Just a little too self aware?
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom King
Art: Mikel Janin, Hugo Petrus
Colors: June Chung
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
What They Say:
“I AM SUICIDE” part four! As Bane decimates Batman’s team, the Dark Knight must decide how far he’s willing to go-and who he’s willing to sacrifice-for those he left in Gotham City.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While I’ve had a somewhat uneven experience with this book so far, putting me in the position of not being sure my return to mainline Batman books was a good thing, there have been some very good moments within the run. I still have faith in King to put together something surprising as a larger narrative here and am invested in it. But what made this issue work so well was Mikel Janin. I’ve liked what he’s done with the past couple of issues with this but this installment just goes so big and strong that it’s simply impressive as hell and worth it just for the visuals. Illustrating action is difficult in general but very few can make it seem as powerful and chaotic while also being intense as Janin does here.
Coming after a less than engaging installment for me the last time around, this one is an interesting choice. Visually, we’re getting a whole lot of double page spreads which in one sense makes for a quick read as there’s no dialogue until the end. Janin makes each of these pages in a way that ensures you stop and really look at it because of the layout, the flow of the action, or just the positioning of the visual, such as the overhead of Batman after he takes out a couple dozen guys. There’s a rawness and intensity to the book with what Janin and Petrus do here, particularly with some of the strong color work from Chung that lets all the details shine, and seeing how the character’s journey through the hordes that Bane throws at him is really well done.
In terms of story, well, that’s the main thrust of it until we get to the end with the supposed twist to play out next time. But throughout the journey we get the handwritten script from Batman talking about his past, the farce that he is, and knowing it while trying to reach through to Selina because she’s just like him in almost all ways. There’s a lot to like in digging into how this incarnation of Batman/Bruce sees himself as it’s very self aware in a lot of ways, but it’s almost too self aware in some others. But pairing it with the sheer brutality of what he’s facing and what he’s doling out makes it work better than it should, especially since it’s done as a letter written to Selina about what he intends to do to save her or bring things to a close.
In Summary:
My subscription to this series is still teetering as I’ve canceled and restarted it a couple of times between issues for a few issues now. At this stage I’m finishing out this storyline and am curious as to what the next will be like but I’m waiting for things to really click and feel like we’ve got some strong concept story material to work with. I still find a lot to like with what King writes and how but the main draw at this point for this series is the artwork. And Batman can survive on that but it cannot excel on that. It needs an engaging story, character interactions, and the solid motivation material that’s explored here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: December 7th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
