Forever Evil: Arkham War #5 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Peter J. Tomasi

Art By: Scot Eaton

Cover Price: $2.99

Release Date: February 5, 2014

Getting Ready For A Fight, No Montage Needed

Continuing the consistency of my lateness on this title........Here's Arkham War #5.......late.  Okay last issue that being #4, Bane teamed up with the Talon William Cobb (Nightwing's grandfather) to take control of of the Talons Scarecrow has seized.  But in the end we see they weren't quick enough.  Scarecrow using his fear toxin, and Madhatter's mind control devices, sets the Talons loose to end the war between Bane and the Arkhamites.  So we'll dive right in, and see how our Batman/Bane fairs.

Explain It!:

So the battle is on between Bane's soldiers, and the Talons.  The fight is pretty one sided, you know because of the Talons killing everyone and all.  But Bane seems to be having the time of his life.  He's in the ultimate battle, and he plans on coming out on top.  But brute force, and a badass gigantic batsuit won't win the fight by themselves.  It's time to lead the Talons to a trap.  We get a really cool homage to The Dark Knight Returns when William Cobb shows up with horses to provide the transportation.  Bane leads the Talons down a dead end alley, and once they're all in position, William Cobb springs the trap from above.  It's kind of like a Ewok trap, but this one's effect is more of a close line....... With a helicopter blade.  So all the Talons are down, and with the regeneration they'll need from this attack, it should make the mind control, and fear toxin wear off.

Since the Talons never returned, Scarecrow comes to the conclusion that his war ending scheme has failed.  But don't count the Scarecrow out just yet.  A couple issues ago, when Bane tried to stop the Arkhamites from taking the Talons in the first place, Scarecrow got a sample of Bane's blood.  Through the use of Weird Science, he was able to extract, and produce his own venom.  Scarecrow calls together all his Arkham allies, and suggests using the venom to retaliate against Bane, and to finally win Gotham.  Of course nobody is down, with taking a mind altering, addictive compound like venom, to simply put Bane down.  But that doesn't matter, because Scarecrow foresaw this reaction, and had a aerosol version of venom pumping in the vents.  In the end all the Arkham alumni berserker out, and go out to battle.  Join me for issue #6, when I finally get around to it.  Talk to you then.

Bits and Pieces:

While the issue is chock full of action, and fighting, it does little to maintain the story.  All the build up to the Talons, and a big war is quelled in a couple of pages.  Then it's on to the next big plan.  I was just left wanting more, and hope to get it in the next issue.  If you've been reading the series, then you'll obviously want to get this issue as well, just don't expect to get blown away.

6/10