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| BATMAN No. 3, January 2012 |
Despite an arguably alarming drop of 21,000 copies in
sales, Issue Three of “Batman” was still the second best-selling comic book of
November 2011 and also managed, in many ways, to depict a Dark Knight far
closer to the ‘master sleuth’ portrayed in the character’s first ever story,
“The Case Of The Chemical Syndicate”, than the more action-orientated
incarnation seen during this current Modern Age of Comic Books.
But that does
not mean for a moment that “The Thirteenth Hour” is by any means a disappointing
or unengaging read. For Scott Snyder has written a steady pacey detective
story, which allows Bruce Wayne to demonstrate not only his keen analytical
mind. But also his knowledge and understanding of his family’s great history,
and how it helped build, shape and influence Gotham City.
However before the
billionaire illustrates why he is also commonly known as ‘The World’s Greatest
Detective’, the American author gets this magazine off to an exhilarating start
by having the caped crusader battle “a Gotham branch of the Ukrainian mob”,
armed with machetes and knives, deep down on a functioning underground train
line. At first such a heavily outnumbered confrontation actually looks
decidedly dodgy for the costumed crime-fighter. Especially as the fight spills
out into the path of an oncoming commuter train, and Batman is clearly failing
to dodge all of the iron mask wearing fanatics’ bladed attacks. Fortunately a
slightly bloodied super-hero manages to cut the fight short by magnetising the
train with a handy though miniscule ‘bat-device’, causing his assailants to be
whisked away by the speeding engine.
What then follows is plain old-fashioned
clue-finding, as the masked vigilante, having studied the nesting
methods of the nocturnal owl, searches building after building looking for the criminal Court's numerous
secret lairs. A pursuit he is remarkably successful with… that is until the
comic ends with the Dark Knight inadvertently triggering a trip-wire and
blowing up the entire thirteenth floor within which he was exploring.
With such
a predominantly sedentary script a good deal of this issue’s storytelling
success rests upon the shoulders of regular artist Greg Capullo, and the former
“X-Force” illustrator does not disappoint. His page composition towards the
climax of the comic, as Batman explores each ‘hidden hideout’, is especially
impressive as the American pencils a foreboding series of rooms all containing a variety of owl-related memorabilia and weaponry… with each panel
interspersed with ominous owl-shaped eyes. An excellent touch which eventually leads
to the realisation that the detective is being watched and maybe the hunter is
actually the hunted.
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| The variant cover art of "BATMAN" No. 3 by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado |
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