“When he has gone over the cliff and is falling…even falling, He simply refuses to hit the ground.”
First, I’d like to say that as a reader of Scott Snyder’s previous Batman run, I was left to wonder where he would go next. And then All-Star Batman #1 came out, and it was actually an awesome and fun book. It was fun, bright and while somewhat different in the tone of his prior association with the Batman run that he did with Greg Capullo, which was a mystery horror approach. It felt like a believable transition from that run, making for a fun on the run, explosive action flick that is as good as it is fun. Since Snyder has mentioned that this specific series would tackle characters that he didn’t have a chance to write or feature, let alone showcase the stories that would have been explored in the prior Batman run. So it looks like Snyder is really going forward with that idea, and readers are gonna see all that stuff here. Heck to see characters like Two-Face, and the insect-themed villains such as Killer Moth, Firefly, Black Spider, showcased that Snyder still has a lot more material to explore within this Road Fury-lite arc. Now it’s time to get down to the main event which is this review on Issue 2.
All-Star Batman #2 continues as Batman and Two-Face travel from town to town evading against all odds in this wild Mad Max adventure. It’s a nonstop, on the run book that keeps the story pumping. I don’t want to talk too much about the book because it’s one of those books that you Have to Read because it’s a really fun Batman book. The book keeps going in twist and turns, and sorta surprises the reader at every turn. Snyder really is taking advantage of the roster of batman villains that have been on the bench waiting to finally play. Batman’s quest to take Two-Face in and prevent him from releasing dangerous information that holds all of Gotham hostage makes it a compelling epic.
Likes: I’m loving the theme of every issue when it comes to the roster of villains chasing after Batman and Two-Face. In the first issue , you had the bug squad consisting of Killer Moth, Firefly, and Black Spider. This time around we have Killer Croc , King Shark, Amygdala, basically what I’ll call the Muscle Squad. In addition to having other groups of villains such as the Femme Fatale squad (Cheshire and the female Copperhead ) , in addition to the Gotham’s Lords of Organized Crime aka The Blacks and Whites (The Penguin, Black Mask, Great White). I really love the way Batman’s gadgets are utilized, such as the detachable ears actually being hidden knives make for a practical, tactical function for the bat cowl aside from its aesthetically theatrical appearance. Which really showcase how resourceful and fully prepared Batman is when he is stuck in a really tight spot.
John Romita Jr is on his A game for real in this book! I’ve loved his work since I was a kid reading his Spider-Man stuff. His best work for me was with J Michael Straczynski on the early 2000’s Amazing Spider-Man run. I was happy to hear when he came to DC two years back the first thing I thought was for him to do a batman book where he is allowed time to put in his best effort. Because his stuff on Avengers during Bendis Heroic Age arc wasn’t so great due to the colors that were applied to his work in addition to rushing to get immense detail in his work, which gives disservice to what he can really do. I’m glad to say that his art is superb in this book. And that’s greatly benefitted from the amazing color work by Dean White. White’s colors help give life and flavor to this book. And it really helps the book feel like everything has its own distinct features due to the amazing colors which help distinguish each of the characters and the environments that they are in. In addition, White’s colors along with Steve Wands Letters make the comic have a Michael Bay inspired lens which, infused with Danny Miki’s inks make the comic feel like a huge adventurous action movie. The backup story “The Cursed Wheel “also continues where the last backup left off , diving deeper into Batman’s latest sidekick (Duke) past. The art by Declan Shalvey is good. It’s interesting to think that while the main arc “My Own Worst Enemy” is a huge action adventure, the backup story is more like an actual detective story reminiscent to a David Fincher-Seven aesthetic. The backup is nice but not as interesting as the main book in my opinion. But it makes it interesting to look into Duke’s like prior to his introduction back in Snyder’s prior Batman run. Overall, get this book, it’s one of the better Bat titles.
Newsdesk