Batman #694 – Review

By Tony Daniel (writer and artist), Sandu Florea (inks), Ian Hannin (color), Mike Marts (editor)

The Story: Life After Death, Part 3: Someone is sparking a gang war in Gotham. The Penguin is taking the brunt of it while Dick Grayson races to stop it from spinning out of control. In the meantime, after the shooting of his informant last issue, the kiss with Huntress and the uneasy fit of Batman’s cowl all make this mission very personal.

What’s Good: Daniels is keeping the pressure up on poor Dick. Not only is Gotham’s underworld splitting at the seams, with Commissioner Gordon, Oracle and the Huntress looking to Batman for guidance, but the serious attitude he gets from his new ward Damian never stops, one of his best friends (Oracle) won’t see him because another one of his best friends (Huntress) kissed him pretty hard “in the line of duty.” When you add to that Dick’s feelings of responsibility for a boy who got shot, stuff going south at Arkham, and an unsettling link between some murders at Gene-Corp and the substitute Bruce Wayne, I don’t know how Dick gets up in the morning. But, that’s why Dick is a hero: he possesses the relentless endurance and character to face overwhelming odds. Nice character work, Mr. Daniels!
Daniels also delivers some great art for this issue. It’s dark and moody, reflecting the world (psychological, geographic and sociological) around Dick. Daniels draws a vile Penguin, an angry, driven Batman, heartless killers, scary sociopaths, a resentful, arrogant sidekick and sympathetic friends (the Huntress and Alfred). In addition to his fine work on mood and emotion, Daniel’s action scenes are clear and evocative. Check out Dick swinging through the rain on panel 3 of page 9 and then the Bladerunner-esque cityscape in the next panel. Or, if you prefer an edgy Batman-style interrogation, look at his “conversation” with the Penguin on pages 2-4.