You have Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel back on Batman proper, can it get any better? Oh wait, it can! Slap in an RIP banner and the fact that Final Crisis is also in the mix, and you got yourself one interested NextChamp. Does this ‘missing chapter’ bring back the good old days of….2008?

For a Morrison comic this was pretty straightforward and accessible to read. Shocking I know. I was expecting Morrison to throw a huge curveball in this, but the fact of the matter is this: This is easily the most normal Batman issue Morrison has penned. It was a blast to read no doubt, but nothing really stood out. Clearly Morrison has plans to reveal something HUGE with Dr. Hurt, but it doesn’t happen here. As a huge fan of Batman, I do like it Morrison explains the time lapse of RIP and Final Crisis. Cause if there was anything that did bug me was how Morrison just lapsed in his explaination of Batman going from ‘helicopter crash to Darkseid’s pawn’.

I’ve always liked Tony Daniel’s artwork. I’m not sure where all of the hate has come from for him (maybe as a writer but not as an artist), but I’ve never claimed to loathe his style. Here, we get some very beautiful splash pages and effects. If there is one person that can handle the scripts of Morrison on a full time basis, it is Daniels. However I did notice some pages were a bit rough or they looked a bit rushed. Bruce’s face just looks off from time to time, even when it is a close up on him. Although I think this is a good looking issue overall, nothing really stands out here as well. Kind of like the story itself.

I’m not sure what Morrison has planned here. I like to see him and Daniels together again, but if this is just to recap and/or fill in plotholes from Final Crisis then I don’t see the importance of it. Considering how Bruce is still baffled by the mystery of Dr. Hurt, I think we’re gonna get some huge revelation next issue. As of now though; a solid Batman story but nothing too ‘wow’ about it.