“Batman: Arkham City” #5 wraps up this nifty little mini-series intended to fill the gap between the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” and the upcoming “Batman Arkham City” video games. It exists in it’s own continuity but never takes gross liberties with Batman or his assortment of classic characters. It’s based on a completely absurd concept but has managed to be fun and entertaining. It hasn’t been the most soundly constructed series but it’s one that’s been worth my time, especially considering that I was a fan of the first video game and plan on grabbing the second.

Paul Dini’s final issue is a mixed bag. There’s no real action to speak of which is a little surprising considering this is the last book of the series. But that being said, I knew going in that it was a series meant to serve as a bridge and a build up for the next video game. So I knew it wouldn’t be an ending with all questions answered. But it still feels as if Dini could have put together a more energetic finale that what we’re given. This isn’t a terrible issue. In fact there is some slick dialogue and I actually liked his use of twelve individual splash pages which serve as the book’s ending. Each page deals with a seemingly important player in the upcoming game and whether it was just filling space or not, I enjoyed it.

Carlos D’Anda’s art grew on me as the series progressed. His style has been a little cartoony at times but never to the point of being a distraction. We really don’t get much of that here. His characters look sharp and most of his work on the twelve splash pages look pretty good. There were a couple of pages that failed to impress but his Two-Face spread is gorgeous. There always wasn’t much creativity in the layouts. They’re rather generic looking and with a little creative structuring of some of the pages, it would have helped the overall look of the book.

I hate that so few people actually read this series. I found it be fun. While this issue isn’t much to brag about it really worked well enough considering it’s restrictions. Dini and D’Anda put together a fun Batman story not weighted down by tons of history. They take a preposterous idea and make it entertaining while nicely setting up the new video game. Since that’s what it was meant to do, mission accomplished.