Reviewer: Mathan Erhardt
Story Title: Made of Wood Part Two
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Penciled by: Patrick Zircher
Inked by: Aaron Sowd
Lettered by: Todd Klein
Colored by: Jason Wright
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
The story so far is that a body has been discovered in Gotham. “What’s new about that†you ask? Well for one thing it bears the signature of a serial killer from over fifty years ago. It also is an unsolved case from Green Lantern’s heyday in Gotham. So now we know Bats and GL are on the case, who’s left? Jim Gordon. He found the body and he still has a hankering for a mystery so he investigates his own angles.
This issue begins with Bruce cracking some heads in an Irish pub. One un-cracked skull tries to escape only to get captured by Green Lantern. Bats and GL bond while gathering information. Gordon does such a good job investigating that it looks like he’s found the killer, unfortunately.
Brubaker is a great writer. The mystery got a little deeper, but the best part of the issue was the characterization and the interaction between Alan and Bruce. Bruce is actually Bruce Wayne, not just Batman without his mask on. Bruce has reverence for Alan Scott, and Brubaker conveys it perfectly. For once Batman is vulnerable. Bruce’s feelings of adoration for Alan Scott may be the only part of his childhood that survived his parent’s murder. While it was nice to have Alan admit that he wasn’t a detective, personally I feel that his character is diminished by the fact that he never followed up on the case, especially on as personal as this one.
The art is great, and detailed. It is crisp and clear. The colors make GL stand out in Bat’s world, which is how it should be. In some comics there can be confusion due to the art, but you find none of that here. My only qualm is the cover. But I’m not the biggest Tim Sale fan there is.
The back up tale this issue was cool. It’s about an animal control officer who finds the pet of one of Gotham’s more notorious citizens. It’s cute.
