COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Batman #28

Writer: Scott Snyder & James Tynion

 

Artist: Dustin Nguyen

A brief interlude to the Zero Year story – and one many Bat-fans have been chomping at the bit to read. Here, we are presented with a brief glimpse into what the future of Gotham holds. And it…doesn’t look too pretty.

For a world that none of us really know the details about yet, Snyder and Tynion do a great job in keeping the reader in the know. Or at least, making sure no one’s confused without reason. Really enjoyed Harper’s introduction as Bluebird (and am ridiculously relieved she didn’t take over as a Robin or a new Nightwing) and her interactions with Batman. Boy, oh boy, were her gadgets pretty. And that uniform? Girl, you know how to work it!

I really dug the mystery of the whole foreshadowing story. How did Selina suddenly become a major bad guy, as opposed to anti-hero/love interest? Harper made mention of Batman’s ‘sidekicks.’ Who was she talking about? Tim? Jason? Dick? And who was at the computer? The one panel looked like a female figure, but then the next panel of the person’s hand looked awfully masculine. At first, I thought it was Selina, until she obviously showed up a few pages later. That’s the one bad thing about comics – you don’t hear characters speak, can only read it. I have theories – both female and male – but they’re both ridiculously far-fetched and next to impossible, so I’ll keep them to myself…for now.

As for the BIG RETURN going on in this issue, it was interesting. Since she didn’t speak, I was much more focused in how she looked. It seems to be almost a hybrid of the old-DCU Spoiler and Stephanie Brown’s costume as the former Batgirl, which I find to be pretty awesome. I can’t be the only one pretty pumped to see a Harper Row-Stephanie Brown rumble/team-up (depending on what Spoiler is in the New52) can I?

As a fan of Dustin Nguyen for a while, I was probably most excited to see his stuff in this issue. With his most recent stuff being the completely-different style of Li’l Gotham, I was still completely blown away by his skill. I loved his stoicism of Batman, and the style of Bluebird’s uniform. Even Selina, whom I didn’t quite recognize at first, was absolutely beautiful. My only complaint really was Harper, as herself, was completely different from panel to panel, looking like a small child in some to an adult in others; that and her hair, which was all over the place, literally, was a bit jarring. Luckily we didn’t have to wait that long until she became Bluebird, so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

This was the break from Zero Year that we all needed, but now I’m antsy for Batman Eternal to start! Is it April yet??

5 out of 5 nerds