Batman #98 Review
Writer – James Tynion IV
Art – Jorge Jimenez
Colors – Tomeu Morey
Letters – Clayton Cowles
Publisher – DC Comics
Well, after a week full of multiple Jokers running around, we are back to the main Batman title and into part four already of Joker War. After some exciting and ‘trippy’ events in the last issue, we were set up for a Batman recovery as well as another meet up between Harley and Punchline and I know I was excited for this new issue because I have been waiting for Harley to get another shot at Punchline and show who the bad-est B in Gotham really is!
Batman #98 takes us back underground where the rest of Gotham’s villains have been hiding out waiting for the war between the Joker and Batman to play out and we see they are getting a bit of cabin fever and their personalities aren’t exactly clicking. After a couple page opening sequence, Tynion takes readers back into the mind of Batman who is currently in a drugged state due to a special tea given to him in the last issue by Harley from Ivy’s garden that is supposed to clear the new Joker toxin from his system. Tynion uses this opportunity to take readers on a bit of an emotional ride as Batman is talking to his old, trusted family butler Alfred and is dealing with confronting all the evils in his life. Tynion does an excellent job of not only pulling on the heart strings of readers but also uses the opportunity to kind of fire the reader back up and get us excited to see Batman get back up from all of this. The story bounces around from Bruce’s dreams to the events going on right around him and we are then thrown into the hook we have all been waiting for with Harley and Punchline throwing down again. The story gets exciting from that point on and I know my adrenaline was pumping as I read panel by panel while to story bounces around between the two events. Ultimately Tynion delivers a fan boosting conclusion and gets readers primed and ready for what’s still to come. There are a few times where the story feels like it drags out a little bit but its used to give the reader more of an in depth emotional experience and to get us involved and ready for what’s to come so its not a total bore. Tynion has done a really good job with the pacing of the story in these last few issues and in this one delivers a bit more excitement as we head towards the end of the event.
The art of this issue just continues to outshine everything else but doesn’t take away from or overshadow the story but instead lends to it, giving readers a more immersive experience overall. Jorge Jimenez has been giving us teases of his art from these issues and promising readers he is giving it everything he has and the amount of details and depth in these issues really shines and proves he is truly giving us his best. Every issue that comes out feels like he adds more and more detail and you can see the progression of his characters designs as time goes on giving more and more enjoyment to the reader from a visual standpoint. Tomeu Morey, who is already just such an incredible colorist, also seems to give more and more as issues go on and you can tell he is really finding his groove with Jimenez and they have figured out how to create just the perfect blend without taking anything away from one another. The colors are vivid when needed and the darks are brilliantly highlighted creating a beautiful feel that also helps sell the tone of the story to the reader visually. Honestly, I think this is one of the best art teams in comics right now outside of the Death Metal team and they seem to be continually upping their talent and truly creating visual magic.
Overall, Batman #98 delivers all the excitement and emotions we could ask for in a Batman story, getting us pumped up for Batman to get back up on his feet as well as the excitement of the battles around him all leading to the final blows to come in batman #100 while all brought to life by an incredible art team who seem to have really found their groove and taking fans into a deep and dark Gotham city full of beautiful characters and details. Batman #98 is on sale today so make sure your Batmobiles are fully gassed up and head over to your local shop today to get lost in this incredible world that this creative team has built for us. Be sure to let me know what you guys thought of this issue and what you are most looking forward to in the coming final issues by leaving your comments below!
=Wes Greer
Art – Jorge Jimenez
Colors – Tomeu Morey
Letters – Clayton Cowles
Publisher – DC Comics
Well, after a week full of multiple Jokers running around, we are back to the main Batman title and into part four already of Joker War. After some exciting and ‘trippy’ events in the last issue, we were set up for a Batman recovery as well as another meet up between Harley and Punchline and I know I was excited for this new issue because I have been waiting for Harley to get another shot at Punchline and show who the bad-est B in Gotham really is!
Batman #98 takes us back underground where the rest of Gotham’s villains have been hiding out waiting for the war between the Joker and Batman to play out and we see they are getting a bit of cabin fever and their personalities aren’t exactly clicking. After a couple page opening sequence, Tynion takes readers back into the mind of Batman who is currently in a drugged state due to a special tea given to him in the last issue by Harley from Ivy’s garden that is supposed to clear the new Joker toxin from his system. Tynion uses this opportunity to take readers on a bit of an emotional ride as Batman is talking to his old, trusted family butler Alfred and is dealing with confronting all the evils in his life. Tynion does an excellent job of not only pulling on the heart strings of readers but also uses the opportunity to kind of fire the reader back up and get us excited to see Batman get back up from all of this. The story bounces around from Bruce’s dreams to the events going on right around him and we are then thrown into the hook we have all been waiting for with Harley and Punchline throwing down again. The story gets exciting from that point on and I know my adrenaline was pumping as I read panel by panel while to story bounces around between the two events. Ultimately Tynion delivers a fan boosting conclusion and gets readers primed and ready for what’s still to come. There are a few times where the story feels like it drags out a little bit but its used to give the reader more of an in depth emotional experience and to get us involved and ready for what’s to come so its not a total bore. Tynion has done a really good job with the pacing of the story in these last few issues and in this one delivers a bit more excitement as we head towards the end of the event.
The art of this issue just continues to outshine everything else but doesn’t take away from or overshadow the story but instead lends to it, giving readers a more immersive experience overall. Jorge Jimenez has been giving us teases of his art from these issues and promising readers he is giving it everything he has and the amount of details and depth in these issues really shines and proves he is truly giving us his best. Every issue that comes out feels like he adds more and more detail and you can see the progression of his characters designs as time goes on giving more and more enjoyment to the reader from a visual standpoint. Tomeu Morey, who is already just such an incredible colorist, also seems to give more and more as issues go on and you can tell he is really finding his groove with Jimenez and they have figured out how to create just the perfect blend without taking anything away from one another. The colors are vivid when needed and the darks are brilliantly highlighted creating a beautiful feel that also helps sell the tone of the story to the reader visually. Honestly, I think this is one of the best art teams in comics right now outside of the Death Metal team and they seem to be continually upping their talent and truly creating visual magic.
Overall, Batman #98 delivers all the excitement and emotions we could ask for in a Batman story, getting us pumped up for Batman to get back up on his feet as well as the excitement of the battles around him all leading to the final blows to come in batman #100 while all brought to life by an incredible art team who seem to have really found their groove and taking fans into a deep and dark Gotham city full of beautiful characters and details. Batman #98 is on sale today so make sure your Batmobiles are fully gassed up and head over to your local shop today to get lost in this incredible world that this creative team has built for us. Be sure to let me know what you guys thought of this issue and what you are most looking forward to in the coming final issues by leaving your comments below!
=Wes Greer
A Look Inside
