Batman #11 – Matt Fraction, Writer; Jorge Jimenez, Artist; Tomeu Morey, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: It’s strange to call this the calm before the storm, given how action-packed this issue is, but with the Bad Seeds event looming, this issue is mostly about getting the chess pieces in place. Lady Ojo, the mysterious assassin sent after Bruce Wayne, is ready to resume her contract – and makes clear with her blades to a corporate representative that she’s not about to be bought out of it. Penguin, meanwhile, has assembled the entire old-school Gotham criminal infrastructure to strike back against the Minotaur, who targeted them all in the most personal way possible a few issues back. And Bruce tries to smooth things over with Dr. Zeller, who has a lot of unanswered questions about Damian and Bruce’s strange relationship. I was a little iffy about how that bond was portrayed earlier with Bruce lashing out at Damian after the secret ID snafu, but Fraction has had some great scenes between them recently.
When Ojo strikes, things pick up the pace a lot, as Batman doesn’t just have to face off against one of the deadliest villains he’s ever encountered – he also has to deal with the threat of the GCPD, who Savage has ordered to make him target #1. Gordon and Bullock are two of the last honest men associated with the police at this point, as they’re trying to protect a witness who might be able to bring Savage down, but as honorable as Gordon is, how much can he stick his neck out when his daughter is in Savage’s clutches? There’s a great sense of tightening the screws through this issue as Ivy and Savage prepare their next big move, but it’s also got enough time for some really fun moments throughout. The big cliffhanger was already spoiled by DC in advance, but there are some fun surprises thrown in there in the cliffhanger that make me pretty excited to see where this story goes.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
