A reminder of the badass that is Alfred.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Marco Santucci
Colors: Rex Lokus
Letters: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Alone, continuing to stand guard over Wayne Manor, Alfred receives an unwelcome visitor on his birthday.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Injustice continues to work a secondary route within this particular year of wrapping up certain things it wants to get done while also expanding its reach a bit. The fact that we haven’t had much at all of Batman and his side for something like a dozen or more issues now pretty much says we’re looking to close out some character stories before the finale. That’s not a bad thing but I do wish there was a little more in each issue toward the larger story, or at least something with a little meat to it. An offhand piece between Superman and Sinestro hints at what’s to come but it’s not exactly terribly engaging and is mostly forgettable when we get to the actual reveal in the future.
That said, Injustice does get to work some good material with the supporting cast because it can do it without the constraints of the larger universe. Having a birthday party set up at Wayne Manor for Alfred, though he continues to hide his actual birthday, is a good way of bringing people together. That Bruce chimes in remotely ahead of everything gives us a nice if simple taste of the dynamic between the two men with the banter and serious aspects. I’ve long liked a number of interpretations of Alfred and this one is pretty good overall for what we get of him. His reminders of why Bruce is doing what he’s doing is useful as you can see there are moments where those on his side get a little weak toward their bigger goal because there are a lot of positives coming from what the regime is done. They need that reminder of the bad from time to time and Alfredy certainly is blunt.
Of course, it can’t be all just banter and good tidings as someone has to try and sneak into the Batcave to get information on where Batman is. That Zsasz of all people end up there kind of leaves you rolling your eyes a bit, especially since you figure that anyone of importance already tried this route and got nothing out of it. The reason for it all is bland but what we do get is some fun in seeing Alfred going up against him and showing off his experience. Of course, sometimes experience can go only so far and with this series taking some pride in being able to kill off characters, well, it’s no surprise to see a bloody Alfred body on the ground by the end. He may not be dead but what a message to send if he is, giving Zsasz a chance to show what kind of bad guy he is.
In Summary:
Injustice has a decent Alfred installment here on top of the other recent one and some solid bits and pieces over the run of the book itself. The flow of it works well and Marco Santucci’s (debut?) artwork here is definitely solid and well done with everything feeling right. The book has always had its own look and while some artists stand out a bit more, others are more working the house style for the series. Santucci’s layouts are what the book has worked with and the flow it keeps things moving and makes for a solid action sequence. Buccellato’s script leans more towards the character side than anything else but it’s well balanced with the action part that’s looking to serve up some new motivations in this fight.
Grade: B-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 24th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
