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Triple Shot With a Digital Chaser:
BATMAN #25, BATGIRL #25, VALIANT: UNITY #1 plus VALIANT 8-BIT ADVENTURE: UNITY #1

Alright, its time again for Triple Shot Plus and we’re sticking with a theme this week!

There were so many comics to sort through, but in the end Batbooks and Unity caught our eye.  Zero Year continues in Batman #25 and Batgirl #25 and Harada assembles his best to defeat X-O Manowar in Valiant’s Unity #1 with a prequel of sorts only on ComiXology, Valiant 8-Bit Adventure: Unity! written by Ben McCool!

BATMAN #25
WRITER: Scott Snyder
ART: Greg Capullo
Publication Date: November 13, 2013
Price: $4.99
Publisher: DC Comics
UPC: 76194130640702511
Buy it HERE

We’ve been excited to see these pages hit the shelves since NYCC [] this year and of course the debut of The New 52 Gotham City Police Department Blimp.

There is even a history to the dirigibles, Bruce Wayne donated them to G.C.P.D. during the blackout!

Riddler’s blacked out the city and all hell is breaking loose.

$4.99 is the price of admission for this thrill ride (last issue was $6.99, curiouser and curiouser) but worth every giant penny once again as Snyder and Capullo create an award winning modern origin for The Batman.

On the surface we are treated to a new PT Cruiser-like Batmobile (Mach I) that has a special ability never seen before, a tease that Jim Gordon was there the night Thomas and Martha Wayne were murdered, as well as the return of 1939 villain Doctor Death. There’s also Lucius Fox, proto-Poison Ivy and to be determined desert military action in Nigeria. Perhaps the 2004 version of Doctor Death from Batgirl is responsible for the Central African conflict. Stay tuned for more!

If you aren’t reading New 52 Batman, get to it. There’s no excuse at this point. Start with Court of Owls and work your way up. Seriously. Or start at issue #21 and see the origin of Batman like no one has ever imagined!

BATGIRL #25
WRITER: Marguerite Bennett
ARTIST: Fernando Pasarin

Publication Date: November 13, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: DC Comics
76194130639102511
Buy it HERE

Marguerite Bennett takes the reigns from Gail Simone for a great one-off issue that pits Barbara Gordon against the elements and the sometimes unkind city of Gotham during the Dark City part of Zero Year. The young teenager is home alone with dickhead brother James and an apartment full of hardly anything after Jim Gordon is called in to work, to be gone for days.

Babs is evacuated from the house because of a flood threat but not before suiting up with Dad’s SWAT gear.

They make their way to a shelter, only to find themselves in more danger as they befriend an older guy Henry at the shelter.

We’ll leave it at neither the weather or Henry let up and we get to see a pre-Batgirl Barbara take matters into her own hands and stand up for the good people in the shelter, a small subsect of the population of Gotham she would swear to protect.

Bennett wrote a very complete and satisfying story—would love to see more from here, and sometime regular Batgirl artist Fernando Pasarin had complicated rainy pages to draw and he did quite well. As far as event tie-ins go, don’t skip this one, but maybe skip last week’s Action Comics #25 from Greg Pak.

Batgirl has real stakes and family  involved in the Zero Year events overall.

UNITY #1
WRITER: Matt Kindt

ARTIST: Doug Braithwaite
Publication Date: November 13, 2013
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Valiant Comics
UPC: 85899200312391031
Buy it HERE

The very talented Matt Kindt joins Valiant for their first crossover event that is actually targeted at getting new readers interested in the Valiant Universe.

Whereby, in contrast, the Big Two events seem to be money grabs getting you to buy books you wouldn’t necessarily read to complete the run of your favorite event (looking at you, Fear Itself).

By combining the story lines and the best characters of the Valiant Universe and pitting them against a common threat, X-O Manowar, there is an opportunity to give this to new readers Unity #1 as a jumping on point. To read more about Valiant’s motivations check out our  New York Comic Con coverage from last month.
                                                                                                                        
This issue starts with Toyo Harada, head of Harbinger Foundation putting together a plan with Gilad the Eternal Warrior to take back Romania from the conquering X-O Manowar. Aric of Dacia was away for centuries, enslaved by an alien race called The Vine. Aric stole The Vine’s holy armor and is now a fish out of water, bonded to an advanced weapon alien suit in modern times on Earth. The visigoth is bent on conquering the land he deems his from the 10th century.

Ninjak infiltrates Aric’s compound, but not without complications, that’s when Harada sends in Harbingers Bomb, Mirror, The Captain and Ether.

For one issue, and a kickoff to boot this event is off and running at a breakneck pace. The story moves quickly with multiple levels and abilities of superhero powers, ancient warriors, and struggles between good and evil.

A major question remains — is X-O really an enemy of the Doctor Doom type, evil and laughing, or is he just following his instincts? How also are former allies comfortable in hunting him down? The complicated relationships and bombastic action make this an event title worth getting into. Especially for new readers enamored by any of the highlighted superheroes and warriors in the book.

VALIANT 8-BIT ADVENTURE: UNITY #1
WRITER: Ben McCool
ARTIST: Donovan Santiago
Price: $1.99
Imprint: Valiant Comics
Page Count: 142 pages total, Guided View
Digital Release Date: November 13, 2013
Age Rating: 9+ Only
Buy it HERE

You don’t need to know about the Valiant Universe to enjoy this, just have a hankering for good old NES and Sega video game systems of youth!

That’s right, SOMEHOW Ben McCool and Donovan Santiago have merged 8-Bit Gaming and comics as a preview to this winter’s Unity event!

Harada teams up Eternal Warrior, Livewire (Harbinger) and the cocky Ninjak in an 8-Bit simulation complete with a quest for gems, mini bosses, world maps and pwning trash talk.

This Guided View Native Comic is designed for your tablet or other device—no way this is seeing paper. It would be improbable and boring in the old style of comics.

Set the wayback machine to 1986 for this amazingly swipeable digital comic!

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