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Legends of the Dark Knight: The Butler Did It Review

By Dan Horn
June 7, 2012 - 12:19

I'm not sure what I was expecting with the debut of DC's digital reboot of the Legends of the Dark Knight series: perhaps a full-length story; perhaps professionally rendered artwork. Instead "The Butler Did It" is a short anecdote of an impetuous, young Bruce Wayne told with Damon Lindelof's serviceable narrative voice and the strange, amateurish artwork of Jeff Lemire. It's a dynamic that works, though Lemire's weaknesses in illustrating show through more than once in the book's twenty half-page duration. There are some ugly, awkward panels on display here, but a brilliant crime noir atmosphere somewhat smooths things out.

When Batman is lured into an alleyway ambush, he recalls a conversation he had, while drunk, with his loyal butler, Alfred Pennyworth, and a bet that he'd foolishly made. While the brief story adds an interesting depth to the mythos of the young Batman (the story takes place only six months after Batman's emergence in Gotham City), I still felt as though this issue in particular was hardly worth the 99 cents that were spent on it. The brevity and the lack of production value make "The Butler Did It" an interesting reverie on humility and the process of maturation and will make it an excellent addition to an anthology collection some day, but it is not anything that warrants further attention or a longer review for that matter in its current publication state.

Rating: 6 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12