Several short tales of holiday “cheer” in Gotham!
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King, Scott Snyder/Ray Fawkes, Paul Dini, Steve Orlando, Scott Bryan Wilson
Art: David Finch, Declan Shalvey, Neal Adams, Riley Rossmo, Bilquis Evely
Colors: Gabe Eltaeb, Jordie Bellaire, Neal Adams, Ivan Plascencia, Mat Lopes
Letterer: Deron Bennett
What They Say:
“SILENT NIGHT”! A hush of winter snowfall has fallen over Gotham City…but a quiet night in this place is never truly quiet. Batman and his allies-and his many foes-stalk the streets in this icy showcase of top talent.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Annuals, for the most part, have never been my thing. And the only reason I seem to end up with them these days is that they’re connected to my ComiXology subscription and since I don’t keep track of when they’re coming out, being so irregular to be sure, they just end up in my reading list with a hefty price tag. There have been a number of good annuals over the years, some creative event annuals across both publishers, and they can serve as a good showcase for new talent as well as giving previous talent a chance to dabble in a field that they can’t with an ongoing anymore. With the Batman annual that comes after the Rebirth renumbering, we get a mixture of stories that, for the most part, are at times cute but mostly weak and forgettable.
Only a couple of these end up feeling like they’re worth talking about, but that’s no disrespect towards any of the creators. Short form comic storytelling is something that feels like a lost art and most aren’t really trained for it these days. The opening tale is my favorite in terms of story, coming from Tom King and David Finch, as we get a look at a few months in the fall for Batman as Alfred ends up adopting a dog. Not just any dog but Ace, a dog that that Joker used and abused and then cast aside. Bruce is pretty much disinterseted in it and believes it should be put down as it’s too far gone, but Alfred puts in the time and we see the struggles he goes through and the way, slowly but surely, it bonds with Bruce and he does as well. It’s an utterly charming tale that provides for some great physical comedy for Alfred, a little bit of obliviousness on Bruce’s part, and a well done bit of material that handles Ace in a way that really makes sense.
The other story that worked well for me was the one that comes from writer Paul Dini and artist Neal Adams. I can’t remember the last time I saw anything from either, especially Adams and on a property like this no less. It’s a simple story with Batman picking Harley up off the streets in the holiday season as she’s causing a bit of trouble, though she’s more on the side of right than bad here. He’s intent on taking her to the outskirts of town, or Arkham if she prefers, and it’s almost a mini roadtrip piece overall. The dynamic between the two has a very old school feeling going on here while adhering to the present day characters. But what makes it so utterly charming beyond the dialogue and the obligatory Batman Christmas song is that we get classic Batman design work from Neal Adams here. It’s so distinctive and icon that it just delights me completely even if it feels very disconnected from the modern presentation of the character.
In Summary:
The first Batman annual of the new series is in the can and there’s not that much to really recommend overall. There are a couple of decent if forgettable stories and a bunch of very forgettable stories and one that I couldn’t even finish (the last one) because the whole thing just felt like too much by that point. The potential to do a lot of creative things with an annual is always there but going for what’s essentially an anthology book that feels like half a step above a fan done production at times doesn’t warrant the price tag. The Ace story is the best of them while having some classic new Neal Adams artwork just makes it all the more worthwhile for me.
Grade: C+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: November 30th, 2016
MSRP: $4.99
