Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza, Mark Irwin, David Baron, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 25, 2019
Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net
This is the conclusion to the six-part Mythology story arc. Somebody has been targeting the people who made Bruce Wayne into Batman; killing Leslie Thompkins and Henri Ducard, and almost killing Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce's sensei, and the first Mister Miracle Thaddeus Brown. Of have they? With Detective Comics #998 ending with what looked like Batman coming out of the Matrix and being confronted by a kid in a Batman suit, none of this could have happened at all.
The boy is an 8-year-old Bruce Wayne, and he calls their "2.1 programs" a success. Batman doesn't have a clear understanding of what's going on yet, but he does understand that Leslie, Ducard, and the Kirigi Temple students are still alive and were never actually harmed.
Boy Bruce attacks big Bruce and big Bruce refuses to fight back against a kid, but boy Bruce gets older with every punch until he's big enough where big Bruce can justify it. There's a lot of fighting and irrelevant talking. Then they end up outside by his parents' graves and boy Batman is an 8-year-old again. They talk about how three people died in the alley but one of them was reborn (Bruce, of course). There's an open grave with Bruce Wayne's name on the stone, and big Bruce uses a shovel to bury boy Bruce alive. It's a metaphor, obviously.
Bruce wakes up in a tank with a bunch of equipment on, screaming. Alfred and Damien pull him out, and Bruce explains to them that this is a simulation that he does every year on his birthday. It's designed to try and kill him by pushing him psychologically and physically to the limit. Then he leaves and takes Leslie out for dinner.
This arc started off so strong, and I even gave the second issue (Detective Comics #995) a 10 out of 10. Then it got really confusing, taking the weirdness to another level with each issue, but because of that, it was actually refreshing to seemingly be going into completely strange and unexplored territory. I couldn't wait to see where it was leading. But then it goes ahead and ends weakly like this. Oh, it was all a simulation? Lame. Super lame.
Bits and Pieces
The art was good and I love the panel near the end where he's looking at all of his old Batman suits. But I'm giving it an 5 for the effery.
The boy is an 8-year-old Bruce Wayne, and he calls their "2.1 programs" a success. Batman doesn't have a clear understanding of what's going on yet, but he does understand that Leslie, Ducard, and the Kirigi Temple students are still alive and were never actually harmed.
Boy Bruce attacks big Bruce and big Bruce refuses to fight back against a kid, but boy Bruce gets older with every punch until he's big enough where big Bruce can justify it. There's a lot of fighting and irrelevant talking. Then they end up outside by his parents' graves and boy Batman is an 8-year-old again. They talk about how three people died in the alley but one of them was reborn (Bruce, of course). There's an open grave with Bruce Wayne's name on the stone, and big Bruce uses a shovel to bury boy Bruce alive. It's a metaphor, obviously.
Bruce wakes up in a tank with a bunch of equipment on, screaming. Alfred and Damien pull him out, and Bruce explains to them that this is a simulation that he does every year on his birthday. It's designed to try and kill him by pushing him psychologically and physically to the limit. Then he leaves and takes Leslie out for dinner.
This arc started off so strong, and I even gave the second issue (Detective Comics #995) a 10 out of 10. Then it got really confusing, taking the weirdness to another level with each issue, but because of that, it was actually refreshing to seemingly be going into completely strange and unexplored territory. I couldn't wait to see where it was leading. But then it goes ahead and ends weakly like this. Oh, it was all a simulation? Lame. Super lame.
Bits and Pieces
The art was good and I love the panel near the end where he's looking at all of his old Batman suits. But I'm giving it an 5 for the effery.
5/10
It was all a dream? Dallas did it better FFS.
ReplyDeleteLol!!! This keeps happening!
DeleteAh Tomasi strikes again . He does this on all books it seems . Here and there you get a good issue but he doesn't know where he is going with it , goes in all directions and ends in muck .
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%! This picks up right from his last Detective run nonsense and I cant keep thinking its editorial messing with him.
Delete