Another death sets events in motion.
Creative Staff:
Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Marco Santucci
Colors: Rex Lokus
Letters: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
An enraged Batman pursues the killer Victor Zsasz. Will the Dark Knight cross a line he’s never crossed before?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Injustice certainly worked to set a few more events into place the last time around with Zsasz arriving in Wayne Manor and taking down Alfred. We’ve had a range of Alfred interpretations over the years with varying degrees of ability so it was welcome to see that he put up a good fight here, but in the end couldn’t win out against someone that gave Batmana a hard time over the years as well. It felt better that way, especially compared to a truly overpowered individual or something really out of place like how Trickster met his fate. The brutality of that moment has now made its way out into other hands on both sides of the war that’s underway and it certainly sets its own triggers from there for others.
With the Regime, there is that sense that things are truly wrong at this point from some, but that they continue on the path because they have to believe they’re in the right after all that they’ve been through and done. It’s getting harder to hold onto that, however, when you get Superman talking about how this has a positive in that it’ll likely draw Batman out and that they can’t hold back and have to kill him on sight. Thankfully, there is some discussion on how Zsasz got out since Hal mentions he put him back in prison a week ago and that has some eyes turning towards Sinestro as the gatekeeper. But even if true, you have to wonder who is pulling those strings since it’s not exactly the norm for Sinestro to do something like that in this particular situation.
The bulk of the issue is focused on Zsasz himself and Marco Santucci really gets to shine here with this. With him on the run after taking down Alfred, it doesn’t take long for Batman to find him. With Batgirl and the others wondering where he is, they do the affirmation that things may now go well as Batman’s no killing pledge may not hold with this event. For Bruce, it’s a solid case of hunter and prey as he tracks Zsasz down and beats him solid to get the information about who it is that set this particular fight in motion. He’s sure that it’s Superman but he’s also smart enough to want a real confirmation. The dynamic between him and Zsasz during this is pretty well done as Bruce’s intensity comes through and the way Zsasz knows he has the upper hand to some degree adds to it in a great way.
In Summary:
While not a game changer, it’s a reinforcement of the sides as they stand and some more of the fraying going on within the Regime’s side. With some big personalities at work that’s no surprise, especially since they’re straying further and further from their original intent. The focus on Batman vs Zsasz is definitely the highlight here though as Santucci delivers some great layouts and close-ups of both men as they go at it. There’s a lot to like here in dealing with the ramifications of what happened the last time around and showing the impact across several people that have known Alfred for a good many years.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 4th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
