Review: Batman The Knight #6
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Carmine Di Giandomenico
Colors: Ivan Plascencia
Letters: Pat Brosseau
Reviewed by: Carl Bryan
Summary
“Well young man…I think you are ready for the masks.” – Avery Oblonsky to Bruce Wayne
Positives
Chip Zdarksky continues where writers like Tom Taylor left off, providing us with a glimpse of Bruce’s past, as Bruce did not become Batman overnight. Issue #6 has the future Batman competing with his rival Anton in order to gain more training on the art of marksmanship from one Luca Jungo, The Swiss Mark!
Luca is a very reluctant mentor and recognizes immediately that this is possibly not the path for Bruce.
Zdarksy shows both the allure of guns and arrows to Anton, but also the temptation and torture for Bruce. The man who will become the Dark Knight recognizes that he’s really really good at hunting and sniping. Is it too easy for him? Perhaps, but his code and PTSD are full on. To place Bruce in a comic holding a gun is a genius move by Zdarsky.
The development of Anton as being lured by “The Dark Side”, is very Star Wars, or very Shakesperean. There’s always duality at work in a Batman comic, and Zdarksky follows that formula. However, his rendition is making it fresh!
Carmine Di Giandomenico puts us in a very very cold environment. His graphic depictions of a slain deer, or an arrow hitting its mark, are great! I love his renderings as he makes the characters pop out of the scenery!
Negatives
Chip Zdarksky’s developing Bruce into what he is today. However, we get to see the layers assembled through his pen, rather than get the final dark product that is in most Batman books. There are no negatives here, as it s a back-to-the-drawing board experience that this book’s aiming for.
Verdict
Again, I like seeing a less confident Bruce, seeing the mistakes, the apprehension, and the “unsureness” as this book accentuates his journey. Somehow, we now see him through a crotchety lens, where he’s incapable of indicating he’s wrong or even making the slightest mistake. It’s refreshing to see how Bruce gets to become The World’s Greatest Detective!
