Batman: Urban Legends #14 – Vita Ayala, Ryan Cady, Che Grayson, Mark Russell, Writers; Nikola Cizmesija, Guiseppe Camuncoli/Cam Smith; Serg Acuna, Karl Mostert, Artists; Nick Filardi, Sebastian Cheng, Ivan Plascencia, Trish Mulvihill, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Two new stories join the current mainstays this month—how do they compare to the past issues?
In chapter four of “Bound to our Will,” Batman and Zatanna face a devastating loss—the seeming death of John Constantine, at the hands of their magical enemies. But we know Constantine and he’s good at getting out of these fixes. One risky move by Batman later, and Zatanna is left to figure out the case on her own while Batman gets a less-welcome partner in this adventure. Bruce and Constantine’s banter is a lot of fun as they navigate an inhuman realm and discover a supernatural conspiracy going back thousands of years. There are quite a few great Easter eggs in this story that keep it fresh from issue to issue.
Next up, Ryan Cady and Guiseppe Camuncoli team up Batman and the Question in a one-off story. This is the original Vic Sage version, and he’s as much of a conspiracy maniac as ever. The art style has a bit of a retro vibe, and so does the plot—Vic Sage suspects that Bruce Wayne is corrupt, and wants Batman to help him investigate. It’s not clear if this is actually a true throwback to the 1970s, but it is a flashback to the early days of Question and Batman’s careers, and it does a great job of playing Batman’s practical nature off Question’s loopier paranoia—with an incredibly clever last-act twist.
“Memory Lane” by Che Grayson and Serg Acuna is a new Birds of Prey story, spinning out of a tale Grayson did in the digital-first Bat-book a while back. I don’t particularly think the Birds work without Oracle, but let’s see how this latest version shakes out. Featuring Katana, Lady Shiva, Miracle Molly, and a new character named Ghost, it’s much more of an outlaw team than previous versions as they go up against a mysterious tech baron with a sinister plan. I wasn’t expecting to like this one, because it doesn’t feel at all like the Birds, but it’s a clever story with some inventive twists when it comes to the metahuman threat.
Finally, it’s part four of Mark Russell’s Ace story, as Batman is captured and about to be auctioned off to the highest villainous bidder. Meanwhile, Ace and his alliance of escaped animals get up to adventures and try to stay ahead of their enemies. In between pizza antics, this story continues to have some real emotional gut punches as we find out more about how this motley crew became the enhanced warrior animals they are today. As the upcoming confrontation between the Russian gang and the animals builds, it continues to be one of the best stories to appear in this anthology.
All in all, another four winners as this anthology continue to deliver.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
