Review: BATMAN #2
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Artists: Jorge Jimenez
Colours: Tomeu Morey
Letters: Clayton Cowles, Jorge Jimenez
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
Batman #2: Injured, cuffed, and tossed in the back of a GCPD paddy wagon with a dozen uncuffed and violent criminals, Robin (Tim Drake) will have to use everything he’s learned from the Dark Knight if he hopes to survive his own dark night. Will Batman arrive in time to help him, or will this mission change the way the city and the GCPD view the Dynamic Duo forever?
Positives
Matt Fraction’s second Batman story focuses on Robin. While Batman currently has two partners operating under the name Robin, Fraction’s Batman title is featuring Tim Drake as Robin, although Damian does appear briefly in a flashback. I like that Tim is getting some space in this title, as Tim does not currently appear in either his own title or in a team title, while Damian is already featured prominently in Batman and Robin.
In Batman #2, the current day story is counterpointed against flashbacks of Bruce teaching Tim how to drive, in preparation for Tim being allowed to eventually drive the Batmobile. This is relevant, as the main story features an instance of Tim having to drive the Batmobile due to Bruce being too injured to drive it himself.
In this issue’s story we do see a rare instance of a fairly routing crimefighting incident going sideways, when a street thug gets a lucky shot in, shooting Batman in the head. His armoured cowl saves Bruce from any lasting harm, but the shock is enough to temporarily leave him dazed. And it’s up to an injured Tim to get him safely back to the Batcave.
It’s a rare instance of Batman falling short of being the infallible crimefighter. And I feel it adds a refreshing bit of realism that even goddamn Batman can be taken by surprise or have a bit of bad luck.
Positives Cont’d.
And Batman #2 fulfills Fractions promise that the stories in this series will be self-contained, as the current adventure is wrapped up by the issue’s end. But I did notice that Fraction is setting up plot threads that Fraction will return to in future stories. Each issue features a self-contained story so far. But Fraction is also setting up an overarching story about a building conflict between Batman and Vandal Savage’s GCPD that connects these single-issue stories together.
And I love how Fraction can inject a bit of humour into a Batman story without compromising the serious tone. For example, I love the exchange between Bruce and Tim, where Bruce explains why the Batmobile has 13 gears. As Batman explains, “s’got the nine standard, three quantum gears “for use during spatiotemporal Crisis events. Then there;s the secret gear”. Bruce further explains that the “secret gear” means “I have the coolest car in the world”.
As always, Jorge Jimenez’s artwork is beautiful to behold. The action scenes are dynamic and his Gotham City looks like a real living city rather than just a generic dirty and gritty urban centre. And I love the little touches that he puts in his artwork. I especially loved that the Batmobile shown in the flashback is the 1989 movie Batmobile.
And Tomeu Morey’s colours ably make Jimenez’s artwork pop. Colourists often get overlooked, but Morey’s colours do noticeably enhance the artwork. And let’s not overlook the capable lettering skills of Steve Wands either.
Negatives
Generally, I tend to put variant covers down as a negative point on a comic. While DC isn’t the worst offender in deluging the market with multiple variant covers. Between multiple regular variants and retailer incentive covers, comics publishers are really punishing collectors who are obsessive completionists. I finally managed to break that habit myself and only start getting the regular cover and the occasional variant that stands out as something special.
Negatives Cont’d.
And Batman #2 has two variants that spoke to me as something special. I really like the gadget variant covers Jimenez has created. And I also quite enjoyed Jimenez’s other variant which recreated the cover of issue #1, replacing Batman with Robin. So, I splurged on these two variants. But please DC, try to rein in the number of variants at least a little. My comic budget’s stretched pretty tight as it is.
Verdict
With Batman #2, this series is maintaining the level of quality established in last month’s premiere issue. If Fraction and Jimenez can keep this up, this run of Batman could easily become known as one of the all-time definitive Batman runs.
