Batman #28 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Batman #28
By Hervé St-Louis
August 8, 2017 - 11:09

DC Comics
Writer(s): Tom King
Penciller(s): Mikel Janín
Inker(s): Mikel Janín
Colourist(s): June Chung
Letterer(s): Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist(s): Mikel Janín; Neal Adams, Hi-Fi
$2.99

There is a stalemate in Joker/Riddler war as Deathstroke and Deadshot are trying to kill one another but just cannot as they are equally matched. How long will it take Batman to contain this mess?

This story is so weird in what it represents. World-class villains just align themselves with either the Joker or the Riddler for no good reason than to wage war on the other side and perhaps get a piece of Batman. This problem is represented quite well where Deathstroke, a master manipulator and strategists just works for the Riddler. I’m thinking money was involved. A lot of it but Tom King doesn’t really mention this so we are left with the possibility to explore the craziest and most intriguing turf war in a decade but without the proper background work done to explain the players’ motivations.

Readers are left with a plot that sounds cool, and that many will hail as one of the best Batman story ever told, except for the fact that annoying reviewers like me will poke at the logical flaws and only in five years, will the mass of critics and readers ever acknowledge that the emperor has no clothes. The premises are great. This story will be collected repeatedly, presented as the new take on Batman post Grant Morrison and Frank Miller. But the problems will be ignored.

Visually, this story deserves to be mentioned with the best about Batman. I’m glad that the regular artist Mikel Janín is back this issue. One aspect of his work that may be ignored is how he draws cityscapes. He’s excellent. Look at his Gotham City. You would want to live there, minus the inconvenience of the Joker and the Riddler’s war.

Rating: 7.5/10