Author: Robert Greenberger

You have to give credit to Dwight Frye, the underappreciated character actor who created the role of the hunchback Fritz, who aided Colin Clive’s Victor Frankenstein in the 1931 Universal adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic novel. In further Universal installments, the assistant was renamed Ygor and Frye was replaced with Bela Lugosi – but it is Frye’s portrayal that gave the world the stock character forever known to all as Igor.

In the re-envisioned world portrayed in Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy), Igor is given an upgrade from simple lab assistant to brilliant physician and Frye has morphed into Daniel Radcliffe. Young Victor is actually still in med school as we meet out characters and it is Igor who proves to the brains behind the, ahem, operation.

Max Landis uses both Shelley’s novel and the Universal series of films as guideposts but charts a fresh, if not wholly original tale. Igor’s fascination with circus performer Lorelei (Jessica Brown Findlay) propels the story especially once she is gravely injured and he thinks he can save her. Frankenstein, younger and more by the book at this stage, thinks otherwise.

The two become friends and Victor realizes Igor’s hunch is actually an abscess in need of lancing. Their bond grows deeper as Victor shares his research into the uses of electricity to reanimate dead flesh.

In short order, though, the duo’s life is complicated on multiple fronts, the most dangerous being policeman Roderick Turpin (Andrew Scott)’s improbable realization of the two are doing. There’s plenty here and it doesn’t all hang together terribly well and Landis’ script ultimately does not service the two leads terribly well. All in all, the ideas aren’t bad but the messy result leaves us longing for a faithful and melancholy adaptation of the source material.

McAvoy, Radcliffe, and Scott aren’t given enough to work with and despite their collective talent, the overall performances are flat and lack the manic energy that made us fall for Clive and his successors.

The film, out now as a Combo Pack from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, has a just fine high definition transfer with a solid lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack.

Given that the film was a box office and critical flop, the studio didn’t invest much in this release and the extras amount to a handful of Deleted Scenes (14:17) and an electronic press kit compilation The Making of Victor Frankenstein (29:27).

Humans appear to be hardwired to resist and even reject change. With that as a starting point, the amiable but not terribly original Sisters, starring Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Their alchemical bond makes this a slightly above average film and watchable but the without them, the film is familiar and flabby.

The film, coming to home video Tuesday from Universal Home Entertainment, kicks off when parents Dianne Wiest and James Brolin) tell Tina and Amy that they are selling the home where the girls grew up. While volatile Kate (Fey) was expected to take the news badly, it’s somewhat of a surprise that responsible Maura (Poehler) is equally bothered by the change to the status quo.

In an incredulous moment, the girls arrive in Orlando to clean their rooms one final time, just hours before the contract is about to be signed. In our world, the process takes weeks so this feels unconvincing.

In another bizarre version of reality, they decide there’s time for one final blow out of a party and the old gang is invited, allowing the girls to become teens once again, especially as old flames Dave (John Leguizamo) and Alex (Bobby Moynihan) turn up. When Brinda (Maya Rudolph) is not invited, she decides to ruin the nostalgia fest and so goes the rest of the film.

Given the quality of the people involved, including Rachel Dratch, Samantha Bee, Kate McKinnon, Jon Glaser, and Chris Parnell, in addition to the often funny Poehler, Fey, and Rudolph, this should have been more than a house party gone awry. Fey and Poehler have varying producer credits so they should have sharpened the derivative script from Paula Pell, who has done better work on Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock.

The film was handed to Jason Moore who made a mark in features with the brilliant Pitch Perfect so this is a huge disappointment from him and his cast.

The high definition transfer is perfectly fine for mindless viewing, matched well with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack.

The Combo Pack comes with the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD package. On the Blu-ray you can find a full range of extras starting with a slightly longer and no better unrated version of the film. There are nine deleted scenes and another nine extended scenes plus a Gag Reel (3:17). As one would expect, there was a lot of adlibbing during production and the best takes were compiled for The Improvorama (8:40) while How to Throw a Party (1:36) offers up advice. More interesting is the Grown-Up Parties Suck (5:18) featurette that is exactly as it sounds. Bobby Moynihan gets the spotlight in outtakes called The Alex Chronicles (2:51) and The Kate and Pazuzu Chronicles (2:05) focuses on flubs from Fey and WWE star John Cena. You can learn the Behind the Scenes story during the interesting but short A Teen Movie…For Adults (10:26). The Original Sister (6:40) allows writer Pell to reveal how much of the film was taken from her relationship with her sister Patti. Finally, Pool Collapse VFX (0:50) looks briefly at the set piece.

There is also Audio Commentary from Moore, Fey, Poehler, and Pell that makes the film sound far more ambitious and interesting than what was actually screened for audiences.

The Daniel Craig cycle of James Bond films has proven divisive to fans compared with his predecessors whom we either seemed to uniformly love or loathe. Of the four films he’s headlined, Spectre has proven the most unevenly received, most admiring its technical virtuosity and everyone else less certain about its story.

MGM Home Entertainment released Spectre as a combo set (Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD) and revisiting allows some perspective. Helmer Sam Mendes intended to tie together the dangling threads from the last three films – Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and the terrific Skyfall – while offering up a rousing caper which was intended as his personal swan song. Unfortunately, Christoph Waltz’s casting as Franz Oberhauser was as mysterious and frustrating to fans as Benedict Cumberbatch’s role on Star Trek Into Darkness. In both cases, the fans circumventing the marketing and deduced the true nature of the opponents, weakening the reveals when they finally arrived on screen.

Also deadening the film’s impact was the unfortunate bit of timing as the latest Mission: Impossible, Rogue Nation, offered up much the same plot: the government was convinced the agency’s usefulness was a thing of the past and our heroes were to be mothballed. However, a global threat, initially ignored then underestimated, reared its ugly head and only our hero could save the day. The differenced proved to be that director Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise delivered a far more exciting adventure than did Mendes and Craig, whose film felt bloated and tired.

Not that Spectre is all bad. The opening in Mexico, during its Day of the Dead celebration, was as masterful a bit of filmmaking as you could ask for and reintroduced us to Craig’s Bond, still reeling from the loss of M (Judi Dench) in the last installment. He was on to Spectre, a background threat to the world, long before anyone else had a real sense of its scope. Back at MI6, though, a new bureaucrat, Max Denbigh, a/k/a “C” (Andrew Scott), was trying to retire the 00 division at a time when Bond was most needed. This entire thread felt unrealistic but did allow his supporting players – Q (Ben Wishaw), Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), and Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear) – a chance to shine for a change. The new M (Ralph Fiennes) left the audience wondering where his true allegiance lie.

Once Spectre was revealed as the threat, and Bond saw Oberhauser, it became a cat and mouse game. The first cat to chase Bond, proved to be the imposing and impressive Hinx (Dave Bautista) who lightened the film every time he appeared. And of course there’s a girl or two, notably Dr. Madeline Swann (Léa Seydoux), who morphs into a stereotypical damsel in distress who feels anachronistic.

Then it fell to Bond vs. Oberhauser and here screenwriters Neil Purvis and Robert Wade falter and give us an unbelievable connection between the two and an implausible motivation for Oberhauser that deadens the final third of the film.

In fact, the movie leaves many questions unanswered and therefore, after 148 minutes, you find yourself slightly bored and dissatisfied – which is no way to end a film, especially with a two-to-three year wait before the next installment.

The 1080p, AVC-encoded high definition transfer is as good as one could hope. This, along with the lossless DTS-HD MA 7.1 track, means the film certainly looks great on a home screen.

You can tell the studio lost some faith in the film as their special features feel particularly thin this time. We get Spectre: Bond’s Biggest Opening Sequence (20:12), which gives the first few minutes of the film it’s just due.  The six Video Blogs (9:09) were released during production and are collected here. Finally, you get a Gallery of production and behind-the-scenes images along with the film’s trailers.

We think we know Steve Jobs, the maestro behind Apple but unless you read one of his biographies or watch Jobs or Steve Jobs, you only have impressions. General audiences will recognize the man in the black turtleneck and know he gave us the iPod, iPhone, Macintosh, etc. but most will mistakenly credit him for being the builder of these gadgets.

Read Walter Isaacson’s wonderful biography or study Jobs through the myriad video interviews or articles available online and you come to understand he was a visionary who pushed, prodded, cajoled, wheedled, and demanded his workers to meet his exacting standards.

Capturing that volatile and complex man on film would be a challenge for any production crew but director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Aaron Sorkin were the kind you wanted for something challenging. Sorkin took Isaacson’s bio as a starting point but then read and read more material. He spent time with Jobs’ first partner Steve Wozniak and knew he couldn’t write your standard bio pic for a most un-standard figure. The resulting Steve Jobs is out tomorrow from Universal Home Entertainment as a combo pack with the Blu-ray, DVD, and coupon for Digital HD.

Instead, he boiled the story down to three pivotal product introductions (the Macintosh, the Black Cube, the iMac) and stuffed all the drama into backstage antics in the countdown to taking the stage. Events and conversations are telescoped into these three vignettes with a sprinkling of flashbacks. Sorkin then led us through the fourteen years by focusing on the evolving nature of his relationships with several key people in his life: Woz (Seth Rogan), Apple CEO John Sculley (Jeff Daniels), his marketing chief, Joanna Hoffman, and finally, his daughter Lisa (Makenzie Moss, Ripley Sobo, and Perla Haney-Jardine), who he at first refuses to acknowledge any blood relation and comes to cherish. The Sorkinisms are largely missing but his rapid-fire style remains visible.

That father/daughter relationship humanizes Jobs and provided Sorkin with the emotional spine to the film. Otherwise, we’d revile the volatile Jobs as he treats one person after another as a mere functionary in service to his grand vision.

Boyle is a visual stylist and gave each act a fresh look and feel, starting with shooting with three different film stocks (16mm, 35mm, digital) and staging each in a different way.

What makes the film work, better than the box office and critical acclaim admitted this past fall, is Michael Fassbender and Kate Winslet, the latter nearly unrecognizable in a tough part. Fassbender doesn’t look like Jobs but inhabits the persona and you believe him to be the mercurial genius who slowly mellows across the years.

The 123 minute film is worth a look if you haven’t read up on Jobs or if you want to see a lovely ensemble tackle a difficult topic and freshen the bio pic genre. The movie’s high definition transfer is superb and the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is its match.

There’s a three-part feature on the making of the film which is quite compelling. Inside Jobs: The Making of Steve Jobs (44:11) explores everything from the story structure to recreating three specific time periods, and the extensive rehearsal process for each, which led to excellent performances all around.

The movie comes with two audio commentaries, one from Boyle and one from Sorkin and Editor Elliot Graham. Each are fascinating in their own way although there is some repetition from the special feature.

The newly integrated DC Animated Universe expands with its latest offering, Batman: Bad Blood. While Batman (Jason O’Mara) can work best as a loner, he casts a long enough shadow that somehow involves others to take up the mantle of the Bat. We’ve seen Nightwing (Sean Maher), the former first Robin, and the addition of Bruce Wayne’s son Damian (Stuart Allan) as the new Robin has added an edge.

The new animated film, out now from Warner Home Entertainment, has been sold as the major introduction of Batwoman (Yvonne Strahovski) but we also get Batwing (Gaius Charles) and at the end a cameo from Batgirl. As a result, it’s actually beginning to feel a little too busy with so many players there’s not enough time to properly service them.

The premise here has Talia (Morena Baccarin) recruiting a bunch of disparate rogues to help her break Batman. He’s abducted early on and this forces Nightwing to come back to Gotham and assume the role of Batman to offer some measure of calm to the citizenry. When this happens in the comics, we usually see the chaos resulting from Batman’s absence but that trope is absent here as the focus remains on the Batman family versus the Talia Gang.

Batwoman was present when Batman was taken and its clear there is some familiarity between Kate Kane and Dick Grayson and their quiet scenes of them just interacting are actually some of the best parts of the film. She is welcome by Dick and later, when Batman is rescued (no spoiler there), he rejects her as being outside the family, especially since she uses guns which remain anathema to him.

When the villains attack Wayne Enterprises and make off with some of the toys Lucius Fox (Ernie Hudson) has built for Batman, Fox’s son Luke somehow has the wherewithal to know how to program the machines to custom fit him into an armored suit (holy Iron Man!). Not only that, he has quickly mastered all the gear, knows how to fly, and fight in the suit. No learning curve required which is a weakness. Frankly, I find Batwing a totally superfluous character in the comics and in here and wish the time had been better spent on fully integrating Batwoman into the animated firmament.

Or time be spent on explaining how Talia recruited Mad Hatter (Robin Atkin Downes), Firefly (Steve Blum), Onyx, Killer Moth (Jason Spisak), Electrocutioner (Downes), Tusk (John DiMaggio), the Calculator (Spisak) Blockbuster (DiMaggio) and Hellhound (Matthew Mercer) and what she really wanted because it’s all a little vague. Her comeuppance actually rings false at the very end and since there’s no body, we know the daughter of the demon will be back.

Most of these films overdo the fight sequences, a complaint I raise almost every time. Here, thankfully, director Jay Oliva scales things back just enough so there’s action aplenty. But, he also lets J.M. DeMatteis’ script breathe and the characters actually have scenes where they talk to one another, adding more characterization than we normally receive. Kudos to DeMatteis for making this one of the more satisfying offerings from Warner Animation.

The animated film looks and sounds just swell on high definition. There are a variety of formats available and the one reviewed was the collector’s combo pack so the case contains the Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD code along with a Nightwing figure. The Blu-ray disc has an okay assortment of special features starting with Putting the Fight in Gotham (26:26) which focuses on how to make the characters move in action and choreographing the massive battle sequences. Of more interest was the shorter Expanding the Batman Family (13:46) where Mike Carlin, ComicMix’s Alan Kistler, producer James Tucker, and director Oliva talk about adding in Batwoman, Batwing, and even Batgirl. There’s some history skipped and missing but they trace the growth of the family from the first Kathy Kane intro in the 1950s up through Damian today.  Rounding out the features is A Sneak Peek at DC Universe’s Next Animated Movie: Justice League vs. Teen Titans (11:31) which looks and sounds promising. We’ll know for certain in April. There are also two episodes from Batman: The Brave and the Bold included: “The Knights of Tomorrow” and “The Criss Cross Conspiracy”.

Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon (1947-1988) was one of the most celebrated adventure comic strips of the 1950s. The blond, square-jawed hero was on the cutting edge of action as he took to the skies and had adventures around the world. Caniff populated the strip with memorable supporting characters and adversaries so it was a rich reading experience.

The strip was so popular that when Captain Action was introduced in 1966, Canyon was one of the first heroes he could turn into. Somewhat earlier, Canyon also served as inspiration for an NBC prime time series that, sadly, bore little resemblance to the strip (a common problem back then).

In 2008, John R. Ellis brought us this forgotten gem with The Complete Steve Canyon on TV Volume 1 and followed up a year later with Volume 2. The silence until late last year when the anticipated Volume 3 finally arrived, completing the run. Thankfully it came with a cardboard sleeve to act as decorative box for all three volumes.

Ellis and his production team were able to use the original 35mm broadcast masters resulting in sharp images. As a bonus the bumpers and some advertisements are replicated as well, giving you a real feel for what TV was like during its first decade.

Across the 34 episodes, airing during the 1958-59 season,the series changed direction and tone as a result of the participation, or lack thereof, from the Air Force. Lt. Colonel Steve Canyon (Dean Fredericks) was depicted as a troubleshooter which allowed stock footage from the military to be put on display. In time, though, the Air Force disliked seeing airmen in anything but perfect light and withdrew their support.

As a result, Canyon was reassigned to be commander of Big Thunder Air Force Base which required no stock footage and could focus on the men and women living and working there. You can watch shift and scramble in volume two but by the third volume, the producers got a handle on what to do with the new status quo and the writing improved. Sadly, though, Canyon never takes to the air again.

The public’s concerns with the Red Scare, the atomic bomb, and foreign spies are woven into several of these episodes to good effect. It’s a shame there are few interesting supporting players for Canyon to bounce off, which could have enlivened the single season. Instead, we are given a nice assortment of guest stars. In this volume, you can see Werner Klemperer, Celia Lovsky, Jerry Paris, Ted de Corsia, Ross Martin, Roy Thinnes, Amanda Blake, John Anderson, Virginia Christine, Dabbs Greer, George Macready, James Drury, William Schallert, William Allyn, Claude Akins, Ron Ely, Harry Townes, and Paul Frees.

The last 10 episodes are contained on two discs and thanks to the source material (a mix of NBC masters and ABC masters when they reran the show), they look and sound terrific. When Ellis couldn’t find masters for “Blackmail” and “Operation Towline”, the original unaired pilot, he was able to use 16mm prints from Caniff’s personal collection. You will see Caniff onscreen introducing the pilot. The pilot is a nice bonus here as is the commentary for each episode this time around. There’s additional DVD-ROM content that includes the unproduced script “Project B-58”.  With so few of the original cast and crew still left alive, the audio commentary comes from Abel Fernandez, an actor, and director Arthur Marks, supplemented with remarks from Ellis, aviation film historian James H. Farmer, artist/historian Russ Maheras, archivist Bob Burns, TV historian Peter Greenwood, and television historian Brad Ulvila.

Will Eisner: Champion of the Graphic Novel
By Paul Levitz
Abrams ComicArts, 224 pages, $40

It took me a while to figure out that Will Eisner has been a part of my comic reading life since I was perhaps seven or eight. Mom found Jules Fieffer’s The Great Comic Book Heroes at our local library and brought it to me to read. I understood these were older works but I still recognized the main characters in the book. The final story, though, threw me. I didn’t get it, didn’t like it. I was clearly too young and not yet sophisticated enough to appreciate the Spirit section reprinted there.

But he was important enough for Feiffer to include and a few years later, when I was reading Steranko’s History of the Comics, I began to understand how important Eisner and his creation were.  By the time I got to meet Eisner, he had established himself as the premier graphic novelist and educator in our field. It was during the 1982 San Diego Comic Con when we were introduced and two days later, I was in the audience to hear his panel when I was suddenly asked to fill in for moderator Shel Dorf and interview Will on stage. We chatted about, I believe, The City and some of his other works and considering there was no time to prep, it went well enough. As he was with most everyone working in the field at the time, he was always friendly and welcoming whenever we saw one another.

It’s a real shame, though, that despite his pioneering efforts and visionary faith in the power of comics, Will Eisner has eluded the mass media fame he deserved. While there have been a few biographies (including a YA one I wrote in 2008) about Eisner, this book is the first exploration of his role in the birth of the modern day graphic novel.

Former DC Comics publisher Paul Levitz and I have known one another for over forty years but I have always admired his keen intellectual approach to the business of comics. Here, in his first work unrelated to DC, Levitz walks the general reader, not the fan, through the evolution of both Eisner as a creator and of the graphic novel. There had been many attempts at long-form graphic stories prior to 1978’s A Contract with God, but as he argues here, it is the first work that captured the admiration of his peers and encouraged them to follow his lead. Later in the book, there is a transcript of a panel discussion that examines why Feiffer’s Tantrum¸ released at almost the same time, didn’t attract the same level of interest.

We watch as Eisner drifts from making most of his living from comic book material, but never gives up on the medium entirely. While he focused on other projects, including a lengthy run producing P*S Magazine for the army, the comics field was evolving, first with the arrival of the Marvel Age of Comics and then the rise of the undergrounds. By the time Eisner discovered them, he was lured back at a time he was needed the most. He saw what was currently happening, jumped right in with a revival of The Spirit, but more importantly, took a teaching role at the School of Visual Arts, training and influence the next generation of major creators.

By 1978, when Contract was released, the direct sales distribution channel was gaining importance so as Eisner was encouraged to produce more, a growing sales channel was ready for him, setting the stage for the graphic novel and collection edition (two separate types of books but treated as one by the masses) explosion that followed. If anything, I had hoped to read more detailed explorations of Eisner’s 1980s output which sometimes get lumped together.

Levitz, though, does his homework, getting collaborators and friends to help him trace why Eisner has endured and how his efforts helped shape the publishing world we currently live in.

The book measures 11.5” x 11”, an odd size to be sure, but one that allows Wisner’s work to be examined without crowding the words.  Designers C.S. Fossett and John Lind get credit for selecting a handful of the most familiar images and then stuffing the book with many other examples of Eisner’s strong storytelling and design. Much of it is shot from the original art and printed on heavy stock, looks wonderful.

Although Eisner died eleven years ago this month, his works remain in print and his influence can be found in monthly periodicals and the plethora of sequential stories aimed at all ages, covering all manner of content. The book does a fine job celebrating Eisner’s contributions and is written in a way that fans and the general public can appreciate.

Nnewts Book Two: The Rise of Herk
By Doug TenNapel
202 pages, Scholastic Graphix, $19.99 (hc)/$10.99 (pb)

I admire Doug TenNapel’s imagination and productivity. A new year and a new book from the cartoonist. This year’s offering is the second instalment in his new Nnewts universe, a follow-up to last year’s Escape from the Lizzarks.

It’s a colorful, imaginative world of varying races and creatures but the basic battle between good and evil remains recognizable to readers. The Nnewts are one of the predominant races and poor Herk was intentionally born with weak legs, all part of some master destiny. He gains magical powers and is called upon to use them to protect Amphibopolis from the threat of the vile Snake Lord.

The story is also about family, the one made from blood and the one made from love. He’s been separated from his brother Zerk, raised by Pikk and his mother but Zerk found by their sister Sissy. When the three meet up late in this second volume, it’s an explosive confrontation.

In the meantime, the Snake Lord is back, but stuck in the form of a radish (don’t ask, Doug’s not explaining) and manipulates events to bring about the Spell of Spells, using the Blakk Mudd to turn everyone in the city into Lizzarks, cementing his rule. Of course, Herk and his newfound magical abilities, stand between him and victory.

The book moves along at TenNapel’s usual frenetic pace, mixing action with comedic bits, and never lingering too long on one set or set of characters. It moves quickly which is probably why his work does so well with the 8-12 year old it’s aimed at.  His visual design, aided by Katherine Garner’s excellent color work, no doubt entices readers. The finale between the bestial Megasloth and the Snake Lord’s avatar is pretty cool.

As with most Graphix series, I feel there need to be recap pages since readers may not recall key details or characters when there’s a year between volumes. TenNapel does fill in the background in the book’s first third so does better than some of his compatriots.

On the other hand, like the other series, there’s a cliffhanger so it’s not a complete story with several threads leaving readers hanging until 2017. For the price, there should be a more complete tale and fewer threads.

Secret Hero Society: Study Hall of Justice
By Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen
Scholastic, 176 pages, $12.99

DC Comics and other companies with rich libraries, have decided to slice and dice their properties to fit whatever audience they think they can service.  Fidelity to the source material has become increasingly irrelevant so to enjoy most adaptations, you have to accept that, sit back, and enjoy the work for what it is. Such is the case with the latest offering from the team of Derek Fridolfs and Dustin Nguyen, who produced the youth-oriented Batman: Li’l Gotham for DC and are back with the first in a series of YA graphic novels under the Secret Hero Society umbrella.

Study Hall of Justice is set at the Ducard Academy and Bruce Wayne has just been accepted as a new student. Upon arrival, his keen senses already tip him off that things are not what they seem and throughout this book he pieces the clues together although long-time comic readers will figure it out long before.

The school is run by and populated by an all-too familiar cast of characters, heavily taken from the Batman mythos although the gym teacher is Zod and his homeroom teacher is Mr. Grundy. You chuckle at the notion of Vandal Savage as the history teacher or Siobhan McDougal (a.k.a Silver Banshee) as the choir director.

The students are drawn from around the world with Diana from distant Themyscira and Bane from South America although little is made of the international population. Instead there’s Joe Kerr as the class clown and other students are identified as Oswald and Circe. What’s interesting is that despite a blur suspected to be a student, no other hero is among the middle school population, It falls to Bruce, Clark Kent, and Diana to band together, despite all odds, to figure out why they’re being carefully evaluated for a place called Nanda Parbat.

The humor is gentle and the characterization is surface only as Fridolfs and Nguyen hurry us from September through June in 176 pages with asides for schedules, maps, and chat sessions taking up prime real estate. Fridolfs gets the basic right for the varying personalities, sandpapered down to the 8-12 year old readership. Similarly, Nguyen’s pleasing art makes everyone just recognizable enough although sometimes his characters seem drawn for elementary school not middle school.

Frankly, shoving a year into a single volume deprived the creators from a chance for doing anything fresh or unique with the characters. Instead, the archetypal personalities are on display and yes, they don their familiar outfits for the first time as part of a Halloween event although it makes their later adult secret identities superfluous. I wish more time was spent actually developing the characters from main to supporting so was more engaging.

No doubt the target audience will enjoy these but as a gateway to DC’s collected editions or periodicals, it fails since there is nothing between this and those remotely in common.