Sixteen Times the Detail
Written By: James Tynion IV
Art By: Jorge Jimenez, Tomeu Morey
Letters By: Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 6, 2021
*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*
The Batman comic has become entrenched in this new Future State storyline ever since the event took place. Instead of actually focusing on that story though, we are instead treated to what ultimately serves as a prologue to the story. Once again, I cannot help but feel like this is the story that the creative team wanted to tell and so they just threw the Future State section together in order to have something to print for the higher ups. That said, the Future State series, while not terrible, definitely wasn’t anything to write home about. So, the insistence to continue the story in the main Batman comic is questionable. However, perhaps there is one hell of a story that this team was holding back on until they could tell it here. I don’t know, but we are going to find out as we jump into the latest issue.
Once again we start our issue with Batman being tortured by Scarecrow in an undisclosed location. Bruce is fighting with himself to maintain his sanity. However, we truly start our issue in the aftermath of the scarecrow being placed inside of the mayor’s home. Batman is sneaking in to assess the scene while in the background we see news program after news program talking about the incident and spreading fear. When he finally comes face to face with the scarecrow in question, he finds that it has no trace of fear toxin anywhere near it. It is simply a normal scarecrow. As he investigates with Oracle in his ear, he is suddenly found at the scene and surrounded by members of the GCPD. Renee Montoya leads them and we find out that she has been named the new commissioner. They demand that Batman leave the premises or he will be arrested. When things become a little heated, Batman takes the opportunity to drop a flash bang and disappear once again.
In another part of the city, we see a man walking through the city with a makeshift costume wielding a knife. Before we see him hurt anybody, Harley Quinn suddenly shows up on a motorbike and knocks the man on his ass. When she approaches the now injured man, she realizes that he was a patient from Arkham who must have gotten away before the attack on the Asylum. He spews some nonsense and she realizes that he needs some medical attention. Before things continue though, a police officer pulls his weapon and reveals that the man just stabbed three people in the park. As he pushes his point, Harley eventually knocks him out with her baseball bat, only to see several other police officers surrounding her. Just before things get worse, Ghost-Maker suddenly appears and saves her from being taken into police custody.
Back in the Clock Tower, Batman meets up with Oracle and the two discuss operations and the case at hand. Batman has found that the body they believed to be Jonathan Crane in Arkham was actually a body double. He hypotheses about Crane’s motives and eventually the conversation turns to the Unsanity Collective. She reveals that her investigation into the group shows that they are not the menace that the media is currently painting them out to be. Granted, they are still committing crimes and crossing lines that they shouldn’t, but the picture is much different from that the media is painting. Batman resolves to approach the collective undercover. We cut to Saint Industries where the CEO is working on a project until he is interrupted by his assistant. When he is suddenly contacted by Scarecrow, he makes an excuse to the assistant to allow her to go home for the day and he remains to discuss with Scarecrow. Scarecrow tells him that they have to increase the speed of their plan in order to stop the Bat from interfering. This will mean that people will die. We cut to the Narrows where a Batman in disguise as a man named Match approaches a bouncer and tells them who he is looking for, and that is where the issue leaves us.
This issue is pretty average. There’s a lot of information that gets thrown at the readers in this issue and while I like context to be applied to situations so I can better understand them, they may have gone a little overboard with the details. I really didn’t need to know the details about how a new spotlight system would work in Gotham but alas, I know now. The rest of the issue is simply an investigation and that part isn’t so bad. I like seeing Batman work his way through a case with the help of his associates. That said, the scene with Harley Quinn is a weird one. Not because of anything that she does but rather Ghost-Maker. I know he is on the side of good now but his character has to have changed so drastically for him to “be intrigued” by Harley Quinn instead of just seeing her as another criminal. I’m not saying it isn’t possible, but we definitely haven’t seen anything that explains it to this point. The art in this book is really fantastic though so I will give it some props.
Bits and Pieces
This issue of Batman is a long winded one as page after page of dialogue gets thrown at the reader, and not necessarily important dialogue. Sure, it will appease the fans that want every little thing explained, but most fans just want the important things covered. What is important to the story? That’s all the majority of readers really care about. Overall, this issue is kind of dull but shows promise.
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