by Judd Winick, Phil Jimenez & Chuck Kim

(Graphic Novel with art by Ale Garza, Trevor Scott, Lary Stucker, Marlo Alquiza, Phil Jimenez, Andy Lanning, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and George Perez)

A tie-in to the build-up towards the 'Infinte Crisis' epic story event.  This book is divided into three chapters.  The first sees the Titans (Nightwing, Troia, Cyborg etc) team up with Young Justice (Robin, Wonder Girl, Superboy etc) against a powerful cyborg from the future.  In it's attempts to find compatible technology, the cyborg awakens one of the malfunctioning Superman robots.  The ensuing battle with the Titans and Young Justice makes for exciting reading and leads to the deaths of two young heroes (one being Troia/Donna Troy).  The second chapter features Cassie, who took over as Wonder Girl from Donna, reviewing the life and times of her deceased friend.  This allows us to get to know the history of a character that I otherwise wouldn't have understood (what with Wonder Woman, two Wonder Girls and so on).  There is then a time gap before the third chapter in which Troia, alive but stripped of her memory, is helping the Titans of Legend to conquer the innocent planet of Minosyss.  Members of the new Titans and the Outsiders are transported to Minosyss where they are forced to fight against Troia in the hopes of reminding her of her life a Donna Troy.  In this chapter there is quite a bit of reference to Donna's mixed backstory and also to the events of 'Crisis on Infinite Earths', both of which are unknown to me.  I enjoyed this book as whole, though, despite some of the references flying right over my head.  What I liked most was the constrasts created by the different generations of young heroes against their more famous mentors, ie Batman-Nightwing-Robin, Wonder Woman-Troia-Wonder Girl and Superman-Superboy.  Don't expect to get the full story here though, you'll need 'Infinite Crisis' for that.

4 out of 5

 

The Batman/Judge Dredd Files

by Alan Grant & John Wagner

(Graphic Novel with art by Simon Bisley, Carl Critchlow, Dermot Power, Glen Fabry, Jim Murray and Jason Brashill)

An omnibus which collects three crossover stories between the Dark Knight and the Lawman of the Future.  The reason tese crossovers work so well is that they combine the morbid humour of Dredd's stories with the gothic intrigue of Batman's.  The first of the three stories here sees Judge Death unleashed on Gotham and it is made by two separate relationships.  The first is, obviously, Batman and Dredd who fully indulge a testosterone fuelled rivalry.  But far more interesting than that is the interplay between Judge Death and the Scarecrow, who maintain a hilariously sinister banter (not to mention the revelation that Death's darkest fear is cuddly Disney-esque animals!).  Throw in the headbutting antics of Mean Angel and you've got the best part of the book.  The second story sees the two title characters having to join forces to survive a bizarre alien bloodsport.  The third and final story sees the Joker travelling to Mega City One and unleashing the imprisoned Dark Judges.  Although perhaps not terribly deep, this book is thoroughly enjoyable, particularly if you enjoy both characters separately.

5 out of 5