Batman Fear State Alpha #1 Review
Writer – James Tynion IV
Art – Ricardo Federici
Colors – Chris Sotomayor
Letters – Clayton Cowles
Publisher- DC Comics
Just in time for Halloween, the DC event, Fear State is here and after a buildup from several titles from the publisher, it’s all lead up to this. Unfortunately, Batman Fear State Alpha #1 does not live up to the hype that’s been built around it and falls just short of anything exciting.
Going into this issue, I expected writer James Tynion IV to really lay out the foundation and get readers hyped with what we could expect from this new event, especially since it was a more horror type story which Tynion has proven himself to be an exceptional writer when it comes to the genre. Unfortunately, that was not the case. This one shot issue serves mainly to kind of recap the events that have been going on across the Gotham books and doesn’t really give readers any new information other than a snipit in the beginning with a meeting between Dr. Crane and Simo Saint. The rest of the issue deals primarily with the main characters involved in the event and what they are currently doing at this time and it really drags on quite a bit, not really giving readers any excitement or any real new information they didn’t already have from reading the titles in the main line which also adds to the feeling of dragging. Although it bounces between characters a bit, it does read cohesively and ties all the events together so the reader doesn’t get lost in the mix of information and characters. The end of the issue does ramp up things to come in future issues but as we learned in Joker War, we can’t ever trust the hype train at the end of Tynion written Batman stories.
The art of the issue is really the main draw to it with a fresh set of character designs from artist, Ricardo Federici. Federici has been doing the one in twenty five variant covers for the last handful of Batman issues and now we see his work come to life on the interior pages. Federico’s art style really sets the tone for the story, bringing the turmoil in Gotham to life with his more dark and moody style. His character designs and world design really have that odd horror feel to it reflecting a nightmarish tone for the readers to experience. It’s a nice break for the issue, leaning away from the more anime and light hearted art we are used to seeing from Batman series artist, Jorge Jimenez.
Batman Fear State Alpha #1 is available now at your local comic shop so you can pick it up for yourself and get ready for the latest event to hit Gotham City!
Let us know what you thought about the issue by leaving your comments below or by reaching out to us on any of our social media platforms.
-Wes Greer
Art – Ricardo Federici
Colors – Chris Sotomayor
Letters – Clayton Cowles
Publisher- DC Comics
Just in time for Halloween, the DC event, Fear State is here and after a buildup from several titles from the publisher, it’s all lead up to this. Unfortunately, Batman Fear State Alpha #1 does not live up to the hype that’s been built around it and falls just short of anything exciting.
Going into this issue, I expected writer James Tynion IV to really lay out the foundation and get readers hyped with what we could expect from this new event, especially since it was a more horror type story which Tynion has proven himself to be an exceptional writer when it comes to the genre. Unfortunately, that was not the case. This one shot issue serves mainly to kind of recap the events that have been going on across the Gotham books and doesn’t really give readers any new information other than a snipit in the beginning with a meeting between Dr. Crane and Simo Saint. The rest of the issue deals primarily with the main characters involved in the event and what they are currently doing at this time and it really drags on quite a bit, not really giving readers any excitement or any real new information they didn’t already have from reading the titles in the main line which also adds to the feeling of dragging. Although it bounces between characters a bit, it does read cohesively and ties all the events together so the reader doesn’t get lost in the mix of information and characters. The end of the issue does ramp up things to come in future issues but as we learned in Joker War, we can’t ever trust the hype train at the end of Tynion written Batman stories.
The art of the issue is really the main draw to it with a fresh set of character designs from artist, Ricardo Federici. Federici has been doing the one in twenty five variant covers for the last handful of Batman issues and now we see his work come to life on the interior pages. Federico’s art style really sets the tone for the story, bringing the turmoil in Gotham to life with his more dark and moody style. His character designs and world design really have that odd horror feel to it reflecting a nightmarish tone for the readers to experience. It’s a nice break for the issue, leaning away from the more anime and light hearted art we are used to seeing from Batman series artist, Jorge Jimenez.
Batman Fear State Alpha #1 is available now at your local comic shop so you can pick it up for yourself and get ready for the latest event to hit Gotham City!
Let us know what you thought about the issue by leaving your comments below or by reaching out to us on any of our social media platforms.
-Wes Greer
A Look Inside
