The Batman is dead. Long live Batman.
Cover by Scott McDanielWritten by Ed Brubaker & Greg Rucka
Illustrated by Scott McDaniel & Rich Burchett
Inked by Karl Story, John Lowe & Rodney Ramos
Colored by Roberta Tewes & Noelle Gliddings
Separated by Wildstorm FX
Lettered by John Costanza & Willie Schubert
Batman’s feud with Oswald Cobblepot reaches fever pitch as he attempts to destroy the Penguin once and for all—leaving Detective Montoya and Commissioner Gordon with their loyalties toward the Bat stretched to their limits.
What a fascinating trio of books these are. “Batman” #585 is a bit of a culmination of Brubaker’s first few issues on the title, specifically with The Penguin, or at the very least a resolution to the escalating tensions from #581 onwards. Issue 586 is a bit of a rug pull and a successful one at that, despite me knowing things couldn’t be what they seemed. And then “Batman” #587 is part one of the multi-title crossover ‘Officer Down,’ wherein Jim Gordon gets shot and is presumably killed.
OK, yes, I know he doesn’t die but if I were to judge solely based on this one “Batman” issue – which is what I’m doing, by the way – then I guess he’s a dead Jim.
I want to home in on #587 before getting to the other two. It’s an interruption and a frustrating one at that. I don’t think it is the start of the unnecessary, interrupting crossovers seeing as they’d only ended ‘No Man’s Land’ about a year prior and that was all crossover, all the time, but this is the era when those interruptions got worse. ‘Officer Down’ is a 7-part event that interrupts every book and isn’t even a “what’s going on in these books while this event happens” type of deal.
No matter how well told it is, there’s a sense of meaninglessness to the narrative because of this. I am only reading “Batman.” I will never know how this is resolved or what happened unless #588 tells me. And that’s rather frustrating.
The sad part is the issue is great! Greg Rucka comes over from “Detective Comics” to write and brings the whole team to tell the tale of Jim Gordon’s birthday and how he uses it to give his officers a handcuff key and a lecture about what it means to be a cop. Not any of that thin blue line crap but the ideal that reality never lives up to and a clear eyed definition of what police power is.
Rich Burchett’s more realistic style is also welcomed for this kind of story, capturing its slower, more pensive nature and the colors & lettering reflect that too. There’s an old-school feel to “Batman” #587 as opposed to the then-contemporary feel of McDaniel’s art on the previous issues.
Speaking of those previous issues, they’re doing what this era of “Batman” and DC does best: episodic stories that are related to but not necessarily directly following the last one. “Batman” #585 is about Batman ending his side of the feud with The Penguin over the death of Jeremy but is about an entirely new problem with The Penguin. Brubaker parallels Jeremy’s tale here with Batman saving and helping out someone who got in too deep with the Penguin thanks to his gambling.
The best parts of this issue are when we get to see Bruce Wayne playing the fool in court against The Penguin. It’s so petty and silly but it’s the kind of thing I love from a “Batman” comic. For a long time in the New 52 and beyond, we didn’t get much Bruce Wayne, or at least not much Bruce interacting with a non-superhero world. Seeing him ham up the billionaire playboy routine to deflect his motives for buying up Cobblepot’s building is fun and breaks up the monotony of punchy punchy kicky superheroics.
The same is true of issue #586, though we don’t get so much Bruce there since it’s entirely a daydream by the Penguin! I should’ve figured it out when McDaniel used the same visual aid from “Batman” #578 to indicate an alternate state of reality. I wondered why there were all those swirls and just didn’t put it together. I love the team just running with the concept and making it totally believable that what the Penguin was saying was true while adding in clear hints he’s talking out of his cloaca.
Continued belowI only got it when we saw Bruce alive after the Penguin killed Batman. What a great indicator that it’s not real that only the audience could pinpoint.
I think McDaniel’s art really takes a step up in these issues. There’s a greater kineticism to the action and a stronger sense of cohesion between panels and pages. His style is sometimes at odds with the tone during the quieter moments and sometimes not but on the whole, I think he and Brubaker work well together. Tewes & Costanza continue to do their thing and do it well, though I wish Tewes would go full single or dual color like Wildstorm FX was doing for Sean Martinborough’s work in “Detective Comics.”
That said, the whole scene where Penguin “kills” Batman is a prime example of everything coming together and the styles working perfectly. It’s the right level of dramatic and overdramatic. I love Costanza’s little hand pointing to a shadowy penguin. I love the silly jutting chin on the Batman skull. I love how the Bat-family’s suits stand out against the more muted yellows and blues of the rest of the comic.
Despite the sudden interruption of ‘Officer Down,’ these issues are a great second step for this new run. I just hope we don’t get stuck with The Penguin the entire time.
