As Batman stumbles through the dystopian landscape of Gotham, he and his allies must prevent Omega from initiating his plan to take over the hearts and minds of life on Earth.
But who will side with Batman? Who will help Batman in his confrontation against Omega? Who is Omega and what is his ultimate goal? As Batman charges towards Omega, will he survive this fight? Who lives? Who dies? What will be left of Gotham when the dust settles as this epic Snyder/Capullo saga comes to a close?
When reading this 60-page final, I had to pace myself, trying to digest what I read. On my first initial reading of the final issue, I was surprised at some of the decisions that were taken by Snyder and Capullo, because some of those decisions were expected, while others were unexpected. So you’re probably wondering whether or not I think that this was good or not and the answer is, it’s actually not bad at all. I can say I definitely prefer this book over The Batman Who Laughs mini-series given that it does a better job at executing the concept of a Batman-inspired character gone evil. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve been a bit fatigued by the Batman Who Laughs since he’s been somewhat overly exposed to a point where it doesn’t feel as special as he once was. That doesn’t mean that he’s not a cool character, it’s just that when he’s overexposed and overused, it starts to lose any feeling of importance due to that overexposure. Omega is something different, and that is a good thing. I kinda had predictions on who or what Omega was and it wasn’t a surprise in regards to who he was. What was a surprise is how Snyder revealed Omega and how he came to be that actually surprised me more than I realized. I won’t go into spoiler territory since I feel it’s better for readers to have the chance to discover the reveal themselves. Now, what I can say is that this book was actually good. When I thought about all of the concepts, the reveals, some of the twists and character relationships, it all felt natural to the development of all of the characters, and given that it’s a Black Label book where Snyder and Capullo get to take liberties that they couldn’t entirely do in their main Batman books, it was cool to see them experiment with their ideas and execute it onto the page.
I feel that this is a fitting conclusion to what Snyder has to say about Batman, and after everything that he has developed since his Batman run, it feels like a huge farewell (maybe) to Batman. I don’t know if this will necessarily be Snyder’s literal farewell to Batman entirely, but with what he has laid out within this book, it definitely feels like it is and that is good. Admittedly there are some things that could have potential to be a backdoor pilot should Snyder ever have that itch to tell another Batman story, but given what he and Capullo crafted for this story, it just feels right to end it the way it did.
The story and the pace of the plot flowed nicely making it hard for me to not speed through it all due to how well it’s written. The characters are all fun to see, and the interactions between Batman, Diana, and all of the other allies that he has rediscovered throughout this journey is handled really well. The confrontation between Batman and Omega is brutal and enjoyable to read. My only gripe is that in some ways I wished Omega was someone else, and I only say this because I’ve noticed a trend that’s been happening within the last few years where there is always an evil future version of a character that is under the guise of the predecessor which is kinda been done a lot. I feel that Snyder does a better job on this book than he did on Dark Nights Metal. Looking back on Dark Nights Metal, it has a lot of cool concepts, and a ton of awesome stories came from that book, but some of the concepts like Barbatos didn’t really stick the landing like it should have compared to other concepts like the Batman Who Laughs, and the Dark Multiverse. But with what Snyder was able to accomplish it felt appropriate to the story that he was weaving since this is a Batman story about Batman, and why he is and always will be an interesting character regardless of the time and era that he resides in.
In regards to the art department, Capullo, Glapion, and Plascensia must have had a fun time drawing, inking and coloring this whole series because man oh man does this book look amazing! This might be their best work on Batman (that is if it is their final stint in Batman). It’s surprising that they have managed to one-up themselves and maintain consistency surpassing what they have done before in regards to Batman. From the page layouts to the action, to the intimate moments with characters who are seeing each other again for the first time in a long time, it’s all wonderfully illustrated, inked and colored perfectly. There is no complaints to be found and gladly there doesn’t have to be since the art department really brought their A-game to his finale.
This book seems to be a fitting farewell to Batman, Snyder, and Capullo. Snyder, Capullo, Glapion, and FCO have created a story that encapsulates all of the things that make Batman who he is as a character amongst comic fans and the pop culture landscape. It’s amazing to see that this team has stayed with Batman for a decade, with a style that is recognizable to many Batman fans of this day and age. If I were to look at this entire Batman run that Snyder and Co has built, I’d say it rivals Bendis’s entire Ultimate Spider-Man run. It’s very rare in this day and age to get a team of people to have a consistent run from beginning to end. Even though Last Knight On Earth is a Black Label book that can be considered a self-contained story, it is also the kind of book that concludes everything that we had seen from this team since the beginning of their time on Batman. This might be their most crowning achievement and they should be commended for it. If it isn’t obvious, add this to your pull list for new comic book day. If you’re a Batman fan, if you’re a Snyder/ Capullo fan, if you’re a fan of big stories that are self-contained but could easily blend in seamlessly as a finale to a series written and drawn by your favorite writers/ artist team, then I think this is the book for you. I definitely recommend getting this book. And if this is Snyder and Capullo’s last time on Batman, what I can say is thank you for giving your all on this book, it’s been a hell of a run.
Newsdesk