Reviewer : Tim Byrne
Story Title : Human Nature (Part 4)
Writer : A.J Lieberman
Penciller : Al Barrionuevo
Inker : Bit
Letterer : Phil Balsman
Colorist : Brad Anderson
Editor : Matt Idelson
Publisher : DC Comics
To be honest, when I saw this title in my weekly list of comics collected from my comic shop, I had nearly forgotten it was on my pull list.
Although there have been one or two stand-out stories since I commenced this Title (issue #50), nothing is more noticeable than the bland way in which developments proceed.
One of the problems with this story, involving Bruce, Poison Ivy and Hush, is a dreadful certainty that something approximating the status quo will be the end result of the story.
For example, Hush makes a thoroughly predictable revelation to Ivy in this issue, which is countered by an even-more predictable gambit by Batman. So the end result was? Not much. One of the difficulties of a fringe title such as this is the knowledge that any good or even great stories have to take place within pretty stern limitations on what can or can’t be done with the characters which populate the story.
Even the cliff-hanger at the end of this story, which certainly appears to represent an enormous change to the current situation, doesn’t really mean much at all. It is fairly obvious that the two intersecting story-lines of this arc are going to intersect in a way in which a pretty foreseeable ‘sacrifice’ will have to be made, restoring the previous situation.
There is little zing in the writing here, although there is a cute comment about how Bruce Wayne needs to realise that ‘money is no substitute for intelligence’. This is particularly appealing, given the source.
The art is average, bordering on annoying. The depiction of Hush, although arguably more realistic in its tattered and loose bandages, is creatively annoying, as it simply draws attention to how ludicrous and unworkable such a get-up would be. And why does Hush look like an African American in half of the panels in which he appears?
Anyway, I suppose the conclusion still has a chance to ‘wow’ me, although I won’t be holding my breath.
