Batman #2

Written by: Tom King

Art by: David Finch, Matt Banning, Danny Miki, Jordie Bellaire

Publisher: DC

Batman’s story continues with the presence of new heroes Gotham and Gotham Girl. Now that the first issue has come and gone, it’s time to see where this adventure goes from the initial kick off.

After a special appearance from a recurring Batman villain in the beginning of the issue, we see the bond between Batman and the two new heroes build slowly; hesitantly. Bruce seems to be on the careful side this time around, and for good reason.

For a very brief moment in the story, we see some of the elegance of Bruce Wayne, attending a formal event. I wish we got to see more of this from him, but it swiftly gets brushed aside for the action, which, to be fair, is rather dire.

Unfortunately, I will admit this issue is slightly uneventful, but much of what happens serves for buildup to later issues and the stinger at the end. This issue can quickly be summarized by Batman getting a couple things done very quickly. The moments go by awfully fast, and sometimes it feels as if they have a little less weight to them. Of course, if this buildup pays off in the end, that’s good too, especially when this gets into trade form. At the very least, by the end, we get a little more insight as who’s orchestrating all of the events in Gotham, and things are shaping up to be quite interesting between Batman, Gotham, Gotham Girl vs. the first villain in King’s Batman run.

I will say that the action is very smooth and eloquent looking. Speaking of which, the art looks beautiful, yet gritty. The colors of the sky in the first half of the issue looks phenomenal, and Finch’s faces look spot on. There is one panel with an extreme close-up of Batman’s mask (when talking to Gordon), that really caught my eye on how smooth it was. Speaking of Gordon, there is something about his pencils that make him look more gruff than usual, and I dig it quite a bit. This books looks solid and smooth, just as much as it talks.