This is nearly a five star book.  A really great assemblage of writers and artists that I’m familiar with, but, except for Steve Niles, couldn’t give you a run down on what any of them have written or drawn.

Grievoux and Gray knock it out of the park by opening with a Batman & Robin moral play with art that is reminiscent of Frank Quitely in all the right ways.  Loved the panel layouts, too.

Konat’s art on the second story is a little more classic Batman, and the story, about Alfred’s night with a prostitute is really sweet.

The winner of best story in the book, for me, goes to Mike Raicht’s “The Hero Of Orphan Alley”.   In ten pages, Raicht does more than most writers do in an entire run on a comic.  And Henry’s use of lines  and shading were a perfect mesh for this story.

Calloway and To’s “Veil Unveiled” was an interesting little look into Millicent Mayne’s head.  I enjoyed this much more than the Battle For The Colw one shots she appeared in, and am curious if this will be used as continuity and cause her to be a bigger player in the Batman Universe.

“No Two Alike” was the major misstep for me.  The plot was interesting, but it aspired to be much more than the ten pages that constrained it.  The story ended up seeming a little choppy, and, while the colors were fantastic, the realistic faces were too inconsistent for me.  The poses a bit too Greg Landesque.

The Poison Ivy story that followed was also a little lackluster.  Good concept, not the greatest execution.    Spurrier’s narration was too Claremont for me, and Samnee’s art was good, but not overly memorable.  This would have gotten a two for story, and a four for art.

 The art on the Commisioner Gordon “What Falls Below” story was excellent, and makes me want to look up more titles with art and color by Rafa Garres.  Shinick’s story is also very good.

The runner up to best story, though, goes to Niles & Buscema’s one page punchline story “Snow Patrol”.  After a mostly depressing (but in a great way) book, it was good to end on a laugh.