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Saturday, July 20, 2013

Batman: Li'l Gotham #13 - June 2013

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"Chapter 13" by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs.

If there was a way for me to find Batman: Li'l Gotham even more charming, this would be it! Aquaman guest-stars in this issue, which is part of the multi-part "Minazuki" ("Month of Water") storyline. It opens with Aquaman, in a desperate battle against the cutest giant octopus you ever saw:
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Batman helps Aquaman (groan) escape by transporting him to the Watchtower. Batman asks Arthur why he couldn't just communicate with the giant octopus, but Aquaman explains it doesn't always work that way. Their conversation is interrupted by Oracle, who Batman tells to assemble the Bat-Team so they can all head for Tokyo:
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Okay, at this point I could detail the rest of the plot, but what's the point? Not that there's anything wrong with it, but getting into the details loses what I think is the point of this issue (and the series in general): the beautiful art and whimsical tone, so let's just step back and take a look at some of the action:
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Not only is this a wonderful Aquaman/Batman adventure, but they even manage to work in The Awesome Threesome, one of the Sea King's most obscure set of villains! The story ends with them getting carted away by Martian Manhunter and Dr. Light, which immediately left me wanting more: Li'l Justice League, anyone?

It's a no-brainer to suggest that I would love to see more books like this; I think an Aquaman title with this sort of approach would work like gangbusters. Get on that DC!

 

5 comments:

Unknown said...

What a cool concept. Love the art - especially the cover with the all the sea creatures whimsically rendered yet immediately recognizable. Good find!

Joe Slab said...

Better yet, get this creative team on AQUAMAN: Li'l ATLANTIS pronto!

Joe Slab

Earth 2 Chris said...

I had no idea this existed. Cute...but weird!

Chris

Joseph Brian Scott said...

Yeah!

Pros: beautifully rendered, great action, nice use of old-school villains, cuteness out the aqua-wazoo...

Cons: Are they all supposed to be kids, or what? Bat-babies be havin' bat-babies...

All-in-all, fun!

Russell said...

I guess I just don't get it. It looks kinda creepy to me. Plus, some of those pages look like elementary school kids did the water color art.

Not my taste, sorry.