Detective Comics #797

August 3, 2004

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Flashpoint (War Games Act 1, Part 1) & Low Part One

The war has erupted – can Batman’s family keep Gotham whole?

Writer: Andersen Gabrych & Shane McCarthy
Pencils: Pete Woods & Tommy Castillo
Inks: Nathan Massengill & Rodney Ramos
Colors: Jason Wright & Tony Avina
Letters: Pat Brosseau & Ken Lopez
Editor: Bob Schreck & Michael Wright
Cover Art: Jock
Publisher: DC Comics

This is going to be a very difficult issue to review because, first of all, thanks to its “advance” status I haven’t read the first part of the storyline in this week’s Batman: The 12-Cent Adventure, and second, because I’ll have to try to avoid spoiling the events of that issue.

Here’s what I can tell you – Gotham City is in serious trouble. A gang war has erupted, threatening to consume the streets, and only Batman’s family has a chance to get things under control. I know that a lot of people are put off by crossovers like this one, but when they’re done well, I’m a big fan. This issue does everything you really need out of a crossover chapter – it advances the main storyline, and it quickly recaps the events of the other Batman titles to allow people who haven’t been reading every title to jump right in. It manages to do this, however, without dragging down the story or boring regular readers.

Pete Woods, whose work I last saw over in Robin, is a natural for the Batman family. Each hero, even satellite characters like Orpheus, get to shine a bit here. He manages to capture the lunacy and chaos that Gotham is in, but doesn’t make things so chaotic that you don’t know what’s going on.

Most readers have made up their minds – they’re either going to get all of the “War Games” chapters or none at all. If you’re going to read, I think you’ll find yourself satisfied with this issue. If you aren’t, then I’d urge you to give it a try – based solely on this issue, I think this will be a good one.

“Low,” the backup story by McCarthy and Castillo, is okay, but seems a bit superfluous. The Riddler finds his way into Poison Ivy’s lair, only to find himself up to his neck in trouble. So-so story, but Castillo, Ramos and Avina do a very nice job on the artistic side. I’d like to see this art team take on a bat-book full time, Robin for instance.

Rating: 7/10

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #182

August 7, 2004

Quick Rating: Very Good
Title: Behind Enemy Lines

Undermanned, with Gotham under siege, Batman turns to Orpheus for help.

Writer: A.J. Lieberman
Pencils: Brad Walker
Inks: Troy Nixey
Colors: Javier Rodriguez
Letters: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Brian Haberlin
Publisher: DC Comics

As “War Games” continues, Gotham City is under siege. Someone set up a meeting of gang lords that went badly. A lot of the top crime bosses in town are dead, and the gangs are tearing the city apart trying to get revenge. What’s more, Nightwing is out of town and there is no Robin anymore… Batman is going to need help.

He turns to the masked man called Orpheus and assigns him to take over one of the leaderless gangs, reasoning that if he can get those hoods off the street, there will be one less gang to take down. Orpheus takes on the challenge… but success is by no means assured.

I haven’t seen much of Orpheus before this crossover began and I don’t really know much about him – he is defined pretty well in this issue, however. He seems to be outside of the “family,” but someone the Bat trusts enough to work with, and that is not easy – the very fact that Batman trusts him makes it easier for the readers to do so.

Brad Walker and Troy Nixey do a good job with the pencils, but the artwork is slightly sent askew by Javier Rodriguez’s coloring. He uses a slightly muted palette, which serves most of the issue well, but he gets too dark for Orpheus. The purple-and-gold uniform he wore in earlier chapters becomes almost black in this issue, and it looks… well… a little silly.

I wasn’t really crazy about Lieberman’s first storyline over in Gotham Knights, but that was mainly due to poor characterization of the Joker. Without that hurdle to jump this time out, the story is much better and helps progress the overall “War Games” story, while simultaneously spotlighting one of the lesser-known characters in the Bat-universe. This will be quite satisfying for folks following and enjoying this big crossover.

Rating: 8/10