Writers: Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, Kyle Higgins, Tim Seeley
Artist: Jorge Lucas
Colorist: Brett Smith
THE SUCCESSION
Batman’s world slowly starts to fall apart! A break in at Wayne Manor has left Alfred in critical condition and no Bruce Wayne in sight. Julia Pennyworth is tasked to find Bruce but might have found something that is bigger than she can handle. The Architect has come back to wreak havoc on Gotham’s Beacon but Batman stands in his way. All this plus the reveal of the mastermind behind the chaos!
The Ups: This series has been building up to this issue and does not disappoint. We get the answer to one of the biggest questions to this series: Who is behind all this? For some of the long time readers it will not be a surprise. This issue reinforces one of Batman’s core belief and that is that Gotham is his number one priority. His own personal life has taken a back seat when he dons the cape but even the people around him come in second. It just shows how much Batman sacrifice to give himself to the city. Julia Pennyworth is quickly becoming integral to the Gotham lore and that worries me because of what that might mean for Alfred. The writers use the Architect as the final piece of the puzzle for the final reveal. How fitting.
Jorge Lucas depicts Gotham in it’s natural dark setting quite well. He definite captures the metallic and old essence that is Gotham. He uses a splatter inking technique that gives some of the characters and building more character. It especially comes off well with The Architect giving him a more terrifying look. There is also the one page splash of the Batcave and it shows it’s age beautifully.
The Downs: I mention Lucas inking before and how it works well with the look of Gotham. However, I felt there were some places where it could have been without. The face of regular people had splatter inking that I felt was adding too much to their faces. They seem like all their faces were dirty but the scene did not call for it.
Overall: The creative team deliver one of the most important issue in this weekly series. Big questions were answers that even the character in the books were left shocked. The writing hit it’s stride this issue and Lucas provide some solid art work. This weekly is heating up and if you haven’t been keep up then now the time to pull this series..
Grade: 4 of 5
ComicsRefueled 