As the events of Blackest Night continue to wreck havoc upon the entire universe, many continue to face the threat head on. Heroes do their best to fight back and turn the tide in their favor, but the overwhelming number of Black Lanterns increase, as each victim they claim becomes another soulless recruit to their cause. This is the bleak scenario Gotham City faces now, and even with a new Batman and Robin protecting the city, Blackest Night: Batman #2 clearly shows that supernatural forces aren't exactly the dynamic duo's specialty.
Blackest Night: Batman #2
Written By: Peter J. Tomasi
Illustrated By: Ardian Syaf
With time running out fast and the whole situation already relayed to them by Deadman, Batman and Robin race to the Gotham City Police Department to save as many lives as they can from the growing menace that is the Black Lantern Corps. Making a quick pass at the police armory and arming themselves with flamethrowers for the battle ahead, the Dynamic Duo prepare to give their best, even if the entire situation looks grim. Meanwhile, Commissioner Gordon and his daughter, Barbara, are caught in the midst of the carnage, as the newly risen King Snake and other undead Gotham villains make quick work of the GCPD forces. Will Batman and allies arrive in time to save them, or will they be the next victims of the Black Lantern onslaught?
If you've been following the Blackest Night trail as I have, I'm sure you're aware that there isn't a place on Earth (or the universe for that matter) that's left untouched by the invasion of the Black Lantern Corp. If you ever wanted to see how bloody things can get, the second issue of BN: Batman shows a massive display of carnage and gore that will literally have you feeling sorry for every Gothamite prone to danger. The fact alone that writer Peter J. Tomasi indiscriminately has the newly risen Black Lantern villains kill off innocents here and there is a testament to his ability to portray a Gotham that's not prepared to handle situations like these. Sure, they got insane guys who commit mad crimes like these everyday in the city, but to have these same dead guys come back to life and empowered by mystical means... that's ten times worse.
Given the supernatural premise already established thanks to the inclusion of Deadman, there's a bit of hope on Dick Grayson's side that he has a fighting chance to survive the onslaught of the Black Lanterns. Still, I was a bit puzzled as to why they had to rely on the GCPD armory. For someone who's supposed to be Batman's protege and successor, shouldn't he know by now that Bruce is a rich guy who has every toy for every contingency? Maybe he's new to the game or he felt the situation called for desperate measures, but the fact alone that Dick and Damian had to rely on other tools beyond their own was somewhat of a letdown. Damian was also uncharacteristically light-hearted, compared to Grant Morrison's depiction of the kid, who's snotty and bratty as hell. On a similar note, I found Red Robin's "timely arrival" to be a quick one. Wasn't he in Paris just a few hours ago? And if he's back with the Batplane, does that mean Tim brought the Batplane with him on his journey to search for Bruce in the Red Robin series? Those are my only gripes so far. What I am impressed with, though, is the depiction of the undead Gotham residents tormenting Bats and his posse. King Snake establishes himself as the definite de facto leader of this particular Black Lantern group, and I did enjoy Blockbuster's taunt to Dick, showing continuity is well established here. Is there also a hint of Dick and Barbara reconciling somewhere? Lots of questions come to mind really, and by the conclusion of this issue, you have a situation that looks really bad for the proteges, now that their mommies and daddies are back to play. Tomasi playing with reader's heads... in a good way.
Again, the art holds up to my expectations. With his work here, Ardian Syaf definitely establishes himself as a top talent that could be utilized in future big budget projects. I'd love to see his work in the main Bat series, he's got great pencils that could work well to attract more readers for the Dark Knight. Speaking of other artists, don't let the cover by Andy Kubert fool you. As much as many like to believe it is, this isn't a Ghostbusters meets Batman book where the Dark Knight's actions make a difference. They hardly do at all, given the crisis they face.
So, now that hell has literally come to Gotham, readers have to wait for the conclusion to this Blackest Night tie-in next month. If you're loving every single moment of zombie mayhem happening in the DC Universe, you owe it to yourselves to pick up and see what's happening to the new Batman as Black Lanterns ravage his community. Dick Grayson may come off as being the one holding the short end of the stick in the hero community when it comes to powers, but the character of Batman has always been about will and determination, a human who uses wits and physical means to get the job done. He faces tough odds now, but Batman always finds a way... doesn't he? We'll see how it goes for Dick next issue.
Score - 7/10
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