it's just one of the worst ones i've read.   

This was awesome fan fic with crap art. Not worth 3.99

i really liked this. the art was okay and the story was great. the only thing that bugged me was the sex jokes like joker offering himself to Onomatopoeia and saying he wanted to violate batman's corpse sexually. it jus seemed a bit too much, but i really enjoyed this.

It's not the worst comic I've read but it was still pretty bad.

Sounds like I made a wise decision to not purchase it.

@Kory - I wouldn't call it bad, but it certainly isn't up to the level of Smith's Daredevil or Green Arrow stuff.  As I stated in my review, I get the distinct sense that he wrote it just because his buddy wanted to draw a batman book.

I thought I was going to dislike this b/c I had not liked Flanagan's art on his other works.  However, the art was good, it was the story that was lacking.  Too much of a scooby doo ending with the Deadshot thing.  For a character that is shown to go toe-to-toe with Batman, Deathstroke, and even Catman, getting almost offed by a one-off character is ridiculous.  I can only suspend so much disbelief.  And I am still feeling burned from Daredevil: the Target, and the years long hiatus with the Spiderman-Black Cat comic.  If this series ever comes to an end, I will probably get the trade.

@stuclach- I'm still going to get the trade when it comes out.  I was just glad I bought Wolverine instead of this.

 i like kevin smith but i don't like gimmicks, i think i'll wait for the response of the second issue before i commit myself to try this book

I'm not surprised Kevin Smith injected sexual deviation into this comic book. How appalling. I hated his Spider-Man Black Cat book because of the bullying scene in which he had a child forced to munch on a urinal cake.

OK, I'll admit that whole "invitation to sodimization" thing on the Joker's part was a bit appaling and a little out of character, but I still thought the story was an excellent one. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series! Why wait to commit? It's only a three-part book!

Whats with people being appalled?  It's Kevin Smith for crying out loud!  The guy has done far worse in his movies than what you're all describing

Yeah, I agree, Drake. People all over the internet are complaining "this is just Kevin Smith being Kevin Smith" ... well, who the fuck else is he gonna be?? lol. I'm a huge Silent Bob fan so this book kicked ass for me. Very, very entertaining. But, I do agree that the art licked balls. Natch.

I don't get the complaints with this book...  The art was fine and The Joker portrayal was amazing.  C'mon who here really thinks the Joker is completely straight?  I mean the dude is in love with Batman. If this issue actually offended someone I wonder how they make it through life without their head exploding.  Brilliant freaking book...

this book was very "meh", not bad but it almost felt like i was reading good and definitely not great fan fiction. Don't know if I'll buy issue two, though. that all being said, i was really surprised by how good the art was.