Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Batman The Dark Knight #23.3: Clayface
DC Comics
Layman and Richards
Another awesome 3D cover provides another throwaway story. This one is at least mildly amusing as Layman gives some life to the newer version of Clayface. The book doesn't do anything memorable but it raises a smile here and there. It's a fine read that loosely ties to the Forever Evil event and defines Clayface a little bit but is fairly forgettable.
The book opens with Clayface hanging around some criminals about to pull off a job. Clayface gets a nerve hit during an interaction with one of the thugs and it sets off his temper. This is linked to an earlier incident when he was just an actor (pre-Clayface) and helps to establish a pattern of this behavior. There are a couple of good one-liners in here. Thankfully, it steers clear of telling another origin story.
Then, Clayface finds the world is now without Batman and he does pretty much what he does. Seemingly bored, he takes it upon himself to take out some rogue group of good guys. In the process he angers some others and he throws a temper tantrum again. It counters an earlier Batman comic where Clayface had a more devious mind, one capable of challenging Batman. It's all fine but it isn't going to reinvent the character too much, but there is something to be said for simply being entertained, which this does.
The book's best part is the interaction that Clayface has with the other characters. It's a very good depiction of the classic react-without-thinking mentality. Basically, Clayface is just a big dummy and Layman works it well.
The artwork is okay but not great. The challenge here is that the cover shows a very detailed and scaly version of Clayface. It's a tall order to live up to and inside the cover we get an entirely different version of the character. He's more of the blob-mass variety instead of the layered or chiseled version of the character. The book looks fine but it isn't anything memorable in terms of art.
Clayface is a C-list Batman villain. He will never rise above that classification. Layman embraces that and brings him down to the dumb level, which seems more fitting than the variety that can fool Batman with his shape shifting. If you like an entertaining, throwaway read with a really cool cover then pick this up.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
