Absolute Batman #21 – Scott Snyder, Writer; Nick Dragotta, Artist; Frank Martin, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: Until now, Batman has been up against twisted villains whose strings are pulled by Jack Grimm. But now, he might be up against something even worse – Gotham itself. The twisted Joker has taken a quintet of young people with grudges against Batman and turned them into the Robins – a paramilitary force armed with massive mechs and tasked with taking down Batman by any means necessary. They cause massive property damage as the battle unfolds, with Batman spending as much time trying to clean up the fires as fighting them. Slade Wilson, who seems to have a personal vendetta against Alfred, only urges on the violence, but it becomes clear that Dick Grayson might be the only one of the group with a conscience. He’s an EMT and the oldest of the group, and Slade and Grimm haven’t quite managed to indoctrinate him like they have the others yet.
As Batman barely gets away with his life – with the help of a very unconventional attack method by the chaotic Harley Quinn – things continue to unravel in Gotham. The funeral of James Gordon (whose link to Bruce is fleshed out brilliantly in a flashback) finds Barbara Gordon confronting the Robins as she continues her journey towards her own heroic identity. Meanwhile, Bruce’s former friends, each transformed in their own way, grapple with their worst instincts as they try to hold on to what’s left of their humanity – if they even want to. And when the issue ends, it brings with it one of the most intense segments of the series as Bruce and Jack Grimm finally meet face to face. Ever since the original Batman run, Scott Snyder’s Joker has always been among the scariest I’ve ever read, but this is on a whole other level. The level of disturbing visuals by Nick Dragotta work absolutely perfectly to end the issue with literal shivers down your spine.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
