Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairn, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: May 22, 2019
Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net
This is Part 4 of "Medieval", and in this issue, we get the origin of the Arkham Knight, AKA Astrid Arkham. It's a little strange and it has me questioning the age of Harley Quinn and a few other villains.
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Astrid's father, begins telling the tale of her life to Batman and Robin. He met her mother Ingrid when she was hired at the asylum as a physician. They fell in love, blah blah blah, got married, blah blah blah, and he knocked her up.
Whelp, there was a riot in the asylum one day and Ingrid, separated from Jeremiah, went into labor while stuck with all the loonies. Astrid was delivered by the Joker, assisted by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, while Solomon Grundy and Clayface protected them from the rioters. I can see the other villains here being in Arkham twenty years ago but for some reason, Harley looks out of place. How old is she and how long was she crazy before this?
At this point, Batman had shown up and a new prisoner picked up one of his Batarangs and threw it right at Ingrid's neck, killing her. Grundy ripped the dude's head off and the delivery team went back to their cells without a fight.
Astrid grew up in Arkham around its patients. The Joker would read to her from his cell. "Arkham is like my castle, you know, Uncle Joker.", "So you want to be the princess, hmm?", "No, silly, I want to be a knight. I want to protect the castle and the kingdom.", "That's because you're the bravest of them all, Astrid."
Every now and again Batman would show up being all broody and mean and abuse to them. Oh, and also, we find out that Jeremiah never told her that it wasn't Batman who killed her mother because he didn't want her to blame himself for her. So she trained as she grew up, even using Batman dummies to kick and slice.
Back to now, Batman and Robin figure out that she and the Knights of the Sun have gone to the observatory to make it their new base of operations. Here we see that Astrid is a little bonkers herself because she's imagining the observatory as a shiny castle. We find out why some of the Knights have white eyes and it's because they sacrificed their site making the Day Bombs, and just before they can set it off Batman and Robin soar in on gliders.
Bits and Pieces
On the first read, I was like "really? that's stupid!" with the delivery scene, but on the second read I liked it, and now on the third read I thought it was pretty cool. The Joker reading to her was touching and how she thought of the inmates as her family makes complete sense. Overall the issue is good, I enjoyed it, and can't wait to see where it goes next.
Dr. Jeremiah Arkham, Astrid's father, begins telling the tale of her life to Batman and Robin. He met her mother Ingrid when she was hired at the asylum as a physician. They fell in love, blah blah blah, got married, blah blah blah, and he knocked her up.
Whelp, there was a riot in the asylum one day and Ingrid, separated from Jeremiah, went into labor while stuck with all the loonies. Astrid was delivered by the Joker, assisted by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, while Solomon Grundy and Clayface protected them from the rioters. I can see the other villains here being in Arkham twenty years ago but for some reason, Harley looks out of place. How old is she and how long was she crazy before this?
At this point, Batman had shown up and a new prisoner picked up one of his Batarangs and threw it right at Ingrid's neck, killing her. Grundy ripped the dude's head off and the delivery team went back to their cells without a fight.
Astrid grew up in Arkham around its patients. The Joker would read to her from his cell. "Arkham is like my castle, you know, Uncle Joker.", "So you want to be the princess, hmm?", "No, silly, I want to be a knight. I want to protect the castle and the kingdom.", "That's because you're the bravest of them all, Astrid."
Every now and again Batman would show up being all broody and mean and abuse to them. Oh, and also, we find out that Jeremiah never told her that it wasn't Batman who killed her mother because he didn't want her to blame himself for her. So she trained as she grew up, even using Batman dummies to kick and slice.
Back to now, Batman and Robin figure out that she and the Knights of the Sun have gone to the observatory to make it their new base of operations. Here we see that Astrid is a little bonkers herself because she's imagining the observatory as a shiny castle. We find out why some of the Knights have white eyes and it's because they sacrificed their site making the Day Bombs, and just before they can set it off Batman and Robin soar in on gliders.
Bits and Pieces
On the first read, I was like "really? that's stupid!" with the delivery scene, but on the second read I liked it, and now on the third read I thought it was pretty cool. The Joker reading to her was touching and how she thought of the inmates as her family makes complete sense. Overall the issue is good, I enjoyed it, and can't wait to see where it goes next.
7/10
How stupid is this? Batman isnt active For 15- 20 years in New52/ Rebirth. I don’t even need Harley to point out how retarded this is. The other inmates also aren’t that old. They are just like Batman in their 30ies/ early 40ies. This story gets dumber with every issue.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is pretty stupid but it grew on me. I should have given it a lower rating, but I was diggin’ it when I was writing the review. Also, I think of Batman as in his 40’s now just by the ages of the Robins.
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