Batman #31 Review and Spoilers

Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Greg Capullo
Cover Price: 3.99
Release Date: May 28, 2014

Lion Around

I have been sitting here thinking about this review and Zero Year in general.  Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo have done a great job telling their own story of the Dark Knight's early years by giving us a mix of new, twisting some old and paying homage to some of the greatest Bat stories of the past.  The problem is that while I love it, I'm growing tired of it.  It used to be the first book I read for the week and now it's falling down the list.  Don't get me wrong, each issue has been great, but I'm just not excited about it anymore.  It just feels plain stale.  Don't worry, it's probably just me and I don't think it's catching.  The sales say different.  Enough about me and my issue...on with the review.

The Riddler has been pissing people off for a while and this issue opens with a covert meeting to end his evil.  Lucius Fox, Jim Gordon and Batman are mad as hell and they're not gonna take it anymore. However, to end it they have to find the Riddler, himself.  They hatch a plan that is as dangerous as it is crazy.

Batman needs to enter the Riddler's contest and "keep him on the line" while Lucius traces the signal.  The problem, though, is he has to keep it going for nineteen minutes.  From what we've seen , these things only last minutes at best.

Scott Snyder also gives us a flashback of young Bruce struggling with an awful teacher.  I'd like to think he doesn't know Bruce's past, but we all know better.  Seriously, yelling at Bruce Wayne to figure out a physics problem involving someone (or even something) being shot with a bullet is a real dick move.

Back in the "present", dirt bike Batman starts playing with the Riddler.  Instead of playing by the rules, Batman gets all Dr. Phil with Nygma and ends up in the pit beneath Gotham.  Game over, right?  Of course not.  With Riddler still watching, Batman has to fight two lions.  Yes, two lions.  It's a pretty awesome scene that's also a great callback.

Batman fights the good fight long enough for Lucius to get the signal and escape the pit.  The book ends with a little bit of vandalism in Bruce's past.  Take that, dick head teacher!

Again, I really liked this issue.  It has dirt bike Batman fighting lions in a death pit.  What more can you ask. Oh yea, it also pushes the story forward to a face-to-face between Batman and the Riddler.  

Greg Capullo's art is outstanding as usual.  What makes it better are the bright colors of this chapter.  We rarely get to see Batman do his thing in such bright, vibrant scenes.  My favorite scene is the full page of Batman going Evel Knieval over some poor Gothamites.  Spectacular.

Bits and Pieces:

Batman #31 continues the great run of Snyder and Capullo.  Zero Year may be going on too long, but each individual issue always brings something great to the table.  This month it's dirt bike Batman vs Lions and the promise he'll soon meet Riddler face-to-face.  Highly Recommended.

8.8/10