Batman #39 - A Review

As Joker's madness-inducing virus spreads over Gotham and a raid on the Batcave yields trophies for a macabre parade, Batman will be forced to make an equally mad choice.  With his allies and resources limited, he will turn to the rest of his rogue's gallery for help fighting The Joker.  But will even they be enough to tip the balance of power in Gotham City?


Scott Snyder's story continues to spiral out of control. Whether that spiral is going up or down remains to be seen but the ride is an enjoyable one so long as you don't worry too much about the sudden stop at the end.  Greg Capullo and Danny Miki's artwork continues to be a real treat - the ice cream on the pie that is Snyder's script.


The best part of the issue, however, may come at the end.  James Tynion IV's twisted take on The Canterbury Tales - where a number of Arkham inmates related how Joker had told them all the REAL story of how he became The Joker - has been a fairly amusing tale so far. But this issue - in which we learn the doctor's story and "the truth" that The Joker gave her - takes this story to a whole other level.  And the artwork by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridoles makes this conclusion even stronger.

Batman Eternal #4 - A Review

Batman Eternal #4 proves to be the first misstep in this series' run.  That misstep is not due to the art team., despite Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridoles having a far different style from Jason Fabok who drew and inked the first three issues.  Nguyen's light, almost Mangaesque pencils offer a unique, angular look and Fridole's inks - with some exceptions - are kept light and restrained, allowing the original pencils to shine through.


No, the biggest problem with this issue is the script.  Specifically, the dialogue.  John Layman's take on Batgirl and Batman don't ring true to me.  Even with her father in danger, I can't see Barbara Gordon acting as rashly as depicted here.  Nor can I see Bruce Wayne being so quick to dismiss Barbara's desire to investigate a suspicious figure she spots on the security camera footage of the crime scene, because they have no reason to suspect said figure save that he spent three hours hanging around the crime scene before anything happened!  Particularly when Bruce freely admits to having no better leads himself.


Despite this forced dialogue, the story is still a strong one.  The plot involving the corruption of the GCPD continues apace.  There's also an interesting twist in the subplot involving Stephanie Brown that marks a major departure from the original comics in which she appeared.  This comic is still an enjoyable read, if you just get past some of the words that the characters are saying.

Batman #28 - A Review

I fear this review of Batman #28 may seem like a broken record to my regular readers.  And this is odd, because while I've made the same complaints I am about to make in regards to other DC Comics series of late, this is the first time I've had to say these things in relation to Scott Snyder's Batman.

In the same way that the on-going storyline of Batgirl was subverted for a month to bring us a tie-in to the Gothtopia storyline, this month sees Scott Snyder's Zero Year put on hold to bring us what the cover calls "a secret glimpse into Batman: Eternal".  So what is Batman: Eternal?  I have no idea, apart from the fact that it depicts a Gotham - possibly an Elseworlds or possibly a not-too-distant future - where Snyder's creation Harper Row is now a vigilante called Bliebird, who fights alongside Batman in a world where one "Kingpin of Crime" (not Wilson Fisk) is ruling the entire Gotham underworld. 


I should note that this isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination.  Snyder and co-author James Tynion IV do their usual fine jobs on the script.  The problem is that I don't want to read the first chapter of Batman: Eternal.  I want to read Scott Snyder's Batman - just a regular Batman book that doesn't require me to be reading any other titles besides Batman.  Alas, that is becoming increasingly impossible across every DC Comics line, especially in the Bat-family, where everything is a crossover with something else.

And yet, I can forgive everything simply because of how this issue ended.  Normally, I'd avoid giving you all a major spoiler.  But Snyder has beaten me in revealing the biggest spoiler of them all...



The art team of Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridoles prove able replacements for the book's usual penciler and inker.  Nguyen's style is more streamlined than Greg Capullo's, with thinner, more angular characters.  This, coupled with Fridoles' light inks gives the book a Mangaesque quality that makes for an interesting change of pace.

In the end, this book is definitely worth checking out.  The story is engaging, the art is excellent and the ending will excite a lot of fans.  Just don't expect this story to continue on next month.