Thinking that he has already won, Batman tries to ascertain who brought the five assassins to Gotham. Little does he know that the dark designs against him are only beginning. Spoilers for Batman #87 follow.
James Tynion IV’s first issue on Batman was a solid start to his run. Fun action, solid characterization, and an engrossing set-up to a new mystery all permeated the issue. The same thing is absolutely the case here, just with a bit more of a horror tinge to it. Also, this is the first glimpse of what the rotating team of artists will look like for the book with Guillem March taking over here. And, simply put, the variation of artists is a good thing.
From the first panel of this issue, there’s an immediate off-putting feeling about the story being presented here. Not that this is a bad thing. It’s actually quite good. There is definitely more of a horror influence in this issue than in the previous and it sets the tone wonderfully here. There’s an extremely creepy, opening scene between The Riddler and Penguin which really works incredibly. Riddler is completely malnourished and he looks like he’s going through a body horror-style transformation. As for The Penguin, we get to see the insanity of the character on full display, even though he’s only in a couple of pages. It’s pretty great.
As for the actual Batman portions of this issue, they do not disappoint. There’s a great scene between Batman and Catwoman, as well as one between him and Deathstroke. Tynion really knows how to write Batman so well and just has a fantastic grasp on the character. It’s such an enjoyable experience to see how Batman plays detective in this issue, even if it’s not the most in-depth mystery right now. It’s just fun to see the character figuring things out.
There’s also a new Bat-gadget introduced in this issue, and it’s probably the weakest part of the issue. On paper, it sounds like a great idea, but in practice, not so much. The biggest reason for that is that it just looks ridiculous. That’s saying a lot for a Batman comic, but it really does. It’s also not all that practical either. Now, being practical isn’t a huge issue in comics, as most things align with the “rule of cool.” However, since it doesn’t look cool, the lack of actual practicality stands out even greater.
What works in this issue though comes down to Guillem March’s art. March really brings everything full circle in tone and execution in this issue. His style isn’t even close to as clean as Tony S. Daniels’ style is, but that’s for the better in this issue. The art really brings out the unsettling nature that the story is trying to convey. Whether it’s the first image of a naked Riddler whose spine is almost poking through his skin to Chesire lying on the pavement in a pool of her blood, March nails every beat in this issue. His inks are suitably moody when they need to be, which really adds another layer to the tone of this issue. And, as always Tomey Morey absolutely kills it on colors.
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