Let me tell ya a funny story while I was reading this comic. I was going through the issue as normal, and something just wasn’t quite right with it. I kept thinking: ‘Gee, Trevor McCarthy (the artist) had a Dustin Nguyen look to his work but he really is aping him this issue.’ It bugged me to no end because the jump between the previous three issues to now is really jarring. Then I get to the final page of this issue and I suddenly laughed because: Dustin Nguyen actually did this issue! I know, I couldn’t believe it myself!

I’m not sure why Nguyen (and someone named Derec Donovan) is now on this mini but it is a bit better then seeing McCarthy’s pencils. I feel bad saying it but I question why Nguyen couldn’t have done this mini from day one. Nguyen is great at mimicking other artists (see Batman and Robin on his take of Andy Clarke) so he is definitely trying to keep the style consistent from previous issues. But add to the fact that he had to clearly rush this issue, it’s not the best looking comic. All the character’s anatomy and faces changes constantly and it might also have to do with the fact that this Donovan guy trades pages with Nguyen. Donovan’s pencils (which are mostly the flashbacks but he does some other ‘present’ pages) are much cleaner but it does mesh with Nguyen’s pencils. But there are moments, like the beginning fight scene, where it shows the detail Nguyen puts into each page.

This issue also suffers from feeling kinda rushed. Which is a bit understandable since this mini has to end right before the reboot. But unlike the previous issues I don’t see a lot of story but quick fight scenes and a convenient way for the Bat-family to get back at ‘The Architect’. The flashbacks are still nice to read and they have been the high points of the mini. But now with this new guy, Ryan Parrott writing with Higgins and no trace of Snyder in any of these pages (at least that I could tell) and it feels almost like a completely different story). It’s a shame, because the Snyder/Higgins team up was working so well before.

At the end of the day these changes didn’t hurt the issue for me entirely. This is still a fun Batman mini and I’m glad I decided to buy them now instead of waiting for the trade. But it’s clear that this had to get rushed to be finished before the September reboot. The change in tone with a different pair of writers and the change in artists definitely threw me for a loop. If THIS particular team is the same for the last issue it won’t bother me too much. But it is a shame that we couldn’t keep the original artist and Snyder’s touch for the entire mini.