As Mr. Freeze proceeds to use his hostages to further his scientific pursuits to save his wife, Batman is in hot pursuit to prevent Freeze from initiating his plans.
The clock is ticking, and if Batman doesn’t make it in time, then the lives of all those held captive will fade in the cold dark night. Can Batman make it in time to prevent anyone else from the clutches of Mr. Freeze? Or will Batman become another experiment to tinker with?
Tomasi sure knows how to open up an issue, especially with this one! When I was reading this issue, I was already digging the first couple of panels due to its clever set up, and establishing what has happened between this issue and the last issue, but as soon as I went through the first two pages I was already flooded due to the unexpected twist that happened within the first two pages. What continues to make this book shine is the kind of balance that Tomasi provides when writing Batman as a detective and he makes use of different methods that get the job done. But what makes this issue really hit its mark is the writing of Mr. Freeze and his willingness to do whatever it takes to cure his wife, even if it means piling up a mountain full of bodies to achieve his goal in the process. Tomasi accomplishes to write a new feat by delivering a version of Mr. Freeze that is both intimidating and horrifying, showing the cold dissonance of his goals in contrast to his actions.
Doug Mahnke never seems to ever have a dull moment in the art department, he continues to deliver with each and every issue and project that he draws, and this issue is no exception. He always knows how to give Batman an imposing aura that can feel, menacing, heroic, stoic, calm, and sincere all at the same time. It’s no surprise that this arc and this book shines due to the combination of Mahnke’s pencils, Champagne and Alamy’s wonderfully dark inks, Rob Leigh’s letters and Baron’s colors that help create this wonderful campus of a book that lives up to the legacy of Detective Comics and Batman as a whole. This book continues to deliver solid detective stories that remind readers why Batman is a compelling character to read about after all these years, and it delivers in every way. I definitely recommend picking this up for new comic book day.
Newsdesk