Written by James Tynion IV
Artist: Jeremy Haun
Colorist: John Rausch
Letterer: Travis Lanha
Published by: DC Comics
Like many people, my favorite version of Ra’s al Ghul comes from the scripts of Batman: The Animated Series and Arkham City. Thanks to the success of the Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy, Ra’s has once again been cast into the forefront of the main Bat-rogues. This issue gives us an origin-esque tale of how al Ghul and his League of Assassin’s came into their immense amount of power and how they plan on dealing with the Secret Society coming into their newfound power.
I’ve never read much of Tynion’s stuff, though; I’ve heard good things about his work on Red Hood and the Outlaws. I’m pretty familiar with the origin of Ra’s al Ghul and the premise behind his character and League, so the history lesson felt a bit unnecessary to me. On a much more positive note, once the issue caught up to telling the present day story and not flashing back, I really enjoyed the story…so much so that I’m going to be picking up Red Hood to see where the journey of Ra’s goes.
The art in this issue was good, but not great. Jeremy Haun is by no means a bad artist, but DC has a distinct ‘house style’ of art that better suits some artists more than others. Unfortunately, this is the case here. The art is good, but for some reason I just didn’t feel like it fit the story.
This issue has, if anything, sold me on checking out the Red Hood ongoing just to see how such a prominent figure like Ra’s al Ghul will handle the Forever Evil event. I get the sneaking suspicion that the happenings of the Secret Society’s actions will make some antiheroes out of some of our favorite baddies!
3 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
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.
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