Reviewer: Iain Burnside
Story Title: As the Crow Flies part 2 – Partners in Crime
Written by: Judd Winick
Penciled by: Dustin Nguyen
Inked by: Richard Friend
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Clem Robins
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
With the announcement of the 25-part crossover War Games and the main storylines revolving around yet another replacement Robin and the further skewing of the Hush character, it seems you have to look outside the regular Batman titles to find something worth reading these days. Critical praise has been lavished on the likes of Gotham Central and Birds of Prey but precious little else. It seems that Batman, much like Superman, is only really interesting when taken out of context and approached from a different perspective than would normally be the case. Certainly Batman has done precious little to live up to its hype as of late. The Loeb & Lee run was a success financially but seems somewhat lacking in retrospect, while the Azzarello & Risso run became so padded with clichés it turned into parody. Thankfully however, things are starting to turn around a bit with Winick, Nguyen & Friend running the show.
Things get off to a winning start right from the off thanks to the beautiful painted covers provided by Matt Wagner. This issue is fronted by an imposing drawing of the Batman himself, as Wagner takes his pulp character design from the Trinity series and imbues it with a gritty nature perfectly tuned to the tone of the comic inside. If more of Marvel’s generic cover poses were done this well then nobody could dare complain. The interior work is equally capable, with Nguyen and Friend keeping the same noir style of Risso’s Broken City but managing to bring a touch more vibrancy to the proceedings. The opening encounter between Batman and local mob boss Eddie “The Buck†Buccelli exemplifies this perfectly. From Batman’s silhouette looming unseen in the window to dragging Buccelli through it into the sewer with a Batarang, the artwork reflects the same visceral effervescence seen in Jock’s work on The Losers. You can keep the steroid poseurs Jim Lee offers; give me these dirty urban nightmares any day of the week.
And a dirty urban nightmare seemingly suits Winick down to the ground. It is refreshing to see a writer not get tangled up in the psychological trauma of Bruce Wayne and instead focus on the detective instincts of Batman instead. Following the death of two crooks who had suddenly gone insane last issue, Gotham’s protector has a sense that someone higher up the food chain is involved and, determined to resolve this before any further damage is done, he taps the connected Buccelli for a name. He learns, as we did last month, that the Penguin is involved. Without breaking sweat, he promptly swoops down on the aforementioned Mr. Cobblepot and takes him away before the nervous bodyguards have a clue what is happening. The message is simple and strong, “Whatever you are up to – stop. I’m watching.â€
Following this pivotal scene it is game on for our two leads. Batman retires to the cave for a quick consultation with Robin (giving us a much-heralded Editor’s Note informing us this takes place before Robin #125) whilst playing the waiting game. Batman knows that now Penguin’s had his self-styled reputation challenged head on, he will inevitably over-react. The best thing to do is to wait for the slip-up and capitalize on it. Whilst a lesser writer would have had Batman go off on one, cracking heads for no reason because he is a violent psychopath, which is blatantly not the case, Winick obviously has a greater level of respect for the character. Batman is a very smart individual, and playing the human chess game with Penguin is a neat little touch that reflects this essential component of his psyche.
As for Penguin, his conceited persona comes to the forte following this abrupt encounter with Batman as he takes out his frustrations on the Scarecrow, recently employed to concoct drugs that will keep his hired goons under his thumb. The condescending attitude throughout this brief conversation, which is really more of a slating, reinforces the vast differences between Penguin and Scarecrow perfectly. One views himself as a successful, stylish businessman while the other views himself as a misunderstood chemical poet, yet neither one is what they believe themselves to be. As set-up for an inevitable future confrontation it does the job perfectly and also furthers two important plot elements. Firstly, we have the burgeoning relationship between Crowe and his lab assistant, Linda Friitawa, an albino who lost her medical license and seems to worship her supervisor’s talents. With her reassurances only spurring him on further, Crowe begins to turn to his dark side in order for the pharmacist within him to be placated and rise to the challenges set by Penguin. This introduces us to the second, unknown, element that is the Scarebeast.
The Scarebeast appears out of left-field right at the very end of the book, slaughtering five of Penguin’s finest men as they prepare to go to meet the “fat little freak†and, to be frank, it looks absolutely f*cking beautiful. I’ve harped on about Nguyen and Friend’s work here but the three page gradual build-up to the last page reveal of this monster took me by surprise and is laid-out and drawn to such good effect I was mesmerized. Whether this hideous creation was indeed created and unleashed by Scarecrow as retaliation to Penguin’s violent requests or if there is some other explanation, it has already done the job – I want the next issue now, dammit! I want answers, I want the consequences and most of all I want to see it in action again! This is episodic storytelling at its best, backed up by art of the highest calibre. Thankfully rush to clear the schedules for War Games has brought issue #628 forward to May 26th, so the wait will not be so agonizing.
