Batman: Widening Gyre #2 – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Art), Art Thibert (Inks), and Art Lyon (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I found the first issue of Widening Gyre to be decent enough to give the Kevin Smith series at least one more look. I’ve got my expectations set a bit lower than they were when I went into reviewing Cacophony, so I wouldn’t be totally shocked if I wind up being pleasantly surprised by Smith’s latest.

The Story: Batman gets another assist from the goat-faced vigilante during the rescue of a child. Afterwards, Bruce gets an unexpected visit from a beautiful lady that he has a history with. Unfortunately, he may not be able to make it to their second date…

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Two issues in and the best thing that Widening Gyre has going for it is the goat-faced guy. He’s designed well (artistically) and the way he’s used throughout the second issue of the series is effective enough to keep me interested in reading. Unfortunately though, the goat guy (I believe Kevin Smith’s planning on calling him Baphomet) is the only thing about the story that’s hooking me in so far. A trend seems to be developing where bad guys pop into the story in a random way, with no lead in and for no purpose other than to have an action beat/appearance by the goat person. Maybe the appearance by Silver St. Cloud is supposed to be big, but I wouldn’t know since, admittedly, I’m reading Gyre as a casual Batman fan.

Lackluster plot aside, Smith’s writing is quite sharp. His use of dry humor and pop culture references add a lot of personality to his story and the characters part of it. The downside to Smith’s style is that it feels as though Bruce Wayne’s tone swings wildly back and forth. I realize he’s a moody guy, but the shift from funny and casual to serious and remorseful is pretty jarring.

After reading two issues of Gyre, I can safely say that Walter Flanagan’s artwork for Gyre is quite a bit better than it was for Cacophony. The set pieces feel bigger (the opening scene of Widening Gyre #2 is particularly stylish and well executed), the character work is far more consistent, and the action flows in a more natural way. A few panels in Gyre #2 are a bit rough though. Robin’s pose early on is a bit disturbing, Silver St. Cloud’s face has a weird shape at times, and Bruce Wayne’s “surprised” facial expression looks almost creepy. Also, I have to mention that Flanagan’s got a bit of a problem keeping bodies looking consistent. That said, I have to give Flanagan credit for the way he tries to construct scenes as cinematically as possible. That could very easily be the reason why things occasionally look a bit off.

Conclusion: Batman: Widening Gyre #2 is solid enough, but the story definitely needs to pick up a bit before I can fully commit to the entire series.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny