★★★★★ 5
Scott Snyder and Co. knock it out of the park
Going into this book, I was pretty apprehensive. I knew that it was a story that came as a direct of result of Grant Morrison's trainwreck of an arch that included Batman RIP and I knew that it had Dick Grayson as Batman instead of actual Batman Bruce Wayne. So the build up was awful, but man, if this isn't one of the finest Batman stories ever penned.
Fair warning: this thing is BLEAK. Possibly the darkest Batman story I've ever read. The oppressive atmosphere is captured beautifully in the artwork (alternately Jock and Francavilla). It contains easily the most disturbing panel ever in a Batman comic and I'm honestly hard pressed to think of another one, period. In short, the artwork is spectacular and is the worth the price of admission alone.
However, it's the writing that will have you hooked from page one. When I first received this in the mail, I casually picked it up, expecting to flip through and read it later. As soon as I started the first page, though, I couldn't put it down until it was done. The whole thing is just so spectacular. My misgivings about Dick Grayson as Batman completely evaporated when I got further in. Dick Grayson makes an excellent Batman, and what's more, it feels like Dick Grayson being Batman is actually essential to the story. This isn't an instance where it could have just as easily been Bruce Wayne in the cowl, it HAS to be Dick Grayson.
Not only does Dick Grayson get a chance to out-Batman even Bruce Wayne, it could very well be the best James Gordon story ever written. Him struggling with his son's problems (I don't want to delve too much into the plot for fear of spoilers) can at times be genuinely heartbreaking, and adds a lot of depth to a character that's more often that not portrayed as Batman's errand boy (even more so than Robin, sometimes).
So basically I was going into this expecting a good, not great, story to tide me over until the new Scott Snyder Batman New 52 trade comes out, and instead got what is easily one of the finest Batman stories ever written. I will never doubt Scott Snyder (or Dick Grayson) ever again.
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Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2013
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