Comics

[Comic Review] “Batman: Arkham Knight” #1 Stumbles With Style

Published

9 years ago

March 11, 2015

Following up “Batman: Arkham City” is no easy task. The story in that game was sublime, and managed to cut to the core of both Batman and Joker’s characters. So when it came time for Peter J Tomasi to write the followup comic in “Batman: Arkham Knight” #1 I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who was a little skeptical.

WRITTEN BY: Peter J Tomasi
ART BY:Viktor Bogdanovic, Art Thibert

PUBLISHER: DC Comics

PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: March 11, 2015

For the most part the comic succeeds at picking up all the important threads left over by the previous game. The story picks up immediately where things left off, and Batman gives Joker’s body over to the GCPD. Of course even the Joker’s body has a trick up its sleeve.

Narratively speaking this story has a lot going for it. The stakes are high, Gotham is in disarray after the fall of Arkham City, and Batman is exhausted. The Arkham Knight is introduced albeit subtlety and it works wonders to build intrigue around the titular character. Plus there is the ongoing mystery of exactly what the Joker was up to even in death.

Tomasi spins these multiple plates with relative ease. Nothing gets overly complicated or takes up too much of the page count. It never feels daunting or unmotivated. That is, up until a point in the final third of the story. There is something here that defies explanation or even any sort of resolution. It puts Batman in mortal danger and then immediately resolves the problem by showing nothing.

Narratively I found this to be a huge bump, and something I couldn’t get over as I flipped toward the final pages. Just what the hell happened and why do I feel like I missed something drastic. I went back and reread the section and still nothing is clear.

Despite this, the art in the book is serviceable. Everything has a slightly orange hue in the coloring, and manages to capture the feeling of the video game universe. But there is nothing stunning about the work on display. Paneling is conventional and the storytelling is by the numbers.

So with my insane amount of anticipation going into this debut, the burning question is: did the book live up to my hype? And the only answer is – sort of. It certainly picks up threads left over from the last game, but doesn’t really begin with the bombastic opening I’ve come to expect.

The book meanders for a little while, in a thoughtful place of retrospect and mounting tension, but when the tension finally snaps, the result is a confusing narrative choice that defies. Yet, I still find myself looking forward to #2.

Related Topics:Batman batman: arkham knight DC Comics Peter Tomasi

Zac Thompson

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Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

6 days ago

April 18, 2024

Meagan Navarro

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.