Rating: 3.5/5- Just another bad day in Gotham.
The story of Arkham War is picking up pace. Villains are choosing sides and Gotham is about to fall into all-out war. A lot of things are happening at once and a new hero is born. Sounds like a lot of stuff is going on, right?
This issue, and the whole series in general, revolves around Bane and the Penguin. I’ve really enjoyed the character interactions between these two highly intelligent Batman- foes. Writer Peter Tomasi explores their love-hate relationship and the fact that they are friends despite the fact that they both want the same Gotham power base makes it that more interesting in a Batman-less Gotham. Their relationship really helps move the story along and explain certain plot points in a way that it doesn’t feel forced. Scot Eaton’s art is dark and edgy and helps set the mood for Tomasi’s story.
But, the name of the book is “Arkham War”, so you’ll need more characters than just Bane and the Penguin. For example- Mr. Freeze, but other villains just show up for brief one panel cameos. Instead of developing Bane and explaining his transformation, 3 pages are wasted on pointless scenes of fighting villains. If you want to emphasize that a war is going on, I suggest more wide spread or background shots. That being said, the Forever Evil environment really does these villains justice in this truly thrilling story
Reviewed by: Gilad Levin – gilad@comicspectrum.com
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