What makes Scott Snyder tick? There has to be some subconscious part of his brain that makes him so sadistic with his writing. Last issue really signified how demented he was with a very insane, new villain and just an overall dark tone to the whole arc. It’s going to be hard to really top the fantastic issue from last month, but Snyder’s gonna try.

Again let me bring the art at the top of this, because (again) it bears repeating about my lack of interest with Jock. Last issue he did some really amazing work with great layouts and more often then not consistant character models. Here, while I don’t think it’s better then last issue, there are definitely more positives to pull out then negatives. There are some panels that make me groan, or just anatomy that doesn’t quite look right. But he handles a lot of the action very well; whether it be Dick trying to get away from the crazed auctioneers or fighting ‘The Dealer’ on his plane. Also, I like the ‘Frank Miller’ style tribute to Dick’s armored suit in the latter half of the issue. Plus he does handle the more disturbing moments quite well; specifically the dream sequence involving Barbara and how well it’s handled with the reveals.

Snyder does some really sick things in this issue. Whether it be how ‘animal’ like the citizens of Gotham are in the auction house to (again) that insane dream with Barbara. He handled that dream so well that I really thought we were going to have a new status quo for a second there. There is one thing that kinda disappointed me here, and it’s how he handles The Dealer at the end. Without spoiling it, I think that even if it follows his trademark it still was disappointing how it ended up being just a big brawl at the end. Not sure what you could do with a sick, elderly man without resorting to huge lengths to make it even. But this seemed more of a psychological fight then a physical one.

This issue pretty much sums up how I feel about this run so far by Snyder and Jock. On one hand, it can be an amazing read with some pretty good art and a twisted story in tow. However, there can be some low points and some decisions don’t work in the long run. But this really is just an experiment arc for both men to get into a groove. Considering how amazing this was to read even with some low points, I think we have some great things to look forward too in the future with this series.