Batman #24 Review

As Batman arrives on the scene, the Red Hood Gang finalize their plans for taking out Gotham.


Scott Snyder knocks it out the park yet again, teasing a hundred things and still managing to tell a great story based on all too familiar elements of the Bat mythos.

A few characters make cameos here, and there are hints of them having bigger roles in the coming months. The storyline gets the beats down. There is tension, awe and relief at the appropriate moments. And the art gives a great noir feel to Gotham (thank you, Greg Capullo), which is very true to the city.

As usual, Synder's writing is taut and to the point, only straying when it needs to. He is also able to create separate great moments for Bruce and Batman, which is admirable.

The only problem was that there was a change in art style near the end of the book (I think to symbolize the end of Secret City arc and the beginning of Dark City arc), which was a little jarring..

Otherwise, it was a great addition to the Zero Year storyline.

SPOILERS follow...................

First of all, the homages! Each done well and never out of place. From the Batman-with-felon pose which recreated his first ever appearance to the A.C.E Chemicals being the location for the climax, all felt like the godly mixture of fanboy and great writer.

But more than Batman, we got the Bruce Wayne without mask moments which were golden. His speech outing the Red Hood Gang's plans (and thereby letting his return to Gotham getting revealed to the public) was a nice close to an arc which began with him renouncing the Bruce Wayne persona.

 
We also got a few nice familiar name drops like Loeb and Ramirez, but the Gordon-Batman first meeting moments (which closely mirrored a similar moment in the Arkham Origins trailer) was well done. Gordon was critical of Batman and willing to put him down, but ultimately decided to stop the Gang instead. I will be looking forward to seeing their relationship develop in Dark City. Though I am sad to see Philip Kane die at the hands of Red Hood One. The nephew-uncle relationship could have been enlarged but that may have been a little problematic on the Alfred-Bruce dynamic.

Yes, I'm going to talk about Red Hood One now. I've been loving the great blend of the BTAS Joker (who was a gangster) and the Killing Joke Joker (who was all about bad days), and he continued to delight me with his madness. Off course, I still don't like that we get an 'origin' story for him, through it is never revealed who he was before Red Hood One, so there is some ambiguity to his identity.

Also, Alfred's rationale for people never connecting Batman to Bruce Wayne (despite the obvious similarities) was well done. Again, this resonated with Ra's line in the Batman Begins. The legend before the man.

Finally, the art change happens and we get the start of Dark City as the Riddler takes over Gotham's electricity and comms. Appropriately with a riddle.

Snyder seems to love writing the Riddler (and seems to have a good grasp of what makes him a great foil to Batman),so I look forward to the next arc.

There were homages from previous films and storylines and eagle-eyed readers (and fans of those films and stories) will be able to get them.

Combining nostalgia and great writing, Snyder weaves a great tale with the help of Capullo's pencils. Must buy for anyone who loves good comics and especially Batman.

So, I give it 9.5 out of 10.

+The writing is top notch and combines the best of yesteryear and today.
+Bruce Wayne gets some great moments
+The art is brilliantly done and appropriately gives it a noir feeling
+The Easter eggs from Batman's long history are placed at perfect moments

-The art style change near the end is a little jarring