Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Batman #48
DC Comics
Snyder, Capullo, Miki & Plascencia

This issue of "Batman" begins the process of knocking Jim Gordon out of the Bat suit and putting Bruce Wayne back into the suit. The comic is constructed superbly and reads extremely well because of it. The book struggles to make the villain seem important because the means to get Wayne back into the suit really is a foregone conclusion. In short, the threat lacks drama. The comic is a good read and has some fantastic artwork. This is worth checking out.

This is part eight of the arc. Despite having eight issues to build up the bad guy, Bloom, seems inconsequential. He almost seems like a cartoon as if this is a nod to 1950s Red Scare type story. It just doesn't seem like Bloom is a viable threat and the story elements don't really make a ton of sense. He's planted seeds around Gotham and the population is fighting over them to embed them into their bloodstream. It's a strange arc that just doesn't seem like it fits in with a "Batman" comic.

The highlight of the comic is Bruce's conversation with a character that appears to be The Joker. While this conversation is occurring, Gordon is losing ground in a big way against Bloom. The comic alternates between Gordon and Wayne for a bit and this is an excellent way to tell this type of story. The Joker's role is a strange one because of how it ends. However, the argument is made to leave things the way they are and not go back. It's a very clever interaction.

Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle ReviewsThe artwork is very strong as usual. Capullo captures the moments between The Joker and Bruce Wayne with equal importance and drama as the scenes where Gordon is struggling with Bloom. The book has a couple of specific panels that are extremely well rendered, such as the angry, but defeated look on Gordon’s face. The finale in the book is about as good as it gets and Capullo really punctuates the moment beautifully. This is a great looking comic book.

"Batman" continues the story where Bloom is defeating Gordon while Bruce struggles with his memory and his destiny. The comic has an excellent component where the story alternates between Bruce coming to terms with who he really is while Gordon is losing the battle against Bloom. The comic is backed up with fantastic artwork and provides an excellent final page. The comic's drawback is how Bloom's role in the plot just seems so secondary to getting Bruce back into the Bat suit. The villain just seems too odd with too strange of a means to destroying the population of Gotham for a Batman story. It will be interesting to see how this ends. This is a good comic and one that is worth a read.

4 out of 5 Geek Goggles