Batman: Off-World #5 – Jason Aaron, Writer; Doug Mahnke, Penciller; Jaime Mendoza, Inker; David Baron, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: DC has had a serious problem lately with books going wildly off-schedule, and rather than slotting in fill-in artists, they just let the books come out at their own pace. It’s frustrating, but also likely results in the better product – because stand-alone books like this hard-boiled sci-fi take on Batman are likely going to make excellent graphic novels when complete. It’s been several months since we left Batman in space, as he decided not to return to Earth after completing his initial mission and to instead head deeper into space to take on the empire of the Blakksun Twins. He lost the bounty hunter Ione, who he was starting to fall in love with, as she couldn’t stand his obsessive fixation on an impossible mission, and now wanders the galaxy alone with only a robot as his companion – just in time for Thanagarian warriors working for Blakksun to zero in on his ship.
The fight with the prime enforcer of the mission is the most Batman-esque this title has felt in a while, with Bruce going up against much more powerful enemies with a combo of guile and brute force. But along the way, the story takes a sharp turn into horror as we meet the main villains of the whole affair, and see just how much damage they can cause when defied. This story reminds me quite a bit of Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s masterful Warworld Saga, in that it shows just how intense the scale of these tyrants and the damage they cause can be outside of Earth’s orbit – something the heroes of the Justice League are solely unprepared for. One more massive betrayal, followed by a confrontation with the main villains, sets up a huge conflict for the final issue, which still has a lot of story to explore. Aaron’s first Batman tale might be an odd one, but it’s strongly executed and gorgeously drawn, with just the right amount of grit.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
