BATMAN #17

Review by: flapjaxx

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1684
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.4
 
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Story by Scott Snyder
Art by Greg Capullo & Jonathan Glapion
Colors by FCO Plascencia
Letters by Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt
Cover by Greg Capullo, FCO Plascencia, Toney Daniel, Matt Banning, & Tomeu Morey

Size: 40 pages
Price: 3.99

Scott Snyder devoted the last four issues to having the Joker deliver long rambling monologues… and yet at the end of it the message and meaning his plan (a/k/a Snyder’s plot) is still quite confused and unclear. This is all just pure crossover hype, coated in mid-’90s dark edgy art that’s cool for what it is but has all the aesthetics and charm of a KoRn or Marilyn Manson album. For all the pretentious talk of what a “face” means vs. what lies beneath, this entire story was basically all surface-level shock-value pretending to suggest new character-redefining depths that, in the end, just don’t exist. Not really. Not when you think about them as opposed to simply basking in the hype of them.

At least in this final issue we only had to hear the tired “Bat-King” metaphor a couple more times instead of the usual twenty dozen times per page as established a few issues ago.

Oh well. At least the art is still cool. Now bring on the 9-part Riddler arc/event in which Snyder sets up another pretentious metaphor and beats us to death with it.

Story: 1 - Poor
Art: 3 - Good
 

Comments

  1. Avatar photo deepspacesamurai says:
    February 15, 2013 at 2:31 am

    If you don’t like the arc and have no interest in the next arc.then why are you reading this title?

  2. adamresha says:
    February 15, 2013 at 9:00 am

    completely agree!

  3. Avatar photo Metamorphic says:
    February 15, 2013 at 11:43 am

    I can understand not liking it…but to rate the story as poor? Can’t say I agree with that!

  4. Avatar photo theWAC1 says:
    February 15, 2013 at 7:26 pm

    I agree with you, just not so critically. The whole thing was sort of “for naught.” But just talking about this issue, there were pages where it was literally just the Joker babbling on. The “Joke” was ok, I kinda liked it, even though it felt telegraphed. Im still not sure how that little secret would “kill” the Bat Family, so I’m not buying into it after all that they’ve been through together. Especially Damien. That was very out of character for him. Also was I the only one who took half the issue to figure out where they were? I agreed with you on your review of last issue, and although this one was better, and the art definitely was at least a 4, this issue was still kinda “meh”. You have it right when you say it was mostly “shock value” and hype because there was nothing lasting here, no substance, mostly ideas in the wind. And to everyone who says, “then why don’t you drop it from your pulls?” I think I just might have to if the rereading of the arc doesn’t give some sort of redemption. I wish Layman could have wrote the Joker. That would have been good. Probably funny too.

  5. Avatar photo mgriffith says:
    February 16, 2013 at 7:20 pm

    interesting review.

    I agree with a lot of it.

    A very disappointing issue in an otherwise entertaining arc/run.

  6. Avatar photo dkbrain says:
    February 17, 2013 at 12:44 am

    “surface-level shock-value” – I’ve been searching for the words to describe my disinterest in Snyder’s work on Batman. that phrase describes it perfectly. Alfred’s abducted, the bat cave invaded, everybody seems to know Batman’s secret identity, the Joker’s underneath Gordon’s bed, etc.

    These big events get dropped on readers with very limited explanation or reasoning. What a let down after the initial jolt.

    Now, that the title’s been burned out. What next?

    And, yes, I’ve dropped the title.

  7. Avatar photo BCDX97 says:
    February 17, 2013 at 11:37 pm

    I think this is just a troll review.

  8. Avatar photo illmatic says:
    February 18, 2013 at 12:24 am

    This issue was a letdown for me as well, I a one is just up surd lol. The reveal was a disappointment but it was still very well written.

  9. Avatar photo illmatic says:
    February 18, 2013 at 12:25 am

    I had story at a 3, art at a 4 or 5.

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