Almost two years has passed since Darkseid blasted Bruce Wayne with his Omega Beams and sent him back through time. Back in October, Bruce Wayne returned to the present and has made quite a few changes, with Batman Incorporated being the biggest. Now, with superstar writer/artist David Finch brings us the first storyline in a new ongoing title called Batman: The Dark Knight.
Let me first start by saying that while I can appreciate everything that Grant Morrison has done with Batman over the past couple of years, most of the storylines he has written since Batman R.I.P. have not really been that great to me. I feared that Batman was being taken to a place that he could not come back from. And then when Bruce Wayne publicly admitted to funding Batman and creating Batman, Incorporated, I was less than thrilled. While I still have my doubts about how Batman, Inc. will workout in the long run, I was thrilled when I picked up Batman: The Dark Knight #1.
I think it is safe to say that many Batman readers regard "Batman: Hush" to be one of the greatest Batman stories ever written, and drawn for that matter. Jeph Loeb's uncanny knack for knowing just how to write Batman's internal monologue along with Jim Lee's superb pencils, "Hush" became my all-time favorite Batman storyline. Until I picked up Batman: Dark Knight #1, I didn't think that anyone would be able to match the same quality of the Loeb/Lee teamup.
The issue starts off with a flashback. Bruce Wayne is a child, 1 year before his parents are killed. In this flashback, we are introduced to Bruce's first love and childhood friend, Dawn Golden. We see, as children, Bruce and Dawn share an obvious, close connection. We also learn that she was his first heartbreak in college.
After the flashback, we are taken to the present. Dawn Golden has been kidnapped and is missing. While Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD are working to find her, Batman (Bruce Wayne) is working on his end to gain his own leads as to who may have taken her.
While on a stakeout outside of a warehouse, Batman observes a large figure forcfully throw a man through a door and into the alley. The large man is none other than Killer Croc. But something is different about him. He has been injecting himself with low-yield Venom, increasing his strength. After a full-out, action packed alley fight, Batman gets the upper hand on Croc and interrogates him as to the whereabouts of Dawn Golden.
As Bruce digs deeper, it only gets dirtier by a surprise appearance by an old avian foe, whose exact involvement is yet to be known.
As I stated earlier, I regard "Batman: Hush" to be the best Batman storyline ever written, but David Finch's first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight #1 promises to be the most epic Batman tale in the last 4 years.
The artwork is phenominal. The sharp lines and precise detail makes each panel explode off the page. It's dark and gritty, while also being clear and concise. DC Comics has being seeing Finch's artwork most recently on the covers of Brightest Day and Green Lantern. But, I would say that if you are a person who looks at the artwork first before you can decide to read the book, then you will be more than pleased when you open the cover to see the action-packed panels that lie within.
While David Finch is most widely known for his epic artwork, his writing is phenominal as well. One of the tricky things with Batman is that the character doesn't say a lot, but he DOES think a lot. To be a good Batman writer, you have to be able to get inside his head and write a good internal monologue. Jeph Loeb had an uncanny knack for that, and David Finch proved that he, too, has a perfect understanding of the inner workings of Batman. And while writing the internal monologue and dialogue of Batman is important, you also have to remember that at the heart of every great Batman story is a great mystery, and Finch grabs your attention in the first page. Finch has created a mystery that involves you as the reader, compiling the clues with Batman so that you are given the same information as Batman, letting you solve the case with him.
One other thing that I feel I should point out is how much this issue/storyline draws from the Batman: Arkham Asylum videogame that came out last summer. Before the release of the first issue, Finch was in an interview where he stated that a lot of character design, environmental design, and even story aspects that would appear in Batman: The Dark Knight would show similarities to what we saw in the game. For instance, the look of Killer Croc, the Batmobile, the presence of Venom, and even the "detective-mode" infra-scan lenses in his cowl. It was a great surprise to see it incorporated into the book and I look forward to seeing more of it. If you enjoyed the game, then you'll love this issue!!
After reading this issue, I sighed with relief. This is the storyline I've been waiting for since Bruce's return and I can't wait to see how the story escalates. If you're a Batman fan, or even if you're not but you enjoy good storytelling and phenominal artwork, then I suggest you buy the first issue of Batman: The Dark Knight #1. It is worth every cent and will leave you itching to know what happens next.