By: Scott Snyder (writer), Jock (art), David Baron (colors), Sal Cipriano (letters), Katie Kubert (assistant editor), Janelle Asselin (associate editor) & Mike Marts (editor)
The Story: Batman fights a killer whale and the true nature of Jim Gordon, Jr. is revealed.
What’s Good: [Spoiler warning] Something that I noted in my advance review of American Vampire #16 earlier this week is how well Scott Snyder pays off his mysteries. That isn’t to say he doesn’t tease the reader, because Snyder has been slowing building this tension around the character of Jim Gordon, Jr. since last fall. This character really hasn’t appeared in Batman comics since the Year One storyline way back in 1987. Jim, Jr. was (then) Lt. Gordon’s infant son who Batman saves during the climactic scene of that classic story. But, since he has returned, there has been a slight implication that a blow to the head during that rescue may have seriously screwed up Jim, Jr.– to the extent that he might be a serial killer. Along the way, Snyder has just twisted the knife and told us several fabulous and creepy stories that have left it clear as mud whether Jim, Jr. is a psychopath, or just kinda weird.
Of course, this touches on one of the classic Batman tropes: What is Batman’s responsibility for the evil in Gotham? Usually that comes from the standpoint of Batman’s refusal to kill Joker and thus being (kinda) responsible for the Joker’s future victims. Sometimes it is implied that the villains are only hanging around Gotham because Batman is there. But this Snyder story is tugging on that same trope from a different angle: What if some of the “innocents” that Batman saves go on to do bad things? And if Batman can’t even save infants without worrying about them coming back as serial killers, how will he ever “win”?
Usually I hate it when writers try to tackle these larger questions about any superhero because it almost always misses the mark and just comes off as preachy and some sort of nerd justification that superhero comics are “about something bigger”. But Snyder is really nailing it here. Bravo.
I don’t want to spoil the outcome of whether Jim, Jr. is evil or not, but there is NO doubt remaining after the final page.
The Jock/Baron team again turns in a really strong issue. We all know that Jock is a really talented artist who can pull off all kinds of non-traditional panel layouts, tilted horizons, etc. The storytelling is pretty top notch too and isn’t sacrificed by the desire to have cool layouts. But, Baron’s colors steal the show. Think about the challenge for an artist to draw something that is underwater. That is really hard for an artist without doing something like drawing a couple of fish in the background. That would be effective, but not very hip. So, Jock doesn’t even really try to convey “underwater,” he just kicks that job to Baron who adds these wonderful greenish hues that really sell the scene.
What’s Not So Good: This isn’t a substantial criticism, but the main story of Batman fighting on the submarine with this Tiger Shark character is kinda dwarfed by the Jim, Jr. story. That isn’t to say that the Tiger Shark story is mediocre because it is really top-notch detective-Batman fare, but you will walk away from this comic not caring about that storyline at all and only wanting to see more Jim, Jr.
The only artistic bugaboo is that the sequence of events gets a little choppy during the fight on the submarine (p. 8). Given that this creative team can really nail the sequential panels where the action flows (p. 6) and you can not only track the action, but the panels almost have a silent pacing to them, it’s a little frustrating when I can’t figure out how characters moved from one panel to the next. I know that’s being picky, but this creative team spoils us and now I expect perfection every time.
Conclusion: Another really strong issue of creepy, Batman detective action. Wait until you see the final page! I honestly didn’t know they could get away with that in a mainstream DCU title.
Grade: A-
-Dean Stell
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