Batman #23.2

Writer:  Scott Snyder, Ray Fawkes

Art:  Jeremy Haun, John Rausch

Get Caught Up…

Forever Evil is upon us.  The Justice League is out the picture.  Villains run rampant.

What’s Good?

With major events like Forever Evil and their various tie-ins, the important thing is for the characters to behave in a believable manner.  This is especially true one it comes to one-off vignettes like some of the Villains Month titles.  How these villains respond to their new situation is extremely important.  Here, the Riddler is very believable.  In a world without a  Batman, this is how I believe the Riddler would behave.  This is actually what I was hoping all of the Villains Month titles were going to be.  No flashbacks or origins, just stories about how the darker side of the DC universe is dealing with the fallout from Trinity War and the emergence of Forever Evil.  Will they side with the Crime Syndicate?  Do they think the Crime Syndicate is going to go to far?  Are they just going to sit this one out and bide their time, a la the Riddler?  These are the questions I really wanted to have answered.

Jeremy Haun takes his place as lead artist for this installment.  The Riddler is a tough character to nail down.  He has similar flavors to the Joker, with a certain element of ridiculousness to him, but in a much more muted manner.  Haun’s work here is admirable.  He captures the spirit of the character here, especially how bored he is throughout the issue.  He’s one step ahead of everyone, and it is all very straightforward for him, while others are confused.  The greatest art in a comic is when the artist can capture a mood, not just the actions.  This is a success.  One of my favorite parts of the Riddler is the juxtaposition of his color scheme against the darkness of Gotham in general.  He’s different.  He’s not the run-of-the-mill thug.  He stands apart.  John Rauch’s work here nails this as well.

The Verdict…

Pretty good fill-in issue.  Ties back to the continuity of Zero Year, and it is pleasing to the eye.  The character feels right.  Totally made up for the train wreck that was issue #23.1.

Oh, Yeah, And…

Typo in the credit page!  Ray Fawkes is credited as Ray Fakwes under “Story By.”  I read the comic book good!