BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL No. 2, June 2009 |
Anyone familiar with the major 1993 Batman story arc “Knightfall”
or ‘Knightsaga’ will appreciate just how terrifying a psychotic Dark Knight can
actually be. For Jean-Paul Valley’s murderously unstable caped crusader is a genuinely scary prospect for not only Gotham City’s criminal Underworld and general public but
for the title’s readership as well.
With “Army Of One” writer Tony S. Daniel
conjures up an equally dangerous and unbalanced incarnation of Batman, this
time sporting a metallic medieval-looking face-guard, hand-grenade belt and an
ammunition ribbon the Punisher would be proud of. None of this bodes well for all the ‘bat-allies’ of The Network as the momentarily mysterious vigilante, swiftly revealed to be
the former Robin, Jason Todd, dispatches first Damian Wayne, his
mentor’s son, and then later Tim Drake; cold-blooded killer indeed.
However any reader thinking that it
was just going to be the once dead now resurrected protegy of Bruce Wayne who
was going to use lethal force without a moment’s thought would be badly
mistaken. This is a violent comic book with the likes of Two-Face, Jane Doe,
Firefly, Adam Bomb, the Black Mask and Victor Zsasz all ending someone’s life in some
gruesome manner, whether it be a simply shooting or explosion, or cutting off
some hapless police officer’s face. Even the Penguin is depicted by Daniel at
his homicidal best, crushing the life out of tiny bird with his gloved hands.
Fortunately not every character is portrayed as some sort of lunatic, as the
American writer provides both a quick glimpse of the ‘nicer side’ to the
anti-heroine Catwoman, and shows just what Batman may have become if Tim Drake
permanently donned the cape and cowl; albeit this is a fleeting look as the
issue ends with a laughing Todd sticking a cruel-looking bat-blade deep in his rival’s chest.
Having penned this enjoyable gore-fest Tony Daniel is also responsible for the
book’s artwork and for most of the issue this is equally as well done as the
writing. As an artist he does seemingly struggle to draw consistently
as his pencilling of an early confrontation between Nightwing, Robin and the
deranged Batman is quite appalling in parts. Yet by the edition’s conclusion
Daniel sketches six successive pages of fantastic fisticuffs between Todd and
Drake, which are wonderfully animated with swirling capes, hefty punches and
spilt blood.
The regular cover art of "BATMAN: BATTLE FOR THE COWL" No. 2 by Tony S. Daniel |
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