One of my favorite titles to come out of DC Comics New 52 was Batman #1. Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo managed to create something that felt like a real first issue, but wasn’t, not really. I hadn’t read any of Snyder’s work of Detective Comics so he was a new name to me. I have been a fan of Capullo since his days working on X-Force, way to many years ago, but who knew he could draw such a great Batman?

Now, many times second issues fail to live up to the potential laid down by the first. Most times they are a disappointment (I’m looking at you Red Lanterns #2). Thankfully, Batman #2 not only was just as good as #1, it was even better in some places.

Snyder seems to have a great handle of the character of Batman. He writes him as less of the antihero he has been over the last few years and more human. Bruce Wayne seems like a real person now, not just a character that you almost never see. Plus he has softened the dynamic between Batman and the various members of the Robin Intern Program (or R.I.P.). Add in the mystery of the Court of Owls and Batman hasn’t been this much fun to read in a long time.

Then there is Capullo. My God can the man draw. Personally, I compare every Batman artist to the standard, Jim Aparo. Most fail to meet up to that lofty goal but he is coming very, very close. In some panels, you would swear you are looking at pages from The Dark Knight Returns, while in others the storytelling is just amazing. I just hope he can maintain the deadlines and we don’t end up with a bunch of inferior looking fill-in issues.

It has been quite a while since I have been this excited to read Batman. While I have enjoyed some of the Morrison material, these first two issues have been leaps and bounds better. Read it and see for yourself.

For my money, one of the best new series to come out this year has been Fly. The story of addiction to a drug that gives users the ability to fly has been daring, fun and an awesome trip (pardon the pun). Raven Gregory is mining his own personal experience to deliver a great, satisfying comic book that is something decidedly different than the normal stories being put out by Marvel and DC. Artist Eric J. has pulled off quite a feat himself by using two different art styles in one comic, one for sections taking place in The Now and one for sequences from The Then. Together they have turned Fly into a must read comic each month it comes out.

And now volume one comes to it’s conclusion as we see the final confrontation between Eddie and Danielle. Gregory gives us a story of a man at the end of his rope that is willing to take drastic steps in order to try to get his life back. It’s all the more intense since we have watched the early days of the Eddie/Danielle romance in the flashback portions of the book. We still don’t know all the details about what happened between these two but Gregory has managed to make us care about them, despite what they each became.

The art by Eric J. has been stellar to say the least. Easily one of the best looking Zenescope books on the stands each month, each issue he has gotten better and better. I would love to know how he managed to create and use two totally different styles on the book. It made The Now and The Then really stand out as separate, yet unified stories. From the ad in the back of the book, a new artist will be joining Gregory for volume two. I hope he knows the size of the shoes he is going to be trying to fill.

Raven Gregory has created a very deep, multilayered mythology with Fly in only five issues. My hope is that we will be getting new volumes of this series for years to come. I can’t wait for the trade paperback and Fly gets my highest recommendation. Go read this series.