Written by James Tynion IV, Vita Ayala, Mariko Tamaki,
Dan Watters, Philip Kennedy Johnson
Art by Sumit Kumar, Andie Tong, Riley Rossmo,
John Paul Leon, Victor Ibanez
Published by DC Comics
This is a book that is spinning out of the main Batman title. It builds off the run currently happening.
Since I am not all that impressed with the main book presently, I wasn’t sure how I would feel about this.
It was a bit better than I thought, although it did leave a lot to be desired.
The first story here is by writer Vita Ayala and artist Andie Tong. It has Batman going up against the villainous Cheshire. Batman patrols for her. They fight. Batman gets beaten. Batman ends up needing medical care. This is a weak story with some shoddy art. Batman is a bit out of character as well here. Moving on.
Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Victor Ibanez fare much better on the second story. This one features Batman teaming up with the Green Arrow. There is a joke about Batman’s cape that is a tad annoying as it keeps repeating throughout. But other than that, it is a perfectly fine adventure story here and Ibanez does a commendable job on the art.
Mariko Tamaki writes a sparse script on the next story for Riley Rossmo to draw. It is fast paced and really well designed. It features Batman going up against the killer known as Mr. Teeth and it is completely crazy. I loved it and it works pretty damn great as a short story.
Writer Dan Watters and artist John Paul Leon team up next. It is a story focused on the Gunsmith and his meeting with Batman. The story is a bit compressed but it is still done well enough. John Paul Leon kills it on the art too.
The last story leads into the Joker War story and wraps up the issue. It is written by James Tynion IV and it gave me anxiety. The story is all over the place as is the art by Sumit Kumar.
This was a rough one to end on and brings the book down a bit. It takes a bit away from the good stuff in this comic as well.
RATING: B-
