“War Crimes Part One: To the Victor Go the Spoils”
Writer: Anderson Gabrych
Penciller: Pete Woods
Inker: Bit
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Colorist: Jason Wright
Assoc Editor: Nachie Castro
Editor: Matt Idelson
Published by DC Comics
The main story here is the first part of “War Crimes”, the sequel to last fall’s epic Bat-crossover “War Games”, which for the most part, was a bust. Many felt that it was too big, too long, and too pointless. And to some extent, I agree. But I’m a sucker for big epic Batman stories, so I gave it some slack. But even so, it was not nearly as good as it could or should have been.
The ending was also a bit of a letdown. It was just anticlimactic, and not much had changed. The main thing was that Black Mask was now in charge of Gotham’s underworld. Oh, and Robin died.
What?
Yeah, that’s right. See for a few months, Stephanie Brown, formerly known as The Spoiler, took the mantle of Robin, and she went and got herself killed.
So now “War Crimes” picks up on all those threads.
First of all, because this is a four part story, and not twenty four, things are already moving quicker. There is no time for useless set up or red herrings now, they get right to the story. The media is bashing Batman and the GCPD for the gang wars, and that’s getting everyone upset. The fact that Steph was Robin is also public knowledge now does not bode well for Batman.
He goes out in search of his friend Leslie Thompkins and her group of nurses who took care of Steph. Well one of them is dead, framing Batman, and Leslie has skipped town. So it’s all a little confusing and frustrating for Bats right now. On top of all that, it turns out that Stephanie shouldn’t have died. She was stable, and was getting better.
Meanwhile, one of the people who is getting the media into a frenzy is Aaron Black. His face is mangled, and Batman seems to know who he really is, but I don’t. I have to admit, that mystery has got me. But just as he is about to reveal who he is….Joker shows up, and drops a little bomb (verbally) on Batman.
Gabrych’s script is serviceable. He’s not one of my favorite Batman writers, but he’s obviously got a love for these characters and is shines through. Pete Wood’s art looks a little rougher than usual, and it works great here. These two work very well off one another.
“The Beast Beneath”
Writer: Anderson Gabrych
Penciller: Tommy Castillo
Inker: Rodney Ramos
Colorist: Jason Wright
Letterer: Nick J Napolitano
Asst Editor: Brandon Montclare
Editor: Bob Schreck
The backup in this issue had me a bit lost (as I did not read the last issue), but it focuses on Killer Croc seemingly wanting to find a cure for his condition. The art is a little rough, as it should be, and the story of Croc is both tragic and compelling. The only thing that weighs this down is the turn by the doctor. It’s a little cheesy and cliché. But hey, it’s nice to see Croc wanting to be a better man, right?
