Wednesday, November 14, 2018

I Had Issues! My Old Review of New 52's Batman #1-4


My "Aces High" pick in my continujing 52 Pick Up review from a few years back. Not much here, which made me consider not including it in my archived work, but I went back to Batman one or two more times at least, so I'll keep it here just to mark what I was thinking as time went on. Originally published December 31, 2011. Edited for clarity. 

 Out of all the DC titles I’ve read, Batman with Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo is the book that could have come out without any continuity revamp. The only things I see that make it part of the New 52 fun are the costumes and the fact that the characters are younger (but given that Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne are in real time pushing something like 100 and 150 respectively, we’ll let that slide). Everything else Scott Snyder does is adding to, and not rewriting, the Batman mythos.

The villain’s name in this storyline is The Talon (something I somehow missed until the fourth issue), but the entire Court of Owls storyline seems to be a way to add background to the DC’s universe that make things like a Earth 2 Owlman make sense. This is admirable and perhaps futile given DC’s constantly erasing and rewriting its own history to no clear end.

 Snyder’s work is not on the same level as what Alan Moore’s work on Swamp Thing, but there is at least a level of intrigue I haven’t seen in a mainstream title for a while. And there is genuine discovery as the Court of Owls is linked to Bruce Wayne’s past.

Whereas other creators rewrite characters and histories over at Marvel (and DC) simply because the weak editorial mandate allows them to, Snyder seems more careful. Though he may have straddling the line with the way he brings up secrets in Batman’s childhood (a common ploy among Batman’s writers), it hasn’t gotten too crazy or gratuitous in this story line.

 Of course, a good start doesn't necessarily mean good finish (as reading J. Michael Straczynski’s Spider-Man run from start to finish will tell you) but I’m hooked so far on the story and Capullo’s consistent strong work, which I’ve already written about. If you can afford it, this is a good DC title to read month to month rather than just waiting for the trade. Get the first four issues while you can.

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