DC COMICS “THE NEW 52”
BATMAN….ISSUE 5….”FACE THE COURT”
WRITER: SCOTT SNYDER
ARTIST/PENCILS: GREG CAPULLO
INKS: JONATHAN GLAPION
Mexicus Prime: Holy Shit! This is one of the most enjoyable comics I’ve read in a long time. I’m not going to spoil anything on my half of this review (or try not to) just so the reader can hopefully come away like I did, dumbfounded. First off, I’d like to say that I heard an incredible amount of buzz from this issue. The reason for picking this particular issue up was to see if it lived up to this expectation everyone’s been singing about in the comic community. The “comic choir” was right. “Face the Court” was an amazing issue from beginning to end.
Greg Capullo, issue after issue has been knocking this series out of the park! This could be the best and most creative panels in the series thus far. The panel layout is one of the main treats in this issue as well as top notch ink work from Jonathan Glapion. I have many favorite panels in issue 5 that I took some time to just sit and absorb how disturbingly awesome they were. One of them was when Bruce’s parents show up in the issue pages 20 & 21 and hug him (you should probably assume a twist here). Finally was the climax from the great build of the issue (just before Robin demands they get a new bat signal) where our mentally unstable hero is “confronted”. HOLY SHIT!!!
The story for this issue was psychotic, intriguing, and very mysterious. Right from the jump, it reads like you are watching a movie (very well-paced & balanced reveals). As the story progresses you get entangled into the scene and before you know it, you’re reading a book that you could’ve sworn the pages were stapled together wrong. I would like to point a small one but an idea to think about throughout the read. SPOILER: Pay close attention to the color when BATMAN is trying to “get to the dark” and when the scene comes to an end the color from which an OWL is present. I challenge you to read this issue for that reason alone a few times to really sink yourself into the psychotic-ness of the issue. Black is calming in its secluded nature. White is more revealing – stops deer in the tracks sort of speak. White also can be very disorienting like when you walk out of a movie theater during a bright day. Take these ideas and re-read the issue if you didn’t feel that you got your money’s worth. I’m sure you’ll be very happy you took the extra read to enjoy this book again.
Vagatron: I had a luxury with this issue that Mexicus Prime didn’t, I have been reading this series from the beginning and over the past few months, Batman has steadily made it to the top of my favorite DC re- launches. The Court of the Owls storyline is turning out to be what I believe will be called a classic in my book. The art of Greg Capullo is very reminiscent of Miller’s Dark Knight. In this issue Batman has been missing for eight days and no one knows what has happened to him. The first three pages of the book set this part up; the rest of the book is the story of Batman’s decent into insanity! He has been trapped in a labyrinth beneath the city. No food, only water. Drugged we are led to presume.
The storytelling is top notch, but the biggest attraction of this book is the amazing ‘gimmick’ that is used to help us feel a bit of Batman’s growing insanity. 13 pages into the book the pages shift making the reader have to turn the book clockwise to continue reading. Six more pages in I was forced to turn it clockwise, yet again. For the next few pages (with the exception of the ads) I was reading the book upside-down. The last page I read is a splash page with an image so jarring that when I turn to the next and final page I am a bit disoriented due to the fact that, in order to read it, I have to turn the book back to its original upright position.
I love this title, and I particularly love this issue. I think the overall storytelling will remain solid in the issues to come, but I sincerely doubt Snyder and Capullo can top the overall awesomeness of this issue. After Mr. Morrison had seemingly destroyed my love of the character, these guys are bringing me back to Batman and to DC comics in a big way!