“RISE OF THE DEMON” part one begins here. Terry McGinnis is back to being Batman, but now Dana knows. How will Dana deal with this and is being Batman something Terry really wants? Meanwhile, Curaré has burst into GPD and needs Barbara’s assistance. Curaré must speak to Batman!
I’ve always loved Dan Jurgens’ dialog. I’ve been a fan of his since the triangle-numbered Superman books of the 90s, and continue to be impressed by his writing. The Terry and Dana scenes in this book are well written, but we’ve seen the hero reveal (the reveal happened in issue 4), fallout moments many times in comic books. It has to be dealt with and Jurgens handles it well, but it should be noted. I did appreciate Dana standing her ground when Terry started to shift the blame to Bruce’s intensity and commitment to Batman as a reason for Terry keeping his secret from her.
The standard cover is great. It will draw your attention inside of a comic shop (or a digital storefront), but I prefer the alternate cover. The alternate cover has some really interesting color design that I found pleasing and it does a great job of showcasing the suit.
Bernard Chang does a good job of shifting between dynamic action scenes and softer, dialog scenes. The art/coloring has an interesting bokeh, depth-of-field effect that is very cinematic and naturally draws your attention to the characters. It’s been done before (we’ve seen it in this series) and it could be used to cover up a lack of background details, but I dig it. The art also seemed less busy in this book compared to previous issues.
Additional highlights:
We are shown some good “Bruce being Bruce” moments and he appears to be comfortable back in the mentor role. Terry really missed him and Matt McGinnis is used well in helping Bruce deliver some exposition.
Curaré looks really cool.
Terry’s new suit is a prototype that is potentially dangerous and this should play out in future issues. I’m not a hater of the new suit design, but I do prefer the original.
The final panels in the book do a good job of building excitement for the next issue.
This is a great jumping on point for new readers. It’s the start of a new storyline and the writing gives the reader enough exposition to let you know what you need to know.
Why the 3.5 rating? This is a solid first entry in the “RISE OF THE DEMON” story, but it is primarily setting up future books and doesn’t present a full story on its own. Dan Jurgens handles the Terry-Dana relationship very well, but I’m not a fan of Terry’s response (or lack of?) in the final portion of the story. However, this does its job in making me interested in the next issue to see how this will play out.
[yasr_overall_rating]
Written by Dan Jurgens
Art by Bernard Chang
Published by DC Comics
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