Batman: The Dark Knight #23.4
Writer: Ann Nocenti
Artists: Georges Jeanty, Dexter Vines, Michelle Madsen
Cover Artists: Jason Fabok and Nathan Fairbairn
Publisher: DC
To call this issue a train wreck would be an insult to train wrecks. The story was weak from the very beginning. It lacked focus, direction, and involved too much inner dialog. Duela, who shares a name with the old character Duela Dent, is poorly written and as a result is unfitting for an entire issue to be centered on her. Most readers who have no knowledge of the aforementioned Duela Dent, who also called herself Joker’s Daughter, will most likely feel mislead due to the fact that this Duela also shares no actual relation to Joker. In most cases when the story is bad readers can at least appreciate the art, unfortunately the art does not hold up particularly well in this issue either. There are pages and spreads that look good enough, however, at a more in depth analysis the art just doesn’t hold up. Many times throughout the issue the perspective is strangely skewed, and more concerning is the frequent disconnect between the text on the page and the illustration drawn. Whatever DC was attempting to accomplish with this issue, it failed. 1/5
Batman/Superman #3.1 Doomsday
Writer: Greg Pak
Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and Andrew Dalhouse
Cover Artists: Tony Daniel and Sandu Florea
Publisher: DC
As has been the case with most issues that were released during Villains Month, this issue was surprisingly interesting, but almost completely irrelevant. The story, which takes place entirely in the past, focuses more on the Kryptonians, specifically the House of El, than it does Doomsday. Usually that would be a detriment to the story, however, it actually works out quite well for this issue. Doomsday has always been an interesting character because of his history with Superman, the way his powers develop, and especially with the Death of Superman story, which was a major arc for many comic book readers. This issue actually alludes to that story in the form of a bedtime legend. Brett Booth does a fantastic job with the art in this issue. His character work, layouts, and the overall look of the book is absolutely gorgeous. 4/5
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Arnab Pradhan
arnab@comicattack.net
