Last month I gave a tentatively positive review to that issue’s cliffhanger ending, with the caveat that it would need to rely on this issue to follow through. Well, suffice to say it failed to follow through. Rather than an exhilarating action sequence showing how Batman and Catwoman’s combined tactical and martial prowess allow them to overcome a seemingly impossible challenge, it ends up as nothing more than a series of cheap and anticlimactic cop-outs. What could have been a fun diversion from the main event is rendered an all but pointless waste of time.
The first big obstacle that threatened our heroes at the end of last issue was that the mercenary Gunsmith was pointing a machine gun directly at them. There’s an inherent challenge with handling firearms for a hero like Batman. Dodging bullets is pretty much impossible, yet he needs to face off against gunmen almost every other day. To pull of this narrative sleight of hand, a writer and artist need to work together to use things like positioning, visibility, and framing to make it just believable enough that a man with his skill could avoid ever being critically hit. That doesn’t happen here. Both Batman and Selina just run across the battlefield while Gunsmith misses every shot shouting “why won’t you stay still”. It makes him into a complete non-entity and kills almost all tension.
Speaking of visuals, a lot the art throughout this issue is rough. The pencils suffer from at times not enough detail and at others details in all the wrong places. It creates a sense of being rushed, and borders on sloppy. Faces are misshapen, anatomy is all over the place, and ultimately it’s just unpleasant to look at.
The anticlimax found from Gunsmith carries over to the rest of the villains as well. Whether it’s defeating Deadeye by telling him that they’re in his family’s crypt, thereby emotionally crippling him to the point of failure, or getting Bizarro to punch the forcefield which causes enough feedback to disable it for some reason, it all just feels like nothing. People are only as strong as they need to be in a given moment, and then when that moment passes they might as well give up. No one is invested, so why should the reader be?
If there’s meant to be any emotional core of the story, it’s the supposed chemistry between “Bat” and “Cat”. As has been the case for about half a decade now, that falls entirely flat. They go on and on about how they’d die for each other but also at the same time can never be together. It gets tiring. Part of what made their pairing interesting in the first place was the star-crossed lovers angle due to being on opposite sides of the law, but this is not that. It feels like Selina’s become a character they trot out every now and then to make Bruce sad that their wedding didn’t work out, then back in the stable she goes. There’s no playfulness, no excitement, just a reminder of bad stories again and again.
Score: 3/10
Backup: Emotionally Compromised
Wow, if there were complaints about the artwork in the main story, then the jump in quality here almost give someone whiplash. Mattia De Iulis’ gorgeously painted colors on top of his detailed linework brings every panel fully to life. Comparable to legends like Alex Ross, the imagery fills the story with emotion and action despite a relatively simple plot lasting only a few pages.
As for what that plot is, it’s mostly just an epilogue to the first arc of Kelly Thompson’s run on Birds of Prey. It highlights the lingering tension between the Birds and the Amazons after the events of their adventure on Themyscira. There’s a sort of bittersweet understanding between them in that both sides know that the other only did what they felt they had to, but that doesn’t erase the lines they had to cross in the process. It’s the sort of conflict that lets characters act like real people without manufacturing nonsense drama.
The story contains a number of editor’s blurbs telling you to check out this or that title to understand what’s going on. As is often the case with these sorts of backups, it’s primarily a promotional spot to get you to read more of DC’s comics. For what it’s worth, Thompson’s Birds of Prey is fun and you should check it out. However, you’ll be pretty confused if you just read this on its own.
Score: 7.5/10
Recommended If
- You desperately want to know what happens after the last issue
- Batman and Catwoman’s relationship drama the past few years is something you’ve enjoyed
- You’re a fan of Kelly Thompson’s Birds of Prey and would like to see a bonus chapter from that story
Overall
Batman #152 takes a setup with potential and squanders it entirely. What should have been an action-packed issue filled with excitement is instead just a series of boring non-fights that get brushed aside so that the story can wrap up its tie-in to Absolute Power. The writing is certainly not helped by its slapdash art, which is only slightly made up for by Mattia De Iulis’ beautiful painting in the backup meant to promote Birds of Prey.
Overall score: 4/10
English (US) · 