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COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews Batman #32

June 29th, 2014 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Written by Scott Snyder

Art by Greg Capullo

Colors by FCO Plascencia

It has been a long, entertaining year of the Snyder/Capullo dubbed “Zero Year” and we’re finally on the threshold of the arc’s thrilling conclusion.  Bruce, Gordon, and Lucius have shown their hand in one last desperate attempt to stop Edward Nygma, aka The Riddler, and take back their city that’s on the brink of ruin.

Scott Snyder has been one of, if not the best writer in comics over the last couple of years. All he’s doing with this arc is cementing that fact. I would read a ZY ongoing, but I can’t wait to see how Bruce is going to think his way out of this. The Riddler is a villain that’s easily portrayed in an extremely campy way, but Snyder is writing my favorite adaptation I’ve ever read of the character. I love seeing him as not only the intellectual equal to Bruce, but many times his superior. It will make the conclusion of this story that much better when we see Bruce finally come out on top after losing so many times. One thing in particular I absolutely loved about this issue was the emotional punch it packed in Bruce’s monologue to Alfred. There were moments in Nolan’s Batman trilogy that showed us the exact moment Bruce became Batman, and that heartfelt, emotional speech was the defining moment of Snyder and Capullo’s run on the character.

Greg Capullo just gets the way Batman should be drawn. From the epic battle scenes, to the quiet, emotional moments Capullo just hits it out of the park. I don’t think it’s all to do with his skill as an artist either, of course he has out of this world talent, but his work on this series is definitely a work born out of love for a character and love for what he does. It’s very rare that the colors of a book compliment the tone of the story as well as they do in Batman, but Plascencia has been the silent hero of this series and his work makes every panel of Capullo’s work literally jump off of the page.

What we’re witnessing out of this creative team is something that only comes along once or twice a generation in comics. The early days had Lee and Kirby, and then we were blessed with writers like Claremont and artists like Byrne…this generation has Snyder and Capullo. Zero Year is nearing in its conclusion, but in this case, the end is just the beginning and I can’t wait to see how it all began.

5 out of 5 nerds

I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.