I must admit I kind of enjoyed all of Tony S. Daniel’s work on Batman that he did, be it as an artist or as a writer (even though flawed sometimes).

Following in the footsteps of Scott Snyder on Detective Comics might have been hard to do but I believe that Tony Daniel really nailed it here and proved that he has greatly improved his writing skills and it shows. The characters are more developed and realistic, the ideas are clear, the action scenes really well drawn and thought out.

Batman and Joker, the ying and the yang, is a perfect way to relaunching this series. Batman’s not the invincible hero we’re used to here, as he is careless and even gets hurt pretty badly by the Joker who is as mad as ever or is it just a game…? The only thing I liked a little less, was seeing Jim Gordon with red hair and moustache instead of the white I’m used to. I guess it falls more in line with the Nolan movies or simply because this all happens in the past. But aside from that, everything was awesome!

I really liked the story, the pacing and the panel layouts in this first issue and I’m eager to read more from Tony Daniel as he’s proven he’s up to the challenge and improving greatly. This issue will be one to be remembered for a long while, or at least, the last two pages will haunt your dreams for years to come!

Story: 5
Art:5
Average:5