Reviewer: Tim Stevens
Story Title: The Away Team
Written by: Judd Winick
Pencilled by: Doug Mahnke
Inked by: Tom Nguyen
Colored by: Alex Sinclair
Lettered by: Pat Brosseau
Editor: Bob Schreck
Publisher: DC Comics
First, can I just say that Winick writes an excellent Alfred? He’s shown us that he can done the quippy, letting the air out of Batman’s pomposity Alfred very well and this issue he shows us that he can do the observant, silently suffering for him master Alfred too. I have much respect for that because, as easy as it seems to write Alfred, many people do not manage to nail it. And even when they do, it is often just adequate.
I am not singling out Winick’s work on Alfred, however, because nothing else he is doing is good in this book. It is all good. Very good, in fact. In previous reviews, I’ve given a positive nod towards his Batman and Red Hood and he continues to impress with both of those characters here.
Batman, who is not prone to discussing his feelings, can be difficult to capture without copious thought bubbles, but Winick successfully expresses the Dark Knight’s state of mind with a few choice captions and by letting Mahnke’s talent fill in the blanks with facial expressions and body language.
Mahnke’s talents do not end at his interpretation of Batman. What really seals the deal and his importance to this team and book is his how he depicts action. Batman is an action comic, full of superheroes and supervillains hitting one another, firing weapons, and engaging in incredible feats of acrobatic motion with ease. If Mahnke could not capture that chaos in a way that made it clear without rendering it static, I imagine that the book would suffer considerably, regardless of Winick’s gift for characterization. Thankfully, there is no need to find out as Mahnke continuously delivers the goods.
It should also be mentioned that this issue contains the obligatory Deathstroke cameo. I don’t mind him popping up everywhere in the DCU as it fits with his role in the Society but there are those who have dubbed him DC’s Wolverine. If you are in that camp, you have been warned. If you are not, you’ll probably enjoy his discussion with Black Mask about the gender of the new Hyena.
