Tuesday 27 September 2011

Review - Batman #1

BATMAN #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER; Art by GREG CAPULLO and JONATHAN GLAPION; Cover by GREG CAPULLO; Variant cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER

Hot off a chilling run on Detective Comics, Scott Snyder takes the reins of Gotham's flagship title. I'm going to cut straight to it and say this guy is the real deal. A huge Batman fan and a good writer!

Snyder launches us straight into the action with Batman apparently subduing a mass breakout at Arkham Asylum. This serves as an introduction to many of Gotham's rogues, but also allows us to explore the attitudes of Gotham's populace through Bruce's narration. Batman kicks arse in the actions scenes, spots things that others overlook in the detective moments and the Bruce Wayne moments show that he's on a mission rather than obsessed. All of Bruce's interactions with his supporting cast are exactly right and everything seems to be back to how it should be. The pace of the book allows us to enjoy scenes and gets out without over-staying our welcome.

My only quibble with Batman #1 is the art. For the majority of the book Greg Capullo does a bang up job, but there are issues. The page that features Bruce, Dick, Tim and Damian reveals each of the characters and their dynamics perfectly, but it is let down by a huge difference in the heights of the characters. There is at least a head-height's difference between them all. The panel above it however shows Tim and Damian's heights at a more expected difference. I suspect that the exaggerated height difference is to make up for the fact that there isn't much facial divergence between Bruce, Dick and Tim and to allow readers to tell them apart. This isn't the only problem, but I think that it is the best example.

My rating:
An excellent start to Batman v2! A couple of art issues prevent the book from being perfect, but this is the closest that the New52 have come so far.
BUY THIS BOOK!

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