Ricky Church reviews Batman #41…
A new era of Batman has begun thanks to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo’s work on one of DC’s flagship superheroes. There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding this new status quo given the new look of the character as well as the identity of who is wearing the mask now. Batman #41 offers readers an intriguing look at this shake up and how its characters are coping in the wake of Endgame.
Snyder plays with the narrative as he jumps back and forth between time periods, showing us the events leading up to the new Batman’s debut. Its interesting to see how Commissioner Gordon, one of the lasting characters throughout the Batman mythos, decides to don the high tech Batsuit. A lot of emphasis was made on his knowledge of the police department and Gotham City itself, making him the perfect candidate to take up the mantle. There was also a nice callback to Gordon’s days as a marine, a defining bit of character history that often gets swept under the rug.
A lot of emphasis, however, wasn’t placed on Gordon’s relationship to Batman himself, though. The two of them have had a strong, solid partnership, yet it wasn’t mentioned a whole lot throughout this issue. One would think Gordon would be reluctant to become the new Batman because of his relationship with the original and how his disappearance affects Gordon personally. Granted, this is only the first issue of this story arc so those questions are bound to come up later. This issue only served as an introduction to the new atmosphere in Gotham.
One interesting note is how Gordon’s Batman is a deputized member of the Gotham City police, perhaps a nod back to the 60s and 70s era of Batman comics, as well as the 1966 television series, where Batman and Robin were deputized. This only strengthens the difference in how Gordon will operate as Batman, especially given his opinion that the original would have been more effective if he had stayed within the law.
Greg Capullo’s artwork is once again on point. His rendition of the new Batsuit is very detailed, especially in the way it moves. Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia similarly do well with their inks and colours. Much like the Zero Year arc, there is much more colour and vibrancy to this story than their previous Batman stories. It was also a nice surprise, given the controversy around the Bat-robot suit, to see how Snyder and Capullo subverted expectations regarding the suit and how it functions towards the end of the issue.
Batman #41 serves as a nice introduction into this storyline, easing readers into the new status quo. Many questions still remain from Endgame’s conclusion, but what is seen here is intriguing enough to push those questions aside for the moment. Gordon’s characterization is quite strong, though hopefully more focus will be given to his relationship with the real Batman as the story progresses. So far, Snyder and Capullo continue to mix it up with Batman and utilize cool, interesting new concepts to the mythos.
Ricky Church
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