I Had Issues! My Old Review of New 52's Batman #1

At least I liked a book that turned out to be the one definitive winner in the entire New 52 line (even if I did find much of the book problematic in the end). I really was banging these pieces out as fast as I could. The New 52, if ultimately disappointing, was at least exciting in the beginning. Originally published September 27, 2011. Edited for much needed clarity. I was writing way to fast back then.

I liked Greg Capullo's work from the moment I first saw it. He's had his ups and downs as far as what he's worked on. I  rejoiced when he replaced Rob Liefeld on X-force (but then again, I was just excited there was a replacement on X-Force at this point). The blend of superhero and horror on Spawn obviously worked for someone, just not me.

When I saw the final cover for Batman #1, I thought it was more fun than many of the other covers I've seen in this New 52 wave. The book inside doesn't disappoint. I liked it.

However, aside from seeming to change Dick Grayson's age from adult to teenager (and this between pages, in two awkward scenes with the character), I fail to see how this is a relaunch of the book if everyone from Dick to Damien Wayne is here. I guess DC is trying to cash in on the idea of Marvel's Ultimate line without committing to an entirely new separate line (given the current sad creative state of the Marvel's line). Some of the book feels a little like Mark Millar when he breezed by damn near 20 years of continuity in the first two story arcs of his Ultimate X-Men run. And mentioning Mark Millar in a book that has nothing to do with him can never be good.

Also, like the Ultimate line, part of the fun is seeing how the old becomes new. A stock villain that's easy to guess is coming back, and the new looks for Batman's villains are pretty cool. Too bad that with all the villains' head tattoos I saw and Capullo's Joker look like the Heath Ledger version, self-mutilation seems to be at least a major theme of Batman's villains, at least in this book. That and the other subsequent bloody scenes keep me from recommending this comic to kids.

Scott Snyder wrote a good first issue, but I wonder if half the mystery isn't so much in the plot as it is wondering what characters are radically changed enough for the first story arc to work. It's almost a cheat, but he wouldn't be the only New 52 writer using one. At least here, your reaction is "What's next?" rather than "Wait, What...?!?"