Tomorrow: Bats, Batgirl, Astounding? Right?

Astounishing, remember. Got to keep the typo going.

I have a pretty heavy pull list today:

Batman #630 - finishing up Winick's run - until he becomes the regular writer after "War Games" is over.
Batgirl #54 - I imagine this will have heavy foreshadowing of the "War Games" storyline.
Catwoman #33 - This, too, will probably have WG implications, since there will be a Mafia confrontation.

Superman #207 - I think the run has been interesting, and as always, Lee's art is great.
Superman:Birthright #12 - finishing up the (new) re-boot of Superman's origin. Should be a busy issue, as there seems to be a lot to wrap up.

DC: The New Frontier #5 - Darwyn Cooke's take on the dawn of the Silver Age, pre-Crisis, entering its penultimate issue. Expensive as hell ($6.95 for 64 pgs (no ads, I think)), but I think its been worth it.

JLA #102 - Why, why did they let Chuck Austen on this title? This issue focuses on the Flash, so I'm hoping for the best, but basically holding out for #107, when Kurt Busiek begins his run.

There are others, (GL #179, The Losers, Sleeper). Don't forget the Planetary #20 comes out this week, too.

Over on the Marvel side, I find that I have 4 titles that I'm pulling:

Astounishing #3, of course.
Powers #2, also of course.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #9
Avengers #500 - although Marvel's stupid numbering (see below) changes insults the reader, I'm going to get this one just to see what Bendis does in Disassembling the team.

(Re: The numbering of Avengers - This title is on its third or fourth volume, and this issue should be numbered #85. However, Marvel has changed the numbering back to what it would be if they continued nubmering from the very first issue of Avengers #1, vol. 1. Fine, I can kind of live with that, but it does allow Marvel to market this issue as a special "anniversary" issue and raise the price. They did this for Fantastic Four and The Amazing Spider-Man, as well. What makes this even more insulting, though, is that Marvel is going to let Avenger go to #503, then re-launch the title YET AGAIN, to get a new #1 issue. It certainly is reminiscent of the early '90s, when new #1 issues came out frequently to pump up sales to speculators/collectors, and which ultimately led to a collapse of the market. Not a good plan, IMHO.)

I was going to avoid the Catwoman. I guess there is no way.

But, I may have to limit my purchases today due to the very tight two days before payday budget.

I guess it *was* Detective Comics, but they looked really old. Hmmm.

Could be. Detective Comics is what put the "DC" in DC Comics.

Incidentally, if someone ever proposes a Detective Comics #1 relaunch, they should be strapped down and forced to watch Schumaker Batman movies forever.

I was going to avoid the Catwoman. I guess there is no way.

It's a decent title. Little iffy there a few issues back with the ree-cock-u-lous cult thing, but still a decent title.

I re-read the first two trades of this version recently, and they were still pretty enjoyable. (I got them back when I was only picking up trades of things, and wasn't as fully inside the DCU as I am now, so I wasn't sure if I'd still find them swell.)

It's a decent title. Little iffy there a few issues back with the ree-cock-u-lous cult thing, but still a decent title.

To tell the truth, it's much more like a crime story with superhero elements, rather than a straight superhero story (aside from that cult side-plot), which makes sense since Ed Brubaker writes it. Not at all related to the abomination that is the movie, and I hope that the movie's failure doesn't sink the book. (I do hear that Brubaker is going to end his run around #50, so who knows what will happen after that?)

Could be. Detective Comics is what put the "DC" in DC Comics.

Yes. The next issue is #797, and it is the second longest running title in comics.

What's the longest?

Action Comics, with its next issue being #818.

(I do hear that Brubaker is going to end his run around #50, so who knows what will happen after that?)

We can dream of Rucka taking it?

We're at what now? 30? 31? There's a good chunk of time left, I suppose.

We'll see. I like Selina much more in this version of her own title than I ever have in any of the other books.

Action Comics, with its next issue being #818.

Action Comics has the higher numbering, but it went weekly for a while a decade or so back. I think Detective is actually the longest-running comic book chronologically, although the company that became DC may have been publishing New Fun Comics earlier than its debut.

I've never managed to get into Selina Kyle. Catwoman's seemed kinda forced (how grey can Batman get?) to me except in a couple Elseworlds incarnations -- the one where she was a madam, and a Chaykin one, IIRC. To compensate, all her other Elseworlds appearances were even less tolerable than I normally find her.

As for Bats and the muddy lines, I prefer Talia.