Loved this, if you weren't into Bendis's other DC work (which, understandably) I would say try this out if you're interested. I'd heard lots of praise about this so I was very excited to finally check it out.
This series was originally published in the Batman Walmart 100-Page Giants that ran around 2018-2019, in 12 page chapters, before being collected in 6 issues (so two chapters per issue) in late 2019 to early 2020.
So because of that, this book has a very frantic and chaotic pace, but personally I loved that. It won't be for everyone, but I thought it made this a refreshing, breezy read that was very entertaining whilst being a nice breather from other books I'm reading at the moment.
That mood and atmosphere is further conveyed by the fantastic art and coloring by Nick Derington and Dave Stewart respectively. It feels so classic, vibrant, retro, and it feels slightly hard to explain but I love how much energy is in Derington's art, compared to how hard all of his lines are.
Like some artists are very fluid and stylistic with their linework, but while Derington's style is very animated and for lack of a better word cartoony (obviously mean that in a good way) the linework is very solid, concrete etc. I hope that makes sense. It makes it very satisfying to look at as you're reading and looking through it.
I think there's something cool that this book says about the idea of Batman trying to be the "grounded" detective and ending up getting thrown around the DC universe to some nicely wild corners and ideas. At the end of the day it's just so fun, and such a delight to read. From the start to the finish it feels like a wild, thrilling ride and one I really enjoyed. There are some instances of Bendis's extensive use of dialogue, as you might expect, but they weren't too bad and I thought here they worked nicely within the story.
Great book, definitely recommend checking it out if you're interested in a wild, entertaining and enjoyable Batman story!
If you want more of Joe's comic thoughts and reviews, you can find him on Twitter @JoeLovesComics and on the League of Comic Geeks also @JoeLovesComics.
You can also find his podcast on Twitter @JoeTalksComics, which you can listen to through Anchor, where you can find links to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify, or you can click those hyperlinks directly.
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