Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artists: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, Nathan Fairbairn, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 12, 2019
Review by Joey Casco of TheWineStalker.net
This is Part 5 of "Medieval" and the conclusion of the arc. The Arkham Knight, AKA Astrid Arkham, is set to make the Gotham observatory her new fortress and set off what seems to be another Day Bomb. But Batman and Robin are flying in on gliders ready to bring the fight to her and the Knights of the Sun.
The knights fire smoke bomb arrows at them, and Batman and Robin end up landing in a dry moat made by Arcane. Batman tells Robin to find Arcane and "pull the plug" while he does "what Arkham doesn't expect..." and he just start ripping and digging through the walls of Arcane's moat. When he gets through he's just met with another moat.
Arkham tells Dr. Phosphorous to delay Batman so he sets fire to Arcane's moat, surrounding Batman in green flames. Meanwhile, Robin has found Arcane and just completely kicks his ass until he's down. I'm not sure how he found him and I don't even care because it was that cool. Somehow Batman fights through the fire and takes down Phosphorous with a snuff polymer that covers his entire body and puts out his fire.
So now it's just Batman and Robin with the observatory ahead of them... until this new Day Bomb is set off. But this one isn't like the last one that just lit up the sky. This one is almost as bright as the sun and starts to blind everybody in the city. Arkham Knight thinks the people of Gotham are singing, while in fact, they're screaming. Because SHE'S CRAZY.
And this is where I think that glass eye look on Batman and Robin that we've seen in this arc comes in to play. It's a detail that you notice because you're supposed to notice it and be drawn to, but only understand in hindsight. The dynamic duo aren't affected by this blinding light because the white eyes on their cowl and mask is optic technology that regulates light and dark. So while Gotham is blinded they're able to fight back against the Arkham Knight and the Knights of the Sun, whose eyes are also protected.
The Arkham Knight and Batman fight in blinding light while they banter about who killed her mother. Batman's optics are compromised but he's still able to win. In a heartwarming moment, Robin tells a blind Batman "I'm here. I've got you." to which Batman responds "Lead the way, boy.". The issue ends with a quiet Gotham as many of its citizens are "temporarily blinded for a few more days", Batman included, and Robin drives his dad around in the Batmobile. There is a good "blind as a bat" joke, by the way.
Oh, and guess where the Arkham Knight ends up being sent to?
Bits and Pieces
The Batman and Robin moments have been great throughout this entire arc and they feel so right, as they do here. And Robin again is the shining star when it comes to taking care of business. I really hope they continue to work together because of this experience. Buuuuut most of a city being "temporarily blinded for just a few more days" seems like the idea of a huge threat was introduced too late and resolved lazily because it had to be concluded quickly. And then Arkham Knight's fate was ridiculously predictable. I rated this arc well because each issue had cool moments that I really needed to see right now, but there’s a lot of problems with the story overall and the closing issue unfortunately exposed that truth. That said, because of the great moments, I'm really looking forward to more Tomasi on Detective.
The knights fire smoke bomb arrows at them, and Batman and Robin end up landing in a dry moat made by Arcane. Batman tells Robin to find Arcane and "pull the plug" while he does "what Arkham doesn't expect..." and he just start ripping and digging through the walls of Arcane's moat. When he gets through he's just met with another moat.
Arkham tells Dr. Phosphorous to delay Batman so he sets fire to Arcane's moat, surrounding Batman in green flames. Meanwhile, Robin has found Arcane and just completely kicks his ass until he's down. I'm not sure how he found him and I don't even care because it was that cool. Somehow Batman fights through the fire and takes down Phosphorous with a snuff polymer that covers his entire body and puts out his fire.
So now it's just Batman and Robin with the observatory ahead of them... until this new Day Bomb is set off. But this one isn't like the last one that just lit up the sky. This one is almost as bright as the sun and starts to blind everybody in the city. Arkham Knight thinks the people of Gotham are singing, while in fact, they're screaming. Because SHE'S CRAZY.
And this is where I think that glass eye look on Batman and Robin that we've seen in this arc comes in to play. It's a detail that you notice because you're supposed to notice it and be drawn to, but only understand in hindsight. The dynamic duo aren't affected by this blinding light because the white eyes on their cowl and mask is optic technology that regulates light and dark. So while Gotham is blinded they're able to fight back against the Arkham Knight and the Knights of the Sun, whose eyes are also protected.
The Arkham Knight and Batman fight in blinding light while they banter about who killed her mother. Batman's optics are compromised but he's still able to win. In a heartwarming moment, Robin tells a blind Batman "I'm here. I've got you." to which Batman responds "Lead the way, boy.". The issue ends with a quiet Gotham as many of its citizens are "temporarily blinded for a few more days", Batman included, and Robin drives his dad around in the Batmobile. There is a good "blind as a bat" joke, by the way.
Oh, and guess where the Arkham Knight ends up being sent to?
Bits and Pieces
The Batman and Robin moments have been great throughout this entire arc and they feel so right, as they do here. And Robin again is the shining star when it comes to taking care of business. I really hope they continue to work together because of this experience. Buuuuut most of a city being "temporarily blinded for just a few more days" seems like the idea of a huge threat was introduced too late and resolved lazily because it had to be concluded quickly. And then Arkham Knight's fate was ridiculously predictable. I rated this arc well because each issue had cool moments that I really needed to see right now, but there’s a lot of problems with the story overall and the closing issue unfortunately exposed that truth. That said, because of the great moments, I'm really looking forward to more Tomasi on Detective.
6/10
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