Readings Comics 201 "Second LCS Trip 2017"

Batman #7, 8, 13, 16, 17 (DC)
The first two issues are Steve Orlando writing, with plot suggestions from Tom King, chapters from "Night of the Monster Men," billed as the first crossover event of the Rebirth era.  Caught up in the mess is Gotham Girl, helping make it relevant to King's run.  #13 is the conclusion to King's "I am Suicide," which has been a breakthrough Batman story.  It segued into a breakthrough Catwoman story, and then #s 16 and 17, the first two installments of "I am Bane," the conclusion of King's initial arc in the series, begun with "I am Gotham."  This is the first time Bane has felt like Bane since "Knightfall."  Actually, this is pretty much "Knightfall: Rebirth." 

Catwoman: Election Night (DC) (2016)
Meredith Finch writes a parody of the 2016 election in the lead story. Penguin is cast as Trump, which is a slightly odd fit, given that Trump has never been outright been accused as a criminal, but the Clinton stand-in is cast as a murderer, so I guess it balances out.  It's just surprising to see someone finally just admit that neither of these candidates was a pinnacle of humanity.  Anyway, the backup feature is Mark Russell and Ben Caldwell reprising their Prez.  I don't remember Russell leaning so heavily liberal in his ideology in the original mini-series so much as skewering the political process in general, but after reading some of his Flintstones it may merely be more obvious to me now. 

Daredevil #14, 15, 16 (Marvel)
These are the first issues of Charles Soule's run on the title I've read.  After his departure from DC, I feared Soule wouldn't get the visibly he deserved at Marvel, and with the news that he'd been tasked with the relatively thankless job of following a much-loved Mark Waid run, I figured I had to be right.  But I'm not always right, and anyway, I was still curious as hell about what he was doing.  Turns out I had nothing to worry about.  These issues are great.  I don't know or care what other readers think about them, but hopefully Marvel is paying attention and will elevate Soule further up the ladder later on.