The new “Dark Knight” #1 gives David Finch a second chance at putting together a good Batman series. Prior to DC’s full relaunch, Finch had started a promising storyline but it fell apart due to huge shipping delays. Unfortunately Finch’s second shot at a Dark Knight title starts nowhere near as strong as his first series.

This issue never clicked for me. The first half of the book takes place at a charity function but it’s main purpose is to introduce the new supporting characters. We get a grumpy GCPD Internal Affairs officer who is trying to link Bruce to the funding of Batman. We also meet Jaina Hudson, the hostess of the gala who couldn’t have found a tighter or shorter dress. Bruce’s conversations with these two characters go exactly as you would expect and both feel like characters we’ve seen before. There’s also some coddling with a congressman and a few panels featuring several bubbly, goo-goo eyed woman draped all over Bruce. I think running their fingers through his hair while Bruce is carrying on a conversation with a congressman is taking that female depiction a tad too far.

The second half of the book centers around a maximum security breakout at Arkham Asylum. The faster pace and more action-oriented direction really picks things up. But then we get to the ending that feels like it would be more at home in the Arkham Asylum video game than on comic book pages. It’s weird and ineffective and did nothing to get me excited for the next issue.

One thing I thought was a given was that this book would look great. I’ve always been a fan of Finch’s art particularly his recent Batman work. How disappointing it was to see that much like the story, this book’s art just doesn’t deliver. The first thing that stood out was the terribly inconsistent character designs. Bruce at times looks like two completely different people and several of the character’s faces are overdrawn with too many lines and scribbles. The art does get better during the ending action sequence and whenever Bruce is in costume. But overall this is a visually underwhelming book that fell terribly short of my expectations.

Both from a story and art perspective this book underachieves. There’s nothing all that interesting about the plot and the new characters offer nothing new or original. I’m sure Finch has bigger things planned for them and this story, but after this first issue I probably won’t be around to see it.