What is a Scarecrow story without Scarecrow actually present? With “Batman” #107, the supervillain has a very present absence, to intriguing effect!
Written by James Tynion IVCover by Jorge Jimenez and Tomeu Morey
Illustrated by Jorge Jimenez and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz
Colored by Tomeu Morey
Lettered by Clayton CowlesTensions are sky-high in Gotham City following the attack on Arkham Asylum, and public opinion and unrest are starting to boil over. The Dark Knight has his hands full juggling the investigation of the reappearance of an old enemy and the rise of a new gang in Gotham called the Unsanity Collective…Gotham City is getting more dangerous by the minute!
Plus, in part one of “Legend of the Ghost-Maker,” James Tynion IV and Ricardo Lopez Ortiz tell the most insane tale of action and adventure featuring Batman’s frenemy Ghost-Maker! This one is not to be missed!
While interesting on its surface, “Batman” #107 is very much just a single part of a larger story, and one that may have too many issues with narrative flow to keep an incoming audience. Utilizing the new status quo in Gotham City, James Tynion tells a tale of subversive terror in the wake of extreme carnage. However, he may be setting the stage too slowly, too subversively, to keep reader attention.
Although “Batman” #107 is the second part of the ‘The Cowardly Lot’ arc, several oddities emerge regarding its pacing. On the one hand, we have the opening pages, which include what appears to be the most recent approach to Doctor Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. There is a mention of the story determining how the plot reached this point, but by its conclusion, it has yet to actually reach it at all, saving the tense scene for a later issue. While the Scarecrow’s absence in the main plot is palpable and makes for well-handled increases in tension, it seems as though the opening is too separate to matter, and could have easily been excised to be put in on a later issue to help with the story structure. In all, it feels as though Tynion is utilizing far too much decompression, to the detriment of the storytelling.
The supporting cast are decent enough, but each have only a bit part overall. On the upside, we have Harley Quinn, who adds some much-needed levity and a dose of explosive action to an overall quieter issue (development-wise). On the downside, we have the new group known as the “Unsanity Collective.” While they seem to be a new antagonistic faction (or at best neutral) thus far, Tynion doesn’t give much to go on regarding what they actually are, thereby allowing a vagueness that dissolves at least some reader interest. Perhaps Tynion can make them into something better, but so far they do not appear to be as interesting as the story hints they should be seen.
The backup story, starring Ghost-Maker, is far lighter in tone, not to mention has a faster pace. There is some comedic banter between the apparently quite hedonistic vigilante and his computer program Icon that is reminiscent of the early days of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on Iron Man, making jabs while fighting supervillains with extreme violence. There is still an action focus, but overall the story is more relaxed than Batman’s own.
For the two stories, there are two illustrators, each with their own style that helps set the tone. For the main plot, we have Jorge Jimenez, who has worked not only on many issues in Tynion’s “Batman” run, but also in the post-‘Metal’ “Justice League,” of which Tynion was a part. This level of experience lends itself to a tight, detailed art style that puts heavy emphasis on facial expressions, throwing Batman’s stoicism into sharp relief against a sea of boiling chaos throughout Gotham City in the wake of massive events brought forth by Bane and the Joker (at different points). The details work especially well in highly stressful situations, such as combat or arguments, emphasizing movement and speed. In all, while this art style is good, it almost is a shame it is used in a part of the story that moves possibly unreasonably slowly given its opening.
Continued belowFor the backup in ‘Ghost-Maker Part I,’ Ricardo Lopez Ortiz takes a more stylized approach. Rather than emphasizing detail, he instead concentrates on an exaggerated, borderline “cartoonish” approach, with lines played out tougher than the tightness of Jimenez’s panels. Motion seems to go so fast as to blur, and the rogues he faces seem to be as ridiculous and theatrical as Ghost-Maker himself is, as if stepping into another world rather than the grittier atmosphere of most of what goes on in Gotham at present. When coupled with the more comedic script, this style helps relax readers after having read such a tense main story.
With the varied illustration styles, Tomeu Morey’s colors really help to tie the entire product of “Batman” #107 together. Color variety steals the show and helps to firmly establish distinct tones, from the darkest shades in Batman’s grim story to the brightest hues in Ghost-Maker’s apparently international escapades. These are two very different adventures, but Morey fits well into both, to the point that without the credits one may have assumed there were two different colorists. He is no stranger to this level of variety, with experience in comics ranging from earlier Batman stories (both in the eponymous title and in “Detective Comics”), “Justice League,” “Superman,” and more, so such a varied portfolio shows, even without the readily evident colors on the pages in both stories of “Batman” #107, how right Morey was for the colors on the book in both the primary and backup stories.
Final Verdict: 6.5– While the artwork on the two stories is interesting, it is hard to ignore that the primary tale feels a bit disjointed or at least too slow.
