Written by Scott Snyder
and Kyle Higgins
Art by Javier Fernandez
Published by DC Comics
This was a book that I didn’t know was coming, but enjoyed very much regardless. This takes place in a Dark Multiverse where Bane has broken Batman’s back and Bruce Wayne fails to reclaim the mantle of the Bat.
What that means is that he tries to, but Jean-Paul Valley just brutally takes him down. But what does that mean for Gotham City as a whole?
It turns out that thirty years pass. That is right! Thirty years! Jean-Paul has a steel grip on Gotham City. He even kept Bruce Wayne’s head alive with part of his body. It is pretty gruesome to look at.
Jean-Paul has also renamed himself as Saint Batman! He rules Gotham and everyone is scared.
But why?
Well, to make sure order is kept, Saint Batman just kills people terribly. Criminals are terrified of him. The husk that is Bruce tells Jean-Paul that he will fall. But it looks rather unlikely. Then, after a few scenes that are pretty harrowing, something happens that changes the entire dynamic.
It seems that there is a group of insurgents ready to strike back. Lady Shiva and some others from the Batman cast are grouped together. They attack Jean-Paul! They go and they free Bruce Wayne! But Jean-Paul may be more powerful than they think.
It gets pretty nuts pretty quickly. Bruce gets one more chance to fight back against Jean-Paul. This leads into a crazy ending that you have to see to believe. This may in fact be one of the craziest endings that I have seen in a comic book. I didn’t mind it in the least bit though. It was extremely entertaining.
The art by Fernandez is fantastic. He can draw whatever is thrown to him by the writers and make it work. I enjoyed it very much overall. It was a nice change of pace and it worked on a lot of levels. This is the first of several Dark Universe titles and I look forward to reading all of them.
RATING: A
