Batman #22 continues to teach us how Bruce Wayne Became The Batman in ZERO YEAR!!!! Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo craft The NEW 52 Origin of The Batman! Steve/Megatron and TFG1Mike team up to give you a SPOILER FREE review of the second chapter. Let the ZERO YEAR continue, and here we go!
Secret City Part 2 is here! Find out more of Bruce Waye’s acension to becoming Batman. In this next chapter we will see him go up against a riddle most can’t solve and more! Read further to see Mike and Steve’s Spoiler free thoughts as ZERO YEAR is upon us. This is THE NEW 52 ORIGIN OF BATMAN!!!!
Mike’s Review of Batman #22:
LOVE the cover on this issue. The lava making a Bat symbol, that is just awesome. I also love the variant cover which is at the bottom of this post. Says a lot about Bruce’s psyche Honestly I think the preview for issue 22 of Batman gave too much away. I read the previews for two reasons… #1 I need my Bat fix early, and #2 I “borrow” the images to put them in these reviews! Thanks DC Comics Fans on Facebook for all the awesome work you do!!! OK so issue 22 has Bruce going up against the Red Hood Gang, it has a blimp, it has Edward Nygma, and so much more. I will say this for Greg Capullo he and Scott Snyder sure now how to bring readers in. There is something in issue 22 that I have never seen a story told that way before. I can’t even make a joke about it, because it’ll give it away.
The writing is great in this, but I felt at the end of the issue like there was something missing. The story was damn good, but even with how the backup story is told to tie into the actual story here. There just felt like there was something missing. I know and understand that Snyder is giving us tidbits here and there. Honestly Zero Year seems to be something that one should read in Trade only. Because waiting for it each month is killing me. I did love the designs on the red hood gang members, I loved seeing how Bruce is coming into his own, and inching every so close to becoming the Batman we all know and love. I love that Snyder put real family conflict in this issue. However for me I wanted more then what we got.
Steve’s Review of Batman #22:
As Mike stated, I too love this cover art. Simply cool showing the forging of the Bat. The initial thoughts were I was hoping it would pick up. And I was not disappointed here. They took this issue and jumped into the Red Hood gang’s crimes. I loved how Bruce was disguised as Cobblepot and is unmasked but not without cutting one of them and stealing his blood. I thought this was also cool as we see the gauntlets debut. Further in Bruce grows more stern and even argues with Alfred at one point while testing his new grappling hook. The angle with the Uncle making Bruce a public figure and Edward Nygma was great as well. The riddles begin and Bruce is an even match for Edward.
This issue with the angles, the tech introductions, art, story and the way people figure in just worked perfectly. It was nice seeing Bruce shutting things out and beginning his journey to the cowl. I am coining this saga “Journey For the Cowl” so if it shows up you heard it here first LOL. But overall incredible way of telling this and leaves off with a great cliffhanger.
Mike’s Final Thoughts:
DC PLEASE REMOVE THE CHANNEL 52 PAGES!!!!!!!!!! So we can get more story in these books! The Channel 52 pages are useless in my opinion. Them being there, the fact I want more out of this issue, and the fact that it seemed as if there were something missing from the story, didn’t really help me enjoy reading this title. At least not as much as I normally enjoy it. We’ll have to see what happens next month in Batman #23!
Steve’s Final Thoughts:
I also have to concur with Mike’s statement. Come up with something new and replace the Channel 52. It’s pointless pages wasted. Overall much more impressed with this issue and loved the usage of Nygma here. Also the Riddle round dial on the full page spread between Bruce and Edward was great. Use this feature again please. Great start and looking forward to the next issue!
Mike’s Final Rating:
Steve’s Final Rating:
