Batman #12

I knew Batman received his powers through black magic rituals.

The Court of Owls story arc is finally over so that's all there is to be said about that. Over. Finally over! It was good but...man! Finally over!

The story begins in the sewers with Harper Row, the girl who shocked Batman back to life when she dragged him from the icy rivers after he escaped the labyrinth underneath Gotham during the Court of Owls story! I'm still not sure who she is but I think she may have had some kind of important role during the Pre-52 universe. Perhaps she was to Batman as Bibbo was to Superman. Or as Sixpack was to Hitman! Whoever she is, it looks like she's just going to get a one-shot storyline here to catch the reader up on how she found Batman and where she goes from there. Because after this issue (and Issue #0), Snyder will be bringing The Joker back! Yay!

Harper has been invited to a Bruce Wayne Gala even though she's not really anybody important. But since Mr. Wayne is tearing down the building she and her younger brother currently live in, the tenants of the building have been invited as special guests. Not because they're being put out on the street. But because Mr. Wayne is building a newer, better, more expensive with probably higher rents building! Perhaps he's invited them all to the fundraiser so that he can give them checks to pay for the motel they'll be living in for the next two years.

Harper's brother Cullen wants her to relax and have a good time and stop worrying this night. She seems to be the responsible one, working to pay their bills, keeping her brother safe from gangs and violence, and trying to find their father. Do I know anyone in the DC Universe with the last name Row? Nope! I don't! Harper doesn't want to go but her brother finally convinces her.

I think Cullen needs to be fitted for a refrigerator.

At the gala fundraiser, Alfred catches Harper stuffing her backpack full of desserts from the dessert table.

No wonder I'm such a fan of Alfred Pennyworth! I'm currently having the brownies too!

Delicious!

Alfred instantly pegs Harper as the poor person who won the raffle to attend Bruce's gala. Alfred probably recommended the brownies because he stuffed them with gold bullion. Harper has Alfred show her the way out with her backpack stuffed full of sugary goodness. He does his best public relations act to try to get her to believe that Bruce Wayne means what he says when it comes to improving Gotham but Harper isn't exactly holding her breath.

Harper returns home to find her brother beaten and bleeding. His hair has been chopped and the assailants shaved the word "fag" into the back of his hair. Cullen pleads with her to leave it or else they'll just attack him and do it again. So she does. But she fixes her hair up too.

Solidarity, homo!

Later that night as Cullen and Harper are heading home, they're accosted by the assholes that beat up Cullen. They act upset that Harper has that haircut when they didn't give it to her. Just like typical assholes. They can always think up a fucking stupid reason to escalate a situation to violence. My favorite is when an asshole makes a shitty comment toward someone and when the person talks back, it's somehow disrespecting the original asshole. And now he has a reason to punch that person in the face. Because how dare they fucking defend themselves with words!

Harper has a taser she's adjusted so that it spits out way more volts than normal (or amps? I don't know which she changed to make it more dangerous). She knocks down one thug but then she and Cullen are suddenly surrounded. This looks like a job for Superman!

Or, you know, this guy.

Once Harper and Cullen are rescued by Batman, Cullen's troubles seem to disappear for the time being. But Harper becomes obsessed with Batman. She watches footage of him on the internet but it's all shaky and vague because it's all been captured via smart phones and hand held cameras. So she decides to log into the street cameras to get a better look, being that she has some slightly illegal access to them being an electrician for the Gotham power grid.

But the access doesn't get her any more footage of Batman.

It doesn't give her any images but it does give her ideas. It's a mystery to discover!

She's a modern day Velma!

Harper also finds a way to use the Bat Boxes to track Batman. And that's when she sees one go down and rushes off to the sewers to help him out. She reactivates the Bat Box but is nearly run down by a large yacht in the sewers. Batman knocks her out of the way with some kind of Bat Cushion Grapple Deal. She sees the boat go by with Batman fighting a tiger on it! This is the kind of crazy shit that goes down in Gotham's sewers! To help Batman, she turns a valve for the sewer run-off which grounds the boat and throws the tiger overboard. Batman catches the guy he was after (Tiger Shark!) and then notices the valve and the missing girl he had to save.

He's quoting Rorschach.

Later, Batman approaches Harper while she's working in the sewers. He tells her she's finished. She tells him, "But...but...but...I was helping!" Batman repeats, "You're finished." Harper says, "But...but...but...." And Batman is gone. But Harper decides she's not finished at all! Who the fuck is Batman to tell her what to do? He can't just save her and her brother from continual torment from the dregs of society and not expect her to try and help him out! And I guess lucky for Batman, she ignores him. So she can be there to revive him during the Court of Owls story. In your face, Batman! You're not always right!

Batman #12 Rating: No change. The story was a nice, interesting one shot. The art for the first twenty pages was cute and sort of anime-ish and comic booky and cartoony and I liked it a lot. The art for the last eight pages was kind of goofy and weird. Most of it I didn't care for but there was one panel of Harper lying on the couch feeling good about helping Batman and that one was cute and looked nice. If the rest of Clarke's panels looked like that, I think I'd really like his work. As it was, it just looked half-assed.