Batman #1 Review

Batman #1

Scott Snyder’s run on Detective Comics hit all the right marks. He was using a still relatively new Dick Grayson as Batman and, more than any other writer except for Grant Morrison, really went out of his way to show that this was Dick’s book. The city and characters began to change fittingly and I was sure that this would be the Dick Grayson we’d all be talking about, the Scott Snyder Batman a la the John Byrne Superman.

Although Dick is back in his Nightwing costume I think we can still see all the hallmarks of Snyder’s previous Batman run. Within the first 8 pages we are immediately introduced (in a very clever way) to all three Robins and Alfred (Red Robin was very integral in Snyder’s Detective run) and throughout we see all the familiar faces including Gordon, Vickie Vale and Harvey Bullock. This is all in stark contrast to Tony Daniel’s new Detective Comics run which seems to only be featuring Batman, Gordon and Alfred.

The story moves, quickly. We start with a riot in Arkham, which is far more fun than any other Arkham riot I can think of, quickly shooting to a Bruce Wayne news conference with lots of future hints dropped on the floor about what Batman is planning along with an introduction to a future villain/ally/red herring that works very well to put this new guy in the thick of the plot in 1 page flat. In the final few pages we’re treated to a very well written back and forth between Batman and Harvey Bullock before a bomb explodes (figuratively) in the form of a cliffhanger you’ve got to come back for.

Snyder has a real knack for telling these stories; lots of characters, each with their own side plots and motivations, coming together in the middle to get to the end. Bruce Wayne’s appearance is noteworthy only because there have been a lot of Batman comics in the past few years that obviously tried to stay ambiguous as to who was under the cowl. This led to a cardboard Batman never leaving his cave and having exhausting never ending fights to fill space. Snyder has a firm grasp on the strengths and weaknesses of the Bruce Wayne character and why Batman needs to adopt this mask (heh) from time to time. He is juggling a lot of balls with just issue 1, but to say I’m not excited would be a boldface lie.

The art is beautiful. I remember seeing the first teaser of the cover and having some apprehension to the possibility of an Image guy drawing Batman. The splashes are kept to a minimum (but they look so damn good) and there is a lot of really inspired movement. Early on a character is undercover and they are placed in the background delivering a devastating 360 mule kick while Batman strikes a super-scary “punch several guys at once” pose. Movement, expression, and subtle hints in the background make this well worth reading over, especially as the momentum begins to build in the coming weeks. There was one moment where a new character is introduced and given the context, and tell me if I’m crazy, its hard not to think this character is Clark Kent (in his reporter fashion), and I think something could have been done to denote that this is a brand new character.

If I were to complain it would be petty; Damian is shuttled away as soon as he arrives, Gordon’s biggest moment is getting a phone call to move the plot, etc. but in 20 pages Snyder writes what would take any normal writer double the space to tell. This is not a man that throws away pages in exchange for pretty splash shots of costumes on rooftops (it should be noted, NO ROOFTOPS!) and when I’m paying $2.99 plus tax for 20 pages it is much appreciated.

Final Score: 5/5