Written by: Peter J. TomasiArt by: Ig Guara, Julio Ferreira and Andrew Dalhouse
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: August 7, 2015
Here's Mud in Your Eye
Reading this book is an odd thing for me. When Arkham Asylum came out, I was a huge gamer who ate, drank and slept video games. I wanted to start a review site and host a podcast all about my favorite hobby. When Arkham City was released, I had just started reading the New 52, but my heart was still firmly in the video game camp. Between then and now, I have almost completely given up on video games and am now a full fledged comic enthusiast, reviewer and podcaster. Sure, that may all be due to my craziness (which has received multiple and often conflicting diagnosis), but it still feels strange reading and reviewing a video game tie-in from the other side of the fence. It doesn't hurt one bit that Peter Tomasi is writing a book that is great for fans of both video games and comics. I don't know if I will ever play the Arkham Knight game, but I know I will stick with this book until the end because I am enjoying the hell out of it. It's been consistently great and is the best bang for your buck (or 99 cents) out there today. So, is this issue just another brick in the excellent Arkham Knight wall? Let's find out...
I mentioned last week that I was hoping that Peter Tomasi would give more of an explanation of this Clayface mud monster that attacked Batman in the cliffhanger. I guess I'm going to have to wait a little while longer because we don't get it this week. We do, however, get more of the Batman/Deadshot teamup, but the way Lawton is acting, he wants to cancel this buddy cop movie. Batman is getting drained by the monster and if it wasn't for James Gordon showing up, Batman may have died in a couple of ways.
We then shift over to Nightwing and while he is my favorite character of all-time, I question why he is here so far. He was secretly attacked by the Arkham Knight last issue and it looks like it was just to get his cool ass motorcycle. We also get another tiny hint at who is behind the mask and if I was a betting man (I'm actually way too cheap), we will see his face next week. I know that most of you out there already know his identity, but let me have my fun!
Meanwhile, Batman is still struggling with the monster when Deadshot gives him some space and time for a little sonic boomerang action. Batman escapes, but the real winner here is Gordon who gets on the news punching out Deadshot for the voting public to see. It's a shame because I have really enjoyed Deadshot's quips since he joined up with Batman, but Gordon becoming Mayor is a cool consolation prize if it works out that way. The issue ends with a pissed off Penguin and Harley Quinn watching it all unfold on live television.
This was a peculiar issue. It is the penultimate issue of this arc, but it felt like an ending. We didn't get any explanation of the Mud Monster and even though it was defeated, I still want one. A few other things I want...more and meaningful Nightwing interaction, the identity of the Arkham Knight and somehow allowing Deadshot to stick with Batman for a little more. I think we may get the first two soon, but the last is a stretch. Overall, this was a down issue only because I wanted so much more.
The art on this book has been really good throughout and that's because both Ig Guara and Viktor Bogdanovic both do a great job. This week we get Ig Guara and besides the return of the Jay Leno Harley, everything was great.
Bits and Pieces:
While it may sound like a cop out, a downer issue of Arkham Knight is still better than a really good issue of some other books out there. That being said, not a whole lot happens in this issue including setting up next week's finale. I'm sure Tomasi has something up his sleeve, but this issue doesn't really have me pumped for next week. Granted, I'll be here reading, reviewing and probably loving it, but that's a story for another issue and review. This week was a bit of a letdown.
7.0/10
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