Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Batman #51


The final issue, an epilogue if you will, to Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo's 4-plus year run on Batman comes to a close with what is very much a microcosm of Batman's self-titled comic during the New 52. Filled with some striking art, some questionable choices (why is Batman driving a penismobile?), humor, and a somewhat tantalizing mystery that ultimately leads nowhere all that interesting, Batman #51 is a fitting end to a period of the Dark Knight's history I'd rather forget.

After the lights go out in Gotham, Batman is on the scene to keep the peace. However, in a switch that's more than a little hard to swallow, nothing really happens on a night the lights went out in the crime capital of the DCU. While it works as a coda for the pair's run, this is one of the most forgettable Batman stories I've read recently (which is still better than most the New 52 mediocrity).

I don't know what Rebirth has in store for Batman going forward (other than adding a splash more blue to the Dark Knight's new costume), but I'm glad to close the book on the run that offered the Court of Owls, the Face-Off Joker, and Jim Batman as its most noteworthy accomplishments. Pass.

[DC, $3.99]

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