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| BATMAN No. 2, December 2011 |
One of the major differences between publishing rivals
“DC Comics” and “Marvel Worldwide” is that the former ‘houses’ the majority of
its super-heroes within fictitious cities predominantly situated along the
eastern coast of the American continent. Some of these urban settlements, such
as Stargirl’s Blue Valley are arguably locations known only to avid comic
collectors. Whilst others, such as Smallville and Metropolis are places which
are far more widely recognizable to the general public. Gotham City is probably
the most famous of all though, a notoriety due entirely to the media explosion
surrounding the character of Batman in both film, literature and comic books
over the past few decades.
What makes all of these fantasy towns, conurbations
and megalopolis’ believable however is the sheer attention to detail the
writers of “DC Comics” put into making such places appear real liveable
habitats… and Issue Two of “Batman” is a very good example of this, as Scott
Snyder weaves a compelling story around Gotham City’s original Wayne Tower;
both providing the barbican with a rich architectural history, whilst making it
a relevant and a crucial venue within which most of the story’s action takes
place.
And pulse-pounding conflict must certainly have been at the forefront of
the American writer’s mind when he penned “Trust Fall”. For rarely during its
twenty pages does the comic deviate from focussing the reader’s full attention
upon the exploits of the Caped Crusader. Whether that be as the cowled
crime-fighter himself, smashing his way into the cockpit of a helicopter full
of armed robbers or as Billionaire Bruce Wayne, exchanging a flurry of
blows with a masked assassin whilst wearing his best suit, this book is all
about The Bat.
Indeed, even when the pace of the storytelling does momentarily
pause mid-way through and concentrates upon the corpse of “a genuine mystery man”,
all eyes are still upon the World’s Greatest Detective as he conducts an
autopsy ‘alongside’ Commissioner Gordon. Admittedly Snyder’s introduction of a
virtual photogrammetric scanner in Gotham City’s Morgue is arguably a step too
far into the realms of fictional technology, and disappointingly brings an end to the
grim traditional charm of the vigilante skulking behind the policeman in the shadows. But such a minor quibble is easily forgotten and forgiven once the Court
of Owls takes centre stage and the industrial tycoon finds himself fighting for
his life at the very top of Alan Wayne’s Tower.
Fortunately artist Greg Capullo
is more than up to the task of illustrating such an energetic series of events,
especially giving the fist-fights the sort of raw gusto which is almost palpable.
Even when Batman isn’t placing a well-aimed kick towards his opponent’s solar
plexus, the former “Spawn” penciller captures all of the super-hero’s menace
with some simply wonderful renderings of the Dark Knight’s narrowing eye-slits. Somehow bestowing a plethora of expressions to the figure through such subtle
touches. Indeed it is genuinely hard to fathom why, with such a high quality
issue, that sales for the title dropped by 16,000 copies upon its publication
in October 2011.
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| The variant cover art of "BATMAN" No. 2 by Jim Lee |
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