Batman: The Devastator #1

Writers: Frank Tieri and James Tynion IV

Artist: Tony S. Daniel

Inker: Danny Miki

Colourist: Tomeu Morey

Letterer: Tom Napolitano

The quality of these one-shots seem to be diminishing with each instalments. I was a big fan of how gruesome and tragic the earlier issues were, but the creative teams on these issues are very random to me and they don't reflect the event very well to me anymore.

Most of the other Dark Knights had motivations I could wrap my head around, but the Devastator eludes me in every conceivable way. I think the writers were in the wrong frame of mind when they decided that they should make Superman evil on his Earth; it's a concept that's been done to death lately and I expected something completely different to be done with the reasons as to why this Bruce Wayne fell apart. We all know Superman stands for hope and enlightenment, but the Devastator's inner monologue seems to cycle this thought over and over again throughout the issue, and it was very repetitive. By placing Bruce's pain on Superman takes away from the self-made tragedy that the other villains demonstrated throughout these one-shots.

Tony S. Daniel is the highlight of this book. He hasn't been seen since his brief stint on SUICIDE SQUAD, and it's good to see his art again. His take on Superman is powerful and I loved his rendition of the Devastator. He excellently captures the scale of this creature and the story mostly flowed nicely, save for the convoluted story.

If you've been buying these one-shots, this review probably won't stop you. If you're interested in checking them out, I recommend skipping this one and waiting for the next and final one-shot in the series, which focuses on the Batman Who Laughs. This issue was light of a tight story but the art was simply gorgeous.