Batman: The Knight #6 – Chip Zdarsky, Writer; Carmine Di Giandomenico, Artist; Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: This series has done an amazing job so far of setting up Zdarsky’s Batman run, but no issue has hit as hard as this one. Bruce and his friend Anton, who have been training as spies and warriors together since they exposed the dark secret of the ninja school in the mountains, are now heading for Canada. Is Anton truly Khoa, aka Ghost-Maker? They look a lot alike. Is he in love with Bruce? Last issue made that seem pretty obvious. But now, they’re about to meet their match in the wilderness in the form of Luka Jongo, a swiss marksman who is about to be their zen master in the one art Bruce never wanted to learn—gunplay. A former spy and hitman for the Swiss government who abandoned his post, he’s the best at what he does—and has vowed to never do it again, only agreeing to take on the two young men if they vow to use their skills to disarm the world, rather than to use weapons to kill.
Both Bruce and Anton take to their training quickly, although they’re frustrated by Luka’s slow pace and caution. Seeing Bruce’s loss at the hands of a gun contrasted against Luka’s tragic origin is incredibly powerful, and this issue feels a lot like watching a slow-motion tragedy unfold. As Anton’s true nature is revealed and he turns on his trainer, the last few pages are some of the most brutal writing I’ve seen in a DC Comic in some time. As everyone is forced to either betray someone they care about or themselves, it leaves Bruce in the lowest point he’s been yet in this run. It’s not clear if this is the end of Anton’s time in the title, but if it is the character seems very well-set up for a return in the main book starting next month. Zdarsky is doing an incredible job of taking us inside Batman’s mind during a period we’ve only seen bits and pieces of, and this might very well become act one in an iconic Bat-run.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
