Well, I’m back. Big thank you to Jack for filling in last month. After reading that issue to catch up, I was not left with high expectations for this issue, the finale of the Shush-ManBat-Harsh arc. Still, you never know, maybe it will all come together. Let’s find out!
If I had to pick one word to describe this issue and the series as a whole, it would be “amateur.” As this is the finale of a 10-issue arc, all that’s left for the characters to do is fight but I did glean some insight about the series from it. So, I’m going to talk a bit about this arc as a whole first. Turn away now if you don’t want spoilers. I’m not putting them under a tag because I don’t feel like I can adequately talk about the series without making these plot points clear.
First, let’s talk about Mistress Harsh. So guess what? She is Principal Stone. Quite the twist, eh? Or maybe just boring. Damian has been saying she’s the principal this whole time and even accused her of it in front of a bunch of students once (which was pretty dumb, but I digress). It would be more surprising if she wasn’t Harsh but that would make this drawn-out plot a waste of time. Either way you play it, it doesn’t work. Things get even more complicated and contrived when you take into account the fact that she didn’t even know Damien was going to be enrolled at the school. She had already established herself there and was enjoying the power trip of creating a controlled environment. I’m sorry, but this isn’t how you write a compelling villain. She’s not even a threat because she has no interest in harming Damian anymore. So, what it boils down to is a kid at school with a conspiracy theory about his principal that turns out to be true and affects nothing.
As far as Shush goes, she’s an entirely new character who was Tommy Elliott’s assistant when he was a doctor. So she’s exactly what she looks like at face value: a cheap spin-off character with no emotional gravity or interest of their own. Again these are the least appealing ways of making a compelling character.
The big reveal of this issue is that Man-Bat that has more than two personalities now. I’ve already talked about the fact that Williamson completely misunderstands the character in previous reviews but here we go again. He never had two personalities to begin with. He is Kirk Langstrom. Man-Bat is Kirk Langstrom without his mental faculties. Man-Bat is not Two-Face no matter how much Williamson wants him to be. But now he has more than two personalities and one of them is a cult leader. These are the kind of “twists” that gave comics the reputation of being kid stuff. It is not built on a solid foundation, it comes out of nowhere with no justification, and does not improve the character. When you reveal something new about an established character it should support who we know them as or challenge who we know them as. What we get in this story is random. It feels founded out of the thought: “Wouldn’t it be cool if…?” It’s not serving the story but serving the writer’s desire to play with action figures. I’m not saying this story should be some heady psychological indulgence. It can be fun. It can be light. It just needs to be coherent and founded on the principles of good storytelling. Everything that happens in this arc is constructed the same way. There’s no thought put into it, no consideration of how these plot points feel believable or natural. Rather, this comic is a flurry of shiny objects that, if used well, could be captivating but are assembled in such a haphazard way (and placed next to things that don’t gel) that the result is chaos. No impact, no depth, and the feeling that this comic was written by a nonprofessional.
The art isn’t much better. Simone Di Meo’s work still has the same flaws that it has always had which I’ve talked about numerous times in previous reviews. Nikola Čižmešija’s work, which I usually quite like, is looking very rushed and unpolished which is not okay when his style is loose to begin with. Essentially, this whole book is a production that does not meet the potential of the creators. All of them either have in the past, or could in the future, produce work at a very high level but this comic is a low point.
Recommended if…
- You’ve already made your way through the previous 9 issues.
- You’re a superfan of one of these creators and need everything they’ve made in your collection
Overall
I’ve gotten some enjoyment from previous issues but reading issues 9 and 10 made clear to me all the core problems of this arc and which retroactively make the whole thing more exasperating. If I was one of these creators, I would not want readers to look at this book and think that this is the most I’m capable of. Di Meo has drawn some very dynamic covers over the years, Williamson is currently writing a great run on Superman, and Čižmešija’s work on Sword of Azrael was beautiful. It’s so frustrating because I expect better from these creators.
Score: 3/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
