Two masters of Bat-stories step up to the plate.
Creative Staff:
Story: Tom Taylor, Frank Tieri
Art: Daniel Sampere, Juan Albarran, Tyler Kirkham
Colors: Adriano Lucas, Arif Prianto
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
What They Say:
Deathstroke is hired to take out the only witness to a corrupt politician’s mob ties, but his newest mark has some friends in high places…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Sometimes you just see the talent and get excited for what’s to come. Having thoroughly enjoyed many Tom Taylor works over the years, a one-off short story set in the Batman universe has me intrigued. Pair that with a short story from Frank Tieri, who can go from ground level Gotham material to some intense and strange stuff, and you don’t know what unsettling things you’ll get. And they’re well-paired artistically as Taylor worked with Sampere and Albarran on Injustice for quite some time while Tyler Kirkham has some great style to bring all of Tieri’s story to life.
The opening tale has Deathstroke heading into Metropolis for a job he’s taken that involves eliminating someone that’s a threat. He’s no fan of the city what with how he views Superman so it’s a quick in and out thing for him since it’s dealing with the potential of losing a politician. It’s fun to see how he sets up distractions so he can just focus on his own mission, especially since killing Jimmy Olsen is the goal. There’s some good energy to this as Jimmy has all the right pictures at the moment that makes him such a target. But I love that because Superman isn’t around it’s Supergirl who steps in and save shim. Not without a challenge along the way as Deathstroke is always prepared, but watching as the two of them work to survive against him and his well-thought-out plans.
The second story actually takes place in Gotham where we see Killer Croc going through a bank heist with his crew and making threatening gestures at the woman that looks to be running it. That it turns out be a childhood friend from his days in the circus as a captive brings a flood of memories back to how she protected him and the way he was bullied by so many at the time. It’s something that paints the picture of a young boy with a choice once he broke free that went bad but at the same time, you have someone so damaged by what he went through that you can’t be too surprised, especially when combined with his looks. Julie’s not entirely unsympathetic but she provides a lot of sharp words here that definitely impact him but at the same time, Croc knows who he is and has lived this life to really understand it. It’d be interesting to see him trying to be a full-on hero in some way but you can also understand why it’s not in the works for the character.
In Summary:
The opening story is one that felt like it slipped in from a Superman book rather than belong in a Gotham once but it worked well enough with politics, street-level crime, and a hired killer being involved. Taylor nailed the dialogue and flow of it well much like Tieri captures the pain of Croc’s past but also making it clear that he’s largely comfortable in who he feels he had to become to survive. I’ve long enjoyed Sampere and Albarran’s work together and they shine here while Tyler Kirkham delivers a strong look at Croc as a kid and as an adult and manages to make him understandably sympathetic while still acknowledging that there was a level of choice there. Good stories both even with a lack of Bat-heroes.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology and Amazon Kindle
Release Date: July 21st, 2020
MSRP: $0.99
