Reviewer: Tim Sheridan
Story Title: “Good Intentions”
Written by: Andersen Gabrych
Pencilled by: Pete Woods
Inked by: Cam Smith
Colored by: Jason Wright
Lettered by: Jared K Fletcher
Associate Editor: Michael Wright
Editor: Bob Shreck
Publisher: DC Comics
After months of set up, the War Games story finally feels like it’s going somewhere. I have been let down by the past two months of Batman comics, and was just about ready to give up on this story, but this issue has granted it a reprieve.
Batman has his friends and family staked out as Black Mask (posing as the now dead Orpheus) organizes all the villains (most of whom you’ve never seen before) in an ampitheater. Seems as though this was all part of Batman’s plan, except for the slain fellow hero. So when things don’t go the way Batman wants them to…well, they go way wrong.
Black Mask tells the villains he doesn’t really need them, so…they riot. They all throw hissy fits, and get angry. So of course, Batman attempts to swoop in and quell things. But he messes up and happens to fall in the middle of the ampitheater with hundreds of bad dudes (no, not that video game) all around him. It’s a particularly striking image, as it all goes wrong in a matter of seconds. Very few times before have we seen Batman so physically overwhelmed.
So he calls in his troops, and since he is now in control of the GCPD, they act too. But they’re not too keen on taking orders from him. The riot spreads outside now, and many many villains escape. This does not bode well for the rest of the city. Not to mention that the police now say they want to shoot “anyone in a mask.” So things could get a little hairy for the bat family too.
There really isn’t much to say about this issue, I’m sorry. It’s incredibly straightforward, and so there isn’t much to delve into. I was happy that things started to pick up in this story. Because otherwise it was just a waste of time and money.
Final Word: Best issue of War Games in a while, but it doesn’t really make up for months of weak stories.
