Luthor Review

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo

After reading, and reviewing Batman: Broken City, I decided to buy more work from Brian Azzarello, including, Superman: For Tomorrow (which I also wanted for Jim Lee's art), which I've read, and reviewed since, Joker, which I've also read, and reviewed, and this.

Plot

Lex Luthor wants to save the world, and he feels that he must stop Superman to achieve that. With help from the likes of Mr. Orr Luthor lays his plans, and even creates a superhero of his own, named Hope.

Review

This was a fantastic book, and it showed a different side to Superman's arch enemy. Brian Azzarrello has produced a marvelous book, and it's something that was very original, and enjoyable. I've noticed through the stories that I have read from Azzarello over the last couple of weeks that no matter what character he's working on that he produces something unique, and something that the character doesn't do, or show as often otherwise. Azzarello also has a brilliant way with dialogue in his stories, as the character interaction is nothing short of brilliant. Now I will say that the story itself wasn't overall exciting, and the first half of it was a bit slow, but the emotion, throughout with the excitement near the end more than makes up for it. After reading Joker I was kind of expecting something similar in this book, but besides the fact that both stories are centered around arch enemies, and that they are both different take on the characters these books are very different.

The art in this book from Lee Bermejo is nothing short of phenomenal. Although I've seen his art on covers before I never really got the chance to appreciate it until I got the Before Watchmen: Rorschach series, and since then I've been trying to get comics, or graphic novels that have his interior artwork. I have also enjoyed his covers on such things like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, but his covers don't compair to his interiors. Bermejo's artwork is full of amazing detail, and I can't find any panel that lacks detail. Bermejo is also able to show expressions brilliantly, as besides Azzarello's great dialogue, you can feel the emotion through the characters in Bermejo's art. I also love the way Bermejo draws the characters, as although he keeps them to their classic looks, he's added his own uniqueness. I especially liked how he drew Superman, as he looked like the demigod Luthor sees, but I did find it a bit weird that his eyes were always red. The cover from Bermejo was also fantastic, and I loved that he filled all that shadowy space with Superman. The colours from Dave Stewart were also brilliant, and they made the already phenomenal art of Bermejo look even better.

A Different Side to Luthor

As I said earlier this book gives a very different view of Luthor as a character. In this book Luthor appears to be this very nice, generous man, who sees Superman as a God looking over them, being nothing more than a threat. I liked this take on Luthor, as I've always seen Luthor as a character that wasn't born evil, but made evil through his jealousy towards Superman, and that is shown in this book (although it's more fear of Superman than jealousy this time). It was also nice to see that Luthor was still an obsessive character, wanting to get what he wants, and isn't willing to stop until he gets it. Overall I think that Azzarello wrote Luthor brilliantly, and it showed more depth to him as a character, whilst also showing him for what he truly is.

Luthor Speeks with Superman

Like Batman making an appearance in Joker, Superman made an appearance in this book. Although Superman had a much bigger appearance in this book than Batman had in Joker they were still very similar, as in it was obvious that they were background characters. Superman needs a longer appearance than Batman because in this story Superman is the focus of Luthor's problem, and the main reason he feels the need to create Hope, so it wouldn't be the same if he didn't appear as often. There was however something that I wasn't sure if I liked in Superman's appearance, and that was that he barely talked (I think he only said one thing in the entire book). I actually think this worked as a whole, as it lessened the attention towards Superman, and showed that he doesn't need words. I did however find it slightly awkward at times, but feel that it helped the story.

Like Azzarello's other Superman related story For Tomorrow, Mr. Orr also appears in this story. To be honest this is the character that has changed the least between this version of Superman's world, and the regular DC version. Mr. Orr is still a hired mercenary, but this time he's on Luthor's dime. Luthor uses him to help persuade people to do what he wants, and overall set-up things that will help Luthor in the long run. The function of Mr. Orr in this story doesn't just remind readers of what type of character Mr. Orr is, but it also shows some of the characteristics that we usually see from Luthor. It was also nice to see Mr. Orr again, as with him being created by Azzarello, it feels right for him to be in any Superman related story he works on, but only if his role is necessary, which it is in this book.

Luthor Meets Bruce Wayne

Batman also made an appearance in this book, as both Batman, ans Bruce Wayne. His main appearance in this book is during a dinner conversation between himself, and Luthor, but he also gets into a fight with Superman not long after. I liked Batman's appearance, but more as Bruce than Batman. I liked that we see how the rich live, and how due to being rich that Luthor, and Bruce are both friendly to one another, whether they like each other or not. I think that Azzarello showed Bruce's characteristics perfectly throughout the dinner, but not so well after his fight with Superman. I just couldn't see Bruce helping Luthor just cause he got in a fight with Superman, but there are reasons I can make for this. The main one is that Bruce also sees Superman as a threat, and shares the same goal as Luthor now, but it still doesn't feel right to me, as being a long time Batman fan I wouldn't expect him to do this. Don't get me wrong, I can believe him seeing Superman as a threat (he has in the past), but I can't see him helping Luthor. I do however understand that the story needs something like this to develop certain parts of it.

Luthor with Hope

Hope was the character that I saw most change from in this version of Superman's world than the regular DC version. I don't know a great deal about the normal version of Hope, but I do know enough to know that this version is much different. For starters the normal version is an Amazon that was hired as Luthor's bodyguard along with fellow Amazon Mercy Graves, whereas in this version she's a robot that Luthor made to be a superhero. I did however prefer this version, and found the relationship between her, and Luthor very interesting. You could say that it isn't right that someone can love as robot, or at least in the way Luthor does, but at the same time I can see why, as he created her, and was with her throughout. He also was that amazed by what she was, and due to her being exactly what he wanted it's kind of natural that he'd love her, even if it isn't necessarily right. I also liked that she believed in herself, and that although she was a robot, she still wanted to do good. It probably helped that she didn't know what she was, but all the same it was nice to see that although she believed in Luthor that she also wanted to do good.

Final Verdict

This was a brilliant book, but not quite as good as Azzarello, and Bermejo's other work. It was still a very interesting read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I liked how it showed a different side to Luthor, whilst showing some of the more well known characteristics. I would highly recommend this book, as it is still a cracking read.

Rating: 4/5

Joker Review

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Lee Bermejo

I have been meaning to read this story for quite a while now, and after reading, and reviewing Batman: Broken City, I decided to buy more work from Brian Azzarello, including, Superman: For Tomorrow (which I also wanted for Jim Lee's art), which I've read, and reviewed since, this book, and Luthor. I'm also a huge Batman fan, and Joker is my favourite villain, so that was another reason.

Plot

Somehow Joker has been released from Arkham Asylum. When no one wants to pick him up an aspiring crook named Jonny Frost decides to pick him up, and becomes his right hand man.

Review

This was a brilliant book, and very enjoyable. To be honest although I'm a big fan of both Batman, and Joker I didn't know what to expect from this story. This is the case for most Joker stories, and that's one of the things I like about the character, his mysteriousness, although I'll talk more about Joker later on in my review. Brian Azzarello did a tremendous job in this book, and it was probably the most unique Joker story I have ever read. As I said in my intro I've been trying to read more of Azzarello's work, and that's mainly due to his brilliant Wonder Woman run that's out the now. This however isn't the first time I've read Azzerello's work on a Batman themed book, as like my intro also said I've read Batman Broken City. I wasn't the biggest fan of Broken City, but I did enjoy it, and I can see the odd similarity in this story. Azzarello has however taken all the things I liked in that story, scrapped the rest, and added more bizarreness, all of which I liked. Azzarello also did a very good job of writing the Joker, and although he hasn't done better than the other great writers that have wrote the character, he has done him justice, and showed his unpredictability.

Lee Bermejo's art was nothing short of phenomenal on this book, and it really helped set the tone of the story. I have to be honest I haven't seen much of Bermejo's art before, which I'm ashamed of as it's awesome, and some of the best art I have ever seen. I was actually introduced to Bermejo's art with the Before Watchmen: Rorschach series (which was also written by Azzarello), and I really liked it. I then started to see his art on covers like The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and when I decided to get this book, and Luthor I was very happy to get the chance to see more of his amazing artwork. The detail in Bermejo's artwork is fantastic,as there is nothing that lacks detail. I also love how he deals with expressions, as some artists have beautiful artwork, but awkward expressions, whereas Bermejo's doesn't. What I especially liked about Bermejo's art was that although he made it very obvious who all the well known characters were, he added his own unique look to them, like having Riddler with question mark tattoo's, and Penguin with a small mohican like hairstyle. Also unlike Broken City I liked the realistic looking Killer Croc, as it fitted with the realistic story setting. I also loved the Bermejo's cover, and liked that it was nothing more than a smile, Joker's most distinguishing feature, making a simple, but bold statement. Patricia "Trish" Mulvihill's colours were also nice, and really helped to make Bermejo's art even better.

Jonny Frost

I was going to start by talking about what I thought about the Joker in this book, but I decided to start with Jonny Frost, who in my opinion is the main character. Although Joker is the title character, and main focus of the book, Jonny is the character who is telling the story, his story. This story is basically the telling of Jonny's life since meeting the Joker, and how it's changed his life. I personally liked that the story was getting told this way, as it felt like the film Goodfellas, with Jonny being similar to Ray Liotta's character Henry. I say that the two are similar as in Goodfellas Henry is aspiring to progress in the mobster lifestyle, whereas in this story Jonny is aspiring to become a known name, and sees Joker as his way to that. It's also similar as both stories are told with a monologue. Anyway I actually really liked Jonny as a character as although he felt like the normal crook, he had some personality, and a goal. I also loved that he knew how to act, as although he was scared of Joker he wouldn't admit it. I also think that having someone like Jonny telling the story makes sense, as it would be hard to write a story from Joker's point of view as it would need to be constant madness, which would be hard to write.

Joker, a Serious Mad Man

Now I'll talk about Joker. I really liked Joker in this story, and with his name on the cover I'd hope so. As I've said I'm a huge Joker fan, and he's been my favourite villain for as long as Batman's been my favourite hero (since the 90's Batman Animated Series). The impracticability of Joker is something that I really like, and it's the characteristic that sets him above any other villain. I also love that Joker doesn't really seem to care about what he's doing, as long as he can laugh whilst doing it, and that also makes him more unique. What was different about Joker than most times was that he seemed to actually be in a crime family, or something similar, with him in control of the other villains (or most of them anyway). As I said earlier I think that Azzarello has done an amazing job with Joker in this story, as he's kept enough of his characteristics to make long time fans of him enjoy this story, but changed enough to make them go, "oh, that was something different." I especially liked the relationship between Joker and Jonny as Joker is trying to make something out of him, whilst using him at the same time, and Jonny is looking to become a big name. It's always apparent that Joker's associates aren't his top priority (take Monty in this story for instance), so whilst reading this I was expecting something to happen between them, but I won't say whether there was or not, as to avoid spoilers.

When I said earlier that Joker was controlling most villains, the one he wasn't was Two-Face. Apparently whilst Joker was in Arkham Two-Face had taken over most if not all the Racket's in Gotham City, and Joker wasn't happy about this. I liked that there was conflict between Joker, and Two-Face, as a story where everyone kisses up to Joker wouldn't be fun, or enjoyable, and wouldn't seem right. It was nice to see the two get into a mini gang war, as it makes the story feel more realistic than most Batman related stories, something that this book has done all the way through. I don't really want to talk too much about the conflict as to avoid spoilers, but it was fabulous, and I loved that there were two characters that driven to be on top that they wouldn't back down.

Joker and Killer Croc Bully Penguin
(or Abner as he's called in this book)

I'll move on to talk about Penguin's appearance in this book. I wasn't actually going to mention his appearance any more that that he made an appearance, but there were a few things that made his appearance stand out more than say Riddler's. The main thing that stood out was that Joker called Penguin Abner, the only thing that Penguin is called throughout the story. I like to think of myself as a fairly knowledgeable Bat fan, and I can't recall Penguin ever getting called Abner before or after this (if anyone know why Joker's calling Penguin Abner please let me know by leaving a comment). To be honest the only way you can tell it's Penguin is due to his obvious features (beak like nose, and round stomach). I did however like Penguin's appearance in this story, as although we know Penguin for being a business man, we all know that deep down he's a coward, and this story shows that. I liked that Joker, and Croc shoved Penguin around, and got him doing whatever Joker wanted.

Now I'll finish off by talking about Batman's appearance. It was nice to see Batman as a background character, and that was one of the things I liked most in this story. With the title being Joker you want it to be centred around Joker as much as possible, and having Batman as a heavy feature wouldn't help that. I did however like that he made an appearance in this book, as at the same time it wouldn't be right if he didn't. There were two things I liked about Batman's appearance more than anything. The first was the way Bemerjo drew him, as it was simply fantastic, and the second was the way people talked about him, as whenever they were talking about him they wouldn't say his name, which I really liked.

Final Verdict

A very interesting, and entertaining book. Azzarello, and Bermejo have done a brilliant job of giving us something that's not only enjoyable, but unique. The story is dark, but also emotional, and above all else, a very good read. I would highly recommend this book as it's very enjoyable, and well worth the read.

Rating: 4.5/5

Superman: For Tomorrow Review

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Jim Lee

I've been meaning to read this story for quite a while now, but it was a few things coming at the same time that pushed me to finally get it. The main thing was probably the upcoming Superman: Unchained series which will be drawn by the artist of this story, Jim Lee. I'm also a huge fan of his artwork, with him being my favourite comic book artist, and I also recently read, and reviewed Batman: Hush which is also drawn by Lee. With them three things all at once, plus the incline to try more of Brian Azzarello's work (got Joker, and Luthor to read, and I've also read, and reviewed Batman: Broken City), I decided to finally get this book.

Plot

A year has passed since the sudden, and unexplained disappearance of millions of people. In his quest to find answers Superman visits Father Daniel Leone to confess his sins. Throughout Superman begins to question his faith, and whether he was responsible for the vanishings.

Review

This was a brilliant story, and Brian Azzarello did a fabulous job of giving a unique, and meaningful Superman story. To be honest I wasn't too sure what I'd make of this story as it got a lot of people upset, which made me wary. I however loved it. Although it wasn't phenomenal all the way through the story was generally very well thought out, and always interesting. The only small complaint I had about the story was that it was a little bit confusing at times, but I think that was meant to help make the story more mysterious. Anyway as I read through more the confusing parts became very clear, and set ups some surprises I wasn't expecting. There was however some things in the story that I did expect. What I also liked about Azzarello's writing was how he took Superman on a moral journey, but I'll talk a bit more about that later.

As some of you may know, Jim Lee is my favourite artist, and that is the reason I've been wanting to read this book for so long. As usual he does a brilliant job, and I seriously think that he could take anything and make it look amazing. I first saw his art on Batman: Hush, and have loved it ever since. Talking about Hush, Superman also featured in that story, and Lee stated that he wasn't satisfied with the way he drew him. Although I loved the way he's drew Superman in Hush I do think that he's done so much more with the character in this story. I love that he's taken Azzarello's story, which is darker than most Superman stories, and has incorporated that in Superman's look, which is much darker than usual. I did however prefer Lee's art on Superman during his run on Justice League, but that was much after this story, plus with the task of reinventing Superman's look he'd have more room to play around with designs, as to make it his own. I also loved the way he drew all the other characters throughout this story, and the detail throughout if phenomenal. The action sequences are also great, and Lee makes them look amazing. The inks from long time Lee inker Scott Williams, and the colours from Alex Sinclair were also brilliant, and helped make Lee's already fabulous artwork look even better than it already does. I could continue talking about the art for a lot longer time, but I'll move on to more topics.

The main theme of the story centers around Superman's faith. Superman blames himself for the vanishings of over a million people, and he feels that his main sin is saving the world. As I said parts of this story confused me, but it revealed it's true meaning later in the story, and made for nice surprises. I did however think that Azzarello using the faith theme was very bold, and unique. It's also very fitting for a Superman story, as when your someone that everyone believes will save them, it must be hard when you disappoint. Especially when you've got the morels of someone like Superman.

Father Daniel Leone

When he's questioning himself Superman visits Father Daniel Leone to confess his sins. The sin that Superman apparently committed was saving the world. Again this confused me to start of with, but made sense later on in the story. Anyway the character of Father Daniel was very interesting, and suited this story perfectly. Father Daniel is in no great shape, as he's dying from cancer, and this is what makes him a fitting character. Don't get me wrong, it's not the fact he has cancer, as that's not a funny thing to have. The thing that makes him a fitting character is that due to his cancer he himself is questioning his faith, much like Superman, and you can't get anything bigger in that category that a man of god. Besides that I think that Father Daniel was a brilliant character, and Superman's conversations with him made for the perfect flashback set-ups.

Another interesting character that featured in this story was Mr. Orr. Mr. Orr is a mercenary that is working for a business man to retrieve the machine that caused the vanishing. Throughout the story Mr. Orr is very mysterious, and although his goals are very plain, his methods aren't. Although I liked the character to a certain extent, he wasn't as necessary as Father Daniel, but still helped to shape the story. What I especially liked about his appearance in this story was that he gave Father Daniel some hope, all be it in a weird manor. I also liked that Mr. Orr had his foot in everything, making everything to do with the vanishings his business, and especially when it was connected to Superman.

What the JLA Think

The Justice League of America also featured in this story. After being linked to a second lot of vanishings the JLA question Superman's actions, as he's taking the thing very personally. I really liked the addition of the JLA in this story, as like with Superman's appearance in Hush it adds a different view point, and it shows how much Superman has changed. I say this as the JLA have been the closest allies that Superman has had, and that if they notice a change in him then it means that it's big. I especially liked Batman's take on the events, as he's happy that Superman's taking it personally, as it shows that he's human, or at least human natured. It was also nice that certain League members, including Batman, and Wonder Woman made more extended appearances later in the story.

Superman vs. Wonder Woman

Later in the story there is a big fight between Superman, and Wonder Woman. Batman and Wonder Woman realize that Superman is about to make drastic actions, so Wonder Woman goes in an attempt to stop him. The fight was phenomenal, and although it wasn't quite as good as the fight between Batman, and Superman in Hush, it was still brilliant, and very entertaining. What I liked about the fight the most was that you could really see the emotions from the two characters, as Superman is fighting for something he believes in, and Wonder Woman is fighting to prevent Superman doing something she sees as stupid. What I think made this fight special was that it happened in Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Now this isn't the first time a fight has broken out in the Fortress, and it would't be the last, but the setting always makes a fight look more thrilling, especially when it's between two powerhouses like Superman, and Wonder Woman. Another thing that I liked was that Wonder Woman didn't come unprepared, as she had a magic dagger.

There was also an even bigger fight between Superman, and Zod (highlight to reveal name) near the end of the story. My thoughts on the fight will probably be smaller than the Superman/Wonder Woman fight, but that's only to avoid spoilers. The fight was epic, and I always love seeing these two characters fight each other. Although at the same time this wasn't their best fight it was still phenomenal, and a brilliant way to close a fantastic story. I loved the artwork in the fight between Superman, and Wonder Woman, but again I felt the art was also better this time round. I also loved the verbal conflict between the two characters during the fight, as sometimes a visually stunning fight can be spoiled through dialogue, but this wasn't.

Final Verdict

Overall this was a brilliant story, and I was glad to finally read it. The mysterious nature of the story made the story interesting, and also unique. It also had some phenomenal fight sequences, and an emotional theme. I would easily recommend this to anyone, as although it may not be to everyone's liking it is worth the read, and visually stunning.

Rating: 4.5/5

Batman: Broken City Review

Writer: Brian Azzarello
Artist: Eduardo Risso

After reading, and reviewing Batman: Hush I decided that I'd gradually go through my Batman collection which I own nearly every issue since Batman #608 (only missing one) but in graphic novel form as it'd take ages otherwise. Anyway this is my second review, and I hope to do as many as I can as soon as possible, but due to only reading them casually (a story here and there) it might take a while to review them all.

Plot

Batman is on the hunt for Angel Lupo, the brother of a murdered woman named Elizabeth Lupo, trying to piece together what happened to her. On the way he runs into some familiar faces, as well as some new ones including, Killer Croc, Penguin, and Ventriloquist (Wesker) and Scarface.

Review

This was a very good story, with lot's of pro's, but a few to many con's to be amongst the best Batman stories. I'll star by saying that although I know that Brian Azzarello is a highly praised writer, I've not really read much of his work, having only read more recent things like his current Wonder Woman series, and his Before Watchmen series Rorschach, and Comedian, with this being the only story that I've read prior. I have however ordered some of his other work including Superman: For Tomorrow, Joker, and Luthor, which I'll hopefully enjoy. Now I can't say that Azzarello's writing is bad, as the way he progresses the story through monologue narrative is brilliant, but unfortunately not my favourite type of story. I also loved the dark tone to the story, and loved that Azzarello continued this throughout the story. Although the overall story was good, and I loved that it showed Batman as a detective, it wasn't anything startling, and easily forgettable.

I'm not overly familiar with Eduardo Risso but I'm not too sure if it suits Batman. There are a lot of artists that I like, but don't like their work on Batman so Risso isn't the only one. The main person that I consider to produce fabulous art, but not on Batman has to be Mike Mignola famous for creating Hellboy, and there are similarities between his and Risso's work also. I liked Risso's art in Before Watchmen: Moloch, and the limited series Logan, and he's a brilliant artist, but it's just not appealing to me in this story. I did however love that his art was very dark, and violent, and it complimented Azzarello's story brilliantly. His art is however very detailed, and he shows the characters emotions brilliantly in his art, especially Batman, but overall his art just doesn't suit Batman in my opinion. I also felt that his version of Killer Croc was very different, and unusual than the normal look for Croc, but I'll talk more about that later.

In this story there is a lot of flashbacks to Batman losing his parents when he was a child. This is probably the defining thing in Batman's entire story, as it's the thing that made him what he is, and what shapes his life, even now. I have felt in the past that this is overused, and I still agree with that, but when it's used in a unique way, or a way that helps the story I'm always happy to see it, much like I was happy to see it in this story. Batman keeps thinking back to his past when he thinks about Elizabeth's unborn child being killed with her, and it makes him think of what life could have been like if the killer hadn't killed his parent's or if he died with them. I really think that this helped with this story, as it really helped to shape out the tone, and mood of the story, adding to the already dark tone.

Flashbacks

Killer Croc appeared in this story, and he appeared to be the most featured villain from Batman's rogues gallery. As I said earlier though I wasn't overly keen on this version of Croc. It's not so much the writing that I don't like with Croc, it's the artwork. Now although there's nothing actually wrong with the art on Croc, I did think that he looked too different than his normal look. Whenever I look at Croc, or envision Croc, I always think of this gigantic reptilian like creature that's green with a bit of a snout. This version of Croc just had very pale skin, and looked like some one with bad acne. Although this can be perceived as a more realistic take on Croc, it just wasn't the Croc I know. I did however like the art feeling that he was the best drawn character, along with Margo Farr, but he just wasn't the Croc I know. I did however like that the story started and ended with Croc, giving a full circle feel to the story.

Killer Croc

As I said earlier I was very happy that this was a detective story. Although this takes away from the excitement of the story I'm not overly upset, as I've felt that there aren't enough Batman stories that have him doing proper detective work. In saying that the lack of excitement is probably the reason for this, as it fans weren't excited whilst reading a comic, especially one like Batman then they probably wouldn't continue buying it. It is however still nice to see a proper detective story every now and then, and this has to be one of the best detective stories I've read in a Batman series. It feels very Sherlock Holmes like, and being a huge Shelock Holmes fan, considering him the worlds best fictional detective (sorry Batman, you're great, but Sherlock's astonishing) that's saying something. I really liked that like any good detective story, and mainly a murder mystery story (which this essentially is) it's very gripping, and suspenseful. We do however come back to the lack of excitement, as although it's a brilliant detective story, the lack of excitement means that it's not as brilliant as it could have been, at least in my opinion.

Margo Farr

Margo Farr was an interesting character, and probably the most interesting in the story. I felt that besides Batman, Margo was the best character in this story, and very crucial to the overall story. I usually don't like it when woman are shown as tramps (couldn't think of a better word) in comics, but I think that this actually helped with Margo's character. Throughout the story it's obvious that Margo is the type of person that doesn't mind using he looks to get what she wants, and I actually found the sequences were she flirted with Batman comical. This however isn't all that is shown of Margo's characteristics throughout the story. Azzarello does a brilliant job of showing that she's a desperate woman that cares for Angel, willing to do anything for him. The story also shows that she's a bit conflicted at times, but overall a very strong, and competent woman. I think that Azzarello did a fantastic job of developing her as a character throughout this story, which shows more that although the story wasn't as exciting as I'd hope, that he's still a good writer.

The absence of the Bat-Family was probably the most noticeable thing in this story, and especially the absence of Alfred. Although I like seeing Batman supported by his family it was nice to see him on his own for a change. I did however think that Alfred could have been used at times, as there is a sequence were Bruce is grilling steak. Now this isn't anything big, and Bruce is probably more than capable of cooking some food, but I just can't imagine Alfred taking no for an answer, and cooking it for him. Besides that small thing it was very nice to see Batman going fully solo, giving a Batman: Year One feel towards the story.

I'll finish by talking about the amount of villains in this story. Like the previous story Hush this story feels the need to inject itself with a good few of Batman's villains. There are only two returnees from Hush, Killer Croc, and Joker, but there are also other Batman villains including Penguin, and Ventriloquist and Scarface. The story does however also have a forgotten villain in the form of Fat Man, with a new character Little Boy. Having multiple villains, with many of them being high profile doesn't necessarily mean that it'll make the story better. Although I like seeing well known villains in Batman stories, there wasn't the need for all of the villains featured in this. Most of the villains did have a valuable purpose towards the story, but the one that didn't was the Penguin. Although it was nice to see him in the story, and although he did progress the story during his sequence he wasn't really needed, and they could have used someone else quite easily. Besides that I really liked all the villains in this story, and it added a bit of excitement back to the story, although not enough to change my mind on my overall opinion of the story. Also the villains I liked most in this story were Fat Man and Little Boy, because they were something I hadn't seen before, and a different type of villain for Batman to face. I don't however see them becoming huge well known villains.

Final Verdict

A brilliant story, but not one of the best Batman stories ever, and very forgettable. It doesn't help that this story comes after a very memorable story like Batman: Hush, but that's life. I would however still recommend this story, as it is well worth a read, and still very good.

Rating: 4/5

The next book I'll be reviewing from this series will be Batman: As The Crow Flies.