This issue sees faith reborn, at least for a large portion of Twitter who bemoaned the death of a character, bemoaned the over sexualised cover that wasn“t used and who will no doubt bemoan the fact said character appears in the book quasi naked. Other than that, there is the semblance of some witty banter and a whole hodge-podge of art. Not bad for a chapter in an “epic”“ story line.
The action picks up, pretty much where it all started, with a fight between Harley and Booster. This time though they have an audience in their respective corners with Batgirl and Blue Beetle. Elsewhere, Wally speaks of love amongst flowers, as Batman and Flash debate how best to find Booster.
Reading this book, I get the feeling that Tom King is kind of bored with it all. I guess it is hard for any writer who perhaps really likes the key beats of a story, to ensure that readers get where they need to be at a fair clip. The Wally sessions are a prime example of this, as they do focus on elements of mental health seriously. Whilst the mystery is still ongoing, with significant nods to what actually happened at Sanctuary, the dialogue lets the book down massively. It“s as if King is trying too to create some contrast to the various events in the issue; Barry Flash and Batman“s scenes are just ridiculous when you consider how well their team up was written in the recent The Price crossover. Another aspect that infuriated me throughout was the feeling that Tom King can“t accurately write women. Take Batgirl for example, her “I usually work with like, Batman or like, Nightwing”“, how many times does one girl have to use the word like in a word balloon? It make her sound vapid and shallow which considering she is one of the smartest characters, male or female, around is a great insult. But, much like a golfer with a case of the yips, King has contracted the “like”“ and uses it way too often across every character.
The art by Clay Mann is as gorgeous as ever. The sooner Mann is given a regular book the better in my opinion. My only concern is the amount of guest artists that have appeared on this series. Sure, there were a couple of one-shots slotted into the main series, but still, why does a book need three artists? Mann handles the now familiar 9 panel sessions (side note: I saw on Twitter someone call this style the King style; know your comic book history people, Dave Gibbons did it way back in the original Watchman series), adding to seriousness of Wally mindset. The subtle facial changes shown on a week to week basis are excellently observed. Travis Moore handles most of the fight scene and does so well enough. I could mention that the camera angles could have been used differently to make the bystanders appear to be part of the battle rather feeling like they were forgotten about, but overall it works. Jorge Fornes on the other hand disappoints immensely. His work is a lot simpler than both Mann“s clean lines and Moore“s super heroic pose style. It might have worked if it was just Batman, as it does have a Year One feel. But when you include “the fastest man alive”“ in your panel and make him look pedestrian, you should chalk that up as a loss. As always colors and letters are provided by Tomeu Morey and Clayton Cowles respectively; both bring their “A”“ game yet again. There are also another couple of covers to pick from; bearing in mind that neither Superman nor Kilowog appears in this book, it truly is fielder“s choice.
Despite my feelings on the overall pace of this series, this book ironically feels rushed. This feeling isn“t helped by the art by committee that occurs, especially given as the artists are dramatically different. The dialogue, as mentioned, feels rushed to the point of caricature which helps neither the characters nor, perhaps more importantly, the readers perception of them. With the final two issues coming up soon, I truly hope that King and Co. can rescue this book from potentially putting Readers in Crisis.
Writing – 3 Stars
Art (Cowles) – 4 Stars
Art (Moore) – 3 Stars
Art (Fornes) -2.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Written by; Tom King
Art by; Clay Mann, Travis Moore and Jorge Fornes
Colors by;Tomeu Morey
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Published by; DC Comics
Author Profile
-
I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
Latest entries
