Reviewer: Tim Byrne
Story Title : Under The Hood, Part 2 of 4
Written by: Judd Winick
Penciled by: Doug Mahnke
Inked by: Tom Nguyen
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Rob Leigh
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
The hunt for the Red Hood continues, as we move closer towards the moment in the last issue when his/her identity is revealed to Batman. Meanwhile, Black Mask continues in his role as head of crime in Gotham, while managing the psychotic impulses of Dr Freeze. And a new obstacle for Batman to face is revealed in a surprising final splash page.
Although this story is well-written (to an extent) there are a number of problems that must be laid at the foot of Editor Bob Schreck and writer Judd Winick.
The first occurs in the first few pages of this issue, when immediately after Batman’s voice-over comments that ‘I can’t rely on anyone anymore.’, he turns to meet Nightwing. At first I thought this paradox was meant for dramatic emphasis, but when Batman partners up with Nightwing for the rest of the issue, it makes the initial comments by Batman all the more puzzling.
And what the heck is Nightwing doing there anyhow? Although he makes a passing reference to his leg injury (as suffered in War Games) no reference at all is made to the supposedly significant discarding of his costume which took place at the end of Nightwing #100. Now this isn’t a matter of a villain being out of prison when they should be inside. This is a major, major point from an important sister title that is just effectively ignored in the main Batman title.
Another minor quibble is that on one page, the word ‘taut’ is misspelled as ‘taught’. Not much to be sure, but when I’m reading a book put together by professionals, I want the English to be correct.
Anyway, the meat and potatoes of the story continue, with the tried and true storyline of the mystery villain. The normal comments are made by Batman about how the hooded figure is ‘familiar’ and so on. To be honest, the resolutions of these mysteries in recent times have been less than stunning, so I’m just following the story. The situation revealed on the last page looks promising, and I look forward to a good old-fashioned slug-fest, with Batman’s intellect also coming to the fore.
The involvement of Black Mask seems like an unnecessary sub-plot at this point, but it may certainly be something which ties into the remainder of the arc.
The art is serviceable, although Batman is looking more and more like Judge Dredd every day. Freeze and Black Mask are well-rendered, and the Red Hood’s costume looks much more functional and intimidating than I had expected.
