Batman #32 Review

One last guess.

As Batman and his team try to catch up with the Riddler, they’re about to know just how much out of their depth they are.

This is a very dialogue heavy book, and it’s easy to get lost in the words. But a second and third reading is a must, giving the richness of the words straining to get out.

Capullo’s artwork doesn’t get much of a chance to shine here, but is able to do it’s work when needed.

SPOILERS FOLLOW…………..

In the past, Bruce pays a homeless man to be his butler for a small time.

Meanwhile in the present, Batman manages to reach the top of Wayne Tower and enter the building, while James Gordon and the Seals are able to swim up to the submerged tunnels.

Fox has traced Nygma to a spot in the old Wayne Tower and mentions a number of advantages that spot has. Bruce remains skeptical though as he feels it is too easy.

The Seal Leader asks why the signal blocker is not being used, and Batman replies that one usage is the limit – the current will burn the wires and Riddler will be able to vanish.

Gordon comes across ‘vampires’ – rerouters that bounce remote signals. Batman again airs his suspicions as only one vampire would have sufficed, five is overkill.

As the Seals talk about how they have an airstrike ready to take out the base and mention a code that needs to be entered to activate it, Batman realizes what Riddler has done.

But Batman is cut off and almost killed by the Riddler (though not before Riddler manages to get in another factoid about the Mexican high tailed bat who fly so high, they faint and crash to the ground hard enough to explode!).

Fox is attacked by a Riddler-bot, but Batman manages to reach him in time to destroy it.

Realizing the horrible truth, Batman informs Fox that Nygma intends to use the fake ‘vampires’ to set off an airstrike using the Seals’ activation code. This will result in the entire tunnel system getting destroyed and sinking the entire city,

Batman analyzes the map again, looking for a pattern.

And he finds one that Lucius can’t see.

Rushing though the city, Bruce records a voice mail that shows how much Batman has evolved over time – he began as a coping mechanism for a child, became an act of vengeance for the helpless and now he sees it as a symbol of new beginning for both a lost boy and a lost city.

A symbol of good.

Arriving at the place, he finds the statue of a Spinx awaiting him – and the Riddler.

It turns out it was a simple problem. The Bounce pattern, like a coil, pointed to the location but was hidden by the improbability of setting up a base so far from the city.

Batman attempts to force Nygma to stop the airstrike but is caught in another trap.

SPOILERS END……………….

It’s been a nice growth for the character of Batman, though the reinvention of the Riddler takes the cake.

Nygma has come across as someone truly intelligent and menacing. And the love Snyder has for each character, even side ones like Lucius Fox, shine though in his dialogues.

It’s a little dialogue heavy as I said, but that makes reading it multiple times that much enriching.

So, I give it 9.0 out of 10.

+The character work

+Some excellent dialogue

+Excellent for multiple readings

+Riddler comes across as truly menacing

-The artwork is stifled

-May put off those who look for a more balanced dialogue-artwork ratio