Batman #23.3 Penguin Review

Writer: Frank Tieri
Artist: Christian Duce

The issues I've mostly been looking forward to from Villains Month have been the Batman related ones that I'm getting, as although I've been looking forward to the likes of Zod, and Doomsday more, it has been the Batman ones as a whole that I've been interested in, as with his villains being the best collection of villains ever I've been hoping for great stories involving them.

Plot

After recent events Penguin is still trying to build his empire up to what it was, though his old friend Carter Winston is a thorn in his side when he plans to close The Iceberg Casino.

Review

This was a surprisingly good issue, as although it wasn't anything special, it was much better than I thought it'd be. I've never really been a fan of the bits and pieces of Frank Tieri's work that I've read in the past, but this was really good, as after expecting a mediocre issue I was pleasantly surprised when it turned out to be good. The issue had a brilliant theme to it, taking a different direction to not only most issues that Villains Month has produced so far, but Penguin stories in general. I also loved the dram, and suspense throughout, as although the story wasn't spectacular, the gritty nature of it was brilliant, and I loved seeing Penguin do whatever he needs to get his way.

The art on this issue was also very good, as although I wasn't impressed when I saw the preview, as a whole it was fantastic, and Christian Duce did a great job, and I'd gladly buy more comics with his art. Duce's artwork suited the Penguin perfectly, as although I felt the preview issues made him look a little too grotesque, after reading the whole issue I felt that it was actually perfect, showing this sinister character, who can be charming as well as deadly. I also loved the layout of Duce's artwork, and overall the way he showed the characters emotion was brilliant, though it did look slightly awkward when it came to Carter. I also loved the tone of the artwork, and Andrew Dalhouse produced some amazing colours.

This issue would start by showing the running of Penguin's Iceberg Casino, and that although he's not happy with paying out customers that he's wanting to keep it as legit as possible. He was however angry when he found a group who were cheating. I did however find this version of Penguin too gentle, which put me off the story to start with. It did however quickly turn this into a positive, with this being a set-up simply to show that Penguin's attempting to go, or seem legit.

This attitude wouldn't last long though, as we would see a violent side to the Penguin, which I was very happy about. I was even more happy as we don't usually see Penguin fight himself, as although he's no match for Batman, he can handle himself with these sort of thugs easily, it's just that he mostly uses goons so we don;t get the chance to see it. On top of that I also felt that this sequence as a whole was very dramatic, and extremely exciting, as although it wasn't the best sequence in the issue, it was very close to being the best.

This issue would also see an old friend of Penguin's named Carter Winston, who plans on ridding Gotham City of the Iceberg Casino. Now with this being a new character I was interesting to see what kind of an impact he would have, and I have to say he had a decent one, and the interaction between him and Penguin was outstanding. It was also at times very intense and gritty, as without going into detail, it would add plenty of excitement to the latter half of the issue.

Final Verdict

This was a better issue than I originally thought it would be, as although nothing special it was very gritty, and dramatic. It also had plenty of suspense, and showed Penguin's characteristics perfectly, reminding us to, "never underestimate the Penguin." Due to all this I'd certainly recommend it, especially if you're a Penguin fan, but at the same time don't expect it to blow your mind.

Rating: 7/10

Batman: Detective Review

Writers: Paul Dini & Royal McGraw
Artists: Don Kramer, J.H. Williams III, Joe Benitez & Marcos Marz

I have been going through my Batman stories over the last few months, mainly focusing on the key modern stories, having started with Hush, and progressed from there. This however is my first review of a story that's purely Detective Comics, though it's also my tenth Batman review in total since Hush.

Plot

Batman has to solve a series of cases, with some notorious Gotham City criminals getting in his way.

Review

This was a fantastic collection of comics, all being very unique, and entertaining. Most of the issues in this book are written by Paul Dini, with Royal McGraw writing the second last issue. Both writers did an excellent job in this book, but I have to give most of the credit to Dini, as besides writing all bar one of the issues, most of his were also much more exciting. What I loved most about the writing throughout the book though was how diverse it was, as although I love a story that progresses through a book it's nice to get a collection of one-shot stories, especially when they're all very unique and entertaining. I also loved how each story also had a slightly different style, and pace to it, as if one didn't appeal quite as much as you'd hope the rest most likely will. The action throughout these stories was also handled perfectly, as although some finished a bit suddenly they were all extremely exciting.

The art in this book was also brilliant, as although there was four different artists each one suited the story, or stories that they worked on. Don Kramer would be the artist to work on the most issues, having done three out of the six issues collected with the legendary J.H. Williams III, as well as Joe Benitez, and Marcos Marz working on one issue each. It's hard to pick who's the best artist out of these as they are all amazing, but Williams III probably just gets it, as his artwork is simply beautiful. Kramer however being on the most issues caught my attention more, and I especially loved seeing him draw the Joker as he looked as crazy as ever, and Kramer's tone made the story a lot more fun. All the artists also did a brilliant job of showing the characters facial expressions, adding a lot of depth to the issue as well as making it extremely easy to tell what they were thinking.

With a title like Detective you'd expect a lot of detective work to be going on, and you'd be right. It's always nice to see the Dark Knight doing what he does best, as although having his family, and technology has made it so he doesn't have to do quite as much detective work, it's always nice whenever he does. All the different cases that Batman investigates in this story are interesting, and I love the monologue narrative that we get from Batman during it. I did however feel that some of these investigations had rather abrupt endings, as with all the fantastic build-ups some of the endings felt rushed. This however is expected from stories that last one issue, and the ones that were brilliant all the way through were truly astonishing.

The second story in this book would see the Riddler turn over a new leaf, becoming a private detective. Now with Riddler being one of my favourite villains of all time I always like to see him make an appearance, though unfortunately he's not always used to his strengths. I however felt that this would be a great turning point for the Riddler, as although the concept would be played for too long, it was nice to see him go against the Dark Knight in a different fashion, sticking to the law. I also loved the dialogue from Riddler in this story, and also enjoyed seeing him continue his private detective job in the background of the remaining stories in this book.

This book would also see a lot of Batman's classic villains make appearances, with the key three noticeable ones being Joker, Poison Ivy, and Penguin. Now I'll talk about Joker's appearance a bit later, but it was nice to see both Penguin, and Ivy in this book, and I especially loved the way that they were used as it was so different to how they're usually involved with Ivy needing Batman's help, and Penguin trying to turn legit. Both encounters were extremely entertaining, with Ivy's being really exciting, and Penguin's being fun, and slightly humorous.

My favourite story in this book however would be the last one, which would feature Joker kidnapping Robin (Tim Drake). Now it's been clearly established that Joker likes to torture, and kill Robin's, even going out his way to try and kill Black Mask for taking his job when he killed Stephanie Brown. This story was however extremely lighthearted, reminding me of Batman: The Animated Series, which Dini was one of the key writers for. I also loved seeing my favourite Robin put in this position, as although I'd have been really upset if he somehow died, I enjoyed seeing him try and work out a way of escaping, and defeating the Joker.

Final Verdict

This was an amazing book, collection some outstanding stories, and although some were much better than others it was very fun, and entertaining. The style, and uniqueness of each story showed that this was written by Paul Dini, as it had a very similar feel to Batman: The Animated Series which he was a key writer for. The stories themselves were also extremely dramatic, and exciting, and I'd highly recommend this collection to anyone, especially if you were a fan of Batman: The Animated Series.

Rating: 8/10

The next Batman book I'll be reviewing will be Batman and Son.