Written by: Tom King
Art by: David Finch, Danny Miki
Publisher: DC Comics.
Twenty issues in… the first arc of Batman comes to a close in a dramatic fashion!
Yes you read that correctly, this has all been one arc. It has been a while that an arc lasted this long in any comic book series. This truly reads like a season of a TV series and it is amazing!
What King has managed to do here is something that a lot of books can’t.
King bringing all the small threads together is incredibly impressive. The book has been a cat and mouse chase between Batman and Bane since issue nine, and from that moment on it was clear what each would sacrifice to defeat the other. It’s not even that that was so amazing, but it actually established Bane as the antithesis to Batman. This issue can be a bit too talky for it’s own good at times, but the interactions are what make the book as interesting as it is.
There’s a fantastic few pages toward the end of the book that define these characters. It was a pure joy to read, and now that this arc is over we have full canvas to play in. After a ton of set up, it’s time to see what King can do with those characters!
Finch takes the reigns on this issue again. His hyper-dynamic style in this issue is superb and each punch, kick and crack hurts as you read it. There are panels where the eyes play an integral part of the story, and those parts were executed very well. What helped this crazy fist fight between Bane and Batman was the setting – the entire fight is set in one room that at times looked too small for either one of them. It’s a shame that Finch or King didn’t use the environment a bit more, but overall the art was pretty stellar.
Batman is now seemingly going to join the larger Rebirth mystery that was lingering throughout many books, and it should be very interesting to see how he is incorporated into the larger story. What this issue has done as well as the entire Rebirth story for Batman is put this character in the echelon of must buy titles.
There’s not much else to say about how good this book – and this arc – was. It was talky at points, but villains always talk too much before the confrontation. What worked here is that Batman was playing off it perfectly and there was no wasted momentum. Bane did not stop to give a grandiose speech – he told the story as he was causing chaos. So if you are a fan of Batman, do yourself a favor and pick this series up.
