Batman: Urban Legends #17 [Part Two] - DC Comics

BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS No. 17, September 2022

On plain paper a battle between this anthology’s titular character and Theo Ramses Djoser Teth-Adam would appear to be a rather short, infinitely one-sided affair, with Otto Binder's dauntingly super-powered co-creation winning the tussle within a matter of mere moments. However, such a disconcertingly brief conclusion doesn’t take into account the Justice Leaguer’s ability to out-think his opponent, and Alex Paknadel’s script for “Statecraft” arguably does a first-class job of depicting just that; “Hawkman was right -- Kings are one thing, but the people of Kahndaq have had their fill of butchers. Killing me would make him look weak, so he’ll try to get inside my head.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean for a second that the English author falls into the trap of having Bruce Wayne unconvincingly defeat “Shazadam” through uncharacteristic magic use or manipulative mind games. Quite the opposite in fact, as an overly confident Dark Knight is proficiently pencilled by Amancay Nahuelpan still having to fight for his very life against the formidable villain’s ‘human’ alter-ego, following the Caped Crusader’s realisation that Black Adam is actually a master of the immortal martial arts discipline Dhritishastra.

Rounding off this comic’s quartet of adventures is Dan Watters’ short story “On His Worst Nights”, which dips its toe into the murky waters of Batman’s frustration-fuelled hatred for the Riddler and the criminal’s canny conundrums. Intriguingly penned to surprisingly show just how many steps ahead of his arch-nemesis Edward Nygma can occasionally be, courtesy of the green-costumed cad actually narrating the plot, admirers of the World’s Greatest Detective should still enjoy this depiction of the costumed crime-fighter’s remorseless groundwork to ascertain just how his fiendish foe managed to escape custody once again.

In addition, Riley Rossmo provides some excellent layouts which genuinely go a long way to help sell the Dark Knight’s mounting anger as his enquiries with the likes of the Penguin and Catwoman prove fruitless. The vigilante’s attack upon Oswald Cobblepot in the Iceberg Lounge is particularly pulse-pounding. Although, it is probably the Canadian creator’s panel showing a raging Batman shouting up into the night sky upon discovering his puzzle-obsessed prey has already ‘flown the coop’ that is the artistic highlight of this particular parable.

The regular cover art of "BATMAN: URBAN LEGENDS" #17 by Jim Cheung & Jay David Ramos