Regretably, we spend the first half of this book wasting our time with Hugo Strange. The moment in which he launches an attack on the prison is shown from the villain’s perspective, but we don’t dig any deeper into how he organized such a maneuver nor do we get any interesting insight into the character’s mind. It’s boring. If you’ve played the video game then there is absolutely no reason for you to read the first half of this comic. None. And remember in my last review of Arkham Unhinged #14 how I pointed out that the color of Barbara’s hair was wrong and that it wasn’t the first time a colorist on this series had made a hair-color mistake? Well, it happened again and this time it was with The Riddler, who is shown as having dark black hair.

The second half of the book actually takes us where we wanted to go in the first place: The House of Wayne. We start things off in the batcave where Tim is fighting off Tyger guards with ease. It’s not a terribly exciting battle and it doesn’t even compare to a similar battle we saw in the latter half of Scott Snyder’s City of Owls. The action was easy enough to follow, but in one of the last pages in the cave, I was really lost. There was a shot of Robin popping open the shield on his staff and then the next panel had the guards shooting toward the ceiling and then there was a shot of Robin back on the ground, but the giant Joker card had fallen on top of the guards. I’m not entirely sure what was going on there. This scene also brought up a question about whether or not this means that there are now dozens of Tyger guards who know that Bruce is Batman, but that was quickly explained away in another page or so before we moved on to Wayne Manor and Nightwing. SHOW SPOILER ▼

None of these fights hold any emotional weight, there isn’t anything particularly bad-ass on display, and the guards never feel like a real threat. It’s just page after page of Dick and Tim delivering one liners as they punch and throw things at faceless assailants. Perhaps if the artwork had been better the action might have pulled me in more, but Davide Fabbri’s pencils are merely passable and the colors are often too dark and we don’t see enough of the environments that play such an important part in an episode like this. SHOW SPOILER ▼

Overall

With so many Batman comics on the market, fans of the world of Gotham need to spend their money carefully and there are frankly far too many better Bat-titles out there than this one. Thankfully, there are only a handful of issues left in this series which has overstayed its welcome by about a year.

SCORE: 3.5/10

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The artwork by Federico Dallochio is pretty good, too. He does a fine job of recreating the video game’s designs for Talia, the League of Assassins, Ra’s Al Ghul, and others but he takes a more traditional route with the classic rogues gallery, who have a brief cameo in this story as well. I was fine with the more retro look to these characters in the flashback except for Penguin is shown with his monacle. In the Arkham universe, the Penguin never wore a monacle, but instead had a broken bottle shoved into his eye socket– damn, it’s so brutal when you actually write it out. Damn. One big mistake that really, really bugged me though was from colorist Carrie Strachan, who made Barbara Gordon a blonde! That’s a pretty huge mistake. It’s also not the first time that a female Bat-character has had their hair color done wrong in this book. In the second story arc, back when I was doing reviews of the digital releases, Vicki Vale wasn’t colored as being a blonde even though that’s her hair color in the video game. This was corrected when it came time for the print release, though. But Barbara? That’s… this book has two editors. How did nobody catch this? It’s Barbara, for cryin’ out loud. If you took a poll of the most famous redheads in comics she, Jean Grey, and Poison Ivy would be right at the top.

Overall

This was a pretty good issue, but it’s definitely not something you need to rush out and buy unless you don’t know much about Bruce and Talia’s first encounter. Derek Fridolfs did a good job of retelling that story, but it doesn’t add anything that the video game didn’t already explain and it doesn’t show die-hard Batman fans anything they haven’t seen before.

SCORE: 6.5/10

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As for the comic itself, issue #13 is one of the best examples of the kind of story that Arkham Unhinged should have been telling all along. It’s a prequel comic after all and there were numerous plot points from the video game Arkham City that could be developed further yet we’ve seen very little from these 13 issues. “Eviction Notice”, however, digs into the most fertile ground of all: Black Mask. Here is a character alluded to with some frequency in the Arkham City video game but whom we never actually saw much from. If you were watching closely in the opening scenes of the game you would’ve spotted Black Mask on the ground being beaten and there were wanted posters with his face on them and the debris from his earlier escape which was alluded to a number of times and, lastly, he showed up as a final boss in the side-scrolling DLC train match (a Riddler’s Revenge mini-game). In that he didn’t really have any lines and was no more than another thug.

Still it felt like there would be big plans for Black Mask in meatier DLC that never came to be or perhaps a sequel (now a prequel and Black Mask will indeed be in that). Learning who Black Mask is and how he escaped makes for a nice prequel story, however, like his boss-battle counterpart, the Black Mask portrayed in this comic by Fridolfs and Eric Nguyen is just another thug. He’s not a very compelling villain at all and that’s where the book fails. The artwork does a fantastic job of capturing the look and feel of the Arkhamverse and is one of the better looking issues all around. But the story of how Black Mask came to be and his personality is really boring. He’s simply not a memorable character, a threatening villain, or a captivating character whose actions hold interest.

Had Black Mask been given more personality then this would’ve been the best issue yet. Everything surrounding him is great and a wonderful way to support the existing story of Arkham City. But Sionis simply isn’t any fun to watch. Good art, good addition to the Arkhamverse, poor main character.

SCORE: 6.5/10

The post Batman: Arkham Unhinged #13 review appeared first on Batman News.

This was alright. It had its moments and features some attractive and exciting artwork. Seeing as how the 2nd Azrael isn’t going to be showing up in the New 52 anytime soon this is pretty much your only opportunity to see that character in action ever again.

Other than getting one more adventure with Azrael, the book’s greatest strength is that (like all the issues before it) it’s an easily accessible done-in-one story and the artwork is also quite good. Besides Mayor Sharp, artist Jheremy Raapack does an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of all of Arkham City’s characters and locations. Not only is there a heavy emphasis on Azrael (who looks great) but we spend a little time with Batman, Riddler, Gordon, and a few other surprises as well and all of these characters are rendered perfectly to match their video game design. One thing that did strike me as odd was a note on the setting that was leftover from the comic being published in three parts online. Getting a reminder that we were in ARKHAM CITY – CHURCH/MEDICAL CENTER in the final 1/3 of the book was unnecessary in a single printed edition.

As for the story, it’s a really condensed look at Azrael’s origin. The Order of St. Dumas is addressed very briefly and basically only one aspect of his transformation into Azrael is covered so it’s not going to give you the full picture. You’ll have to go on eBay or dig around in your comic shop’s back issues to really understand how Azrael 2.0 began. Parts of this left me rather confused to be honest. My familiarity with the character is limited. I know Jean Paul Valley’s Azrael well enough but I think anyone reading this truncated depiction of Azrael 2.0′s beginnings will still feel like they hardly know the character. I know I certainly don’t get the sense that I know him any better. All this story proved to me is that Azrael looks cool and he’s a bad ass that probably could’ve helped Batman out WAY more in the Arkham City game and saved a lot of lives if he wasn’t so busy playing “Where’s Waldo” and coming up with mysterious phrases to whisper all night long.

SHOW SPOILER ▼

Is it worth picking up? Eh…maybe. For $3.99? Not it’s probably not. Not unless you’re a big fan of Azrael or Raapack’s art anyway. The first 1/3 of the book explains what happened to Mayor Sharp in the video game and if you played the game you know all of that already. The 2/3 is the origin story which should’ve had more attention brought to it because it was a bit hard to follow– magic suit, possession, kidnapped kids, etc. It’s a lot of info to take in. And the last act is a really short fight scene that I wasn’t that involved in. Not great nor terrible, but not really necessary reading either.

SCORE: 5.5/10

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For a little over a year now the series Arkham Unhinged has been going up online as a digital first and then collected in print copies that show up in stores a few months later. The story of Arkham Unhinged is based on the Arkhamverse, the Batman universe created by Paul Dini and Rocksteady Studios, particularly the days leading up to the first chapter of the Arkham City video game. It’s a prequel.

Presentation

I was really surprised to learn that Arkham Unhinged was getting the hardcover treatment, but man is it pretty! Not only is it a nice looking dust jacket, but if you pull that thing off you’ll find something even more appealing.

The Batman in the front, Joker in the back design looks amazing. It seems a shame to cover it up.

Content

Volume 1 collects printed issues 1-5, which is really 7 stand-alone stories. Most of these tales are written by Derek Fridolfs with a few collaborators including the great Paul Dini. The artwork is handled by a different artist on each story with Juan Ryp being the standout illustrator of the bunch. Story #1 focuses on Two-Face and Catwoman but is a really underwhelming story with lackluster art.

The second tale is easily the best. This one centers around Gordon and actually does add a little something to the Arkhamverse because Gordon was noticeably missing for most of the second video game. I actually gave this comic a 9/10 when it was originally published and of all the stories to come from this series so far this is still ranks as the best in my opinion.

The third story has artwork that ignores the style of the video game and a story that makes the Joker/Penguin rivalry detailed in the video game’s hidden tapes a far less compelling conflict. Penguin in particular looks nothing like himself but there are some pretty gruesome and surprising Joker moments here for you to enjoy.

The following three short stories are over in a flash. One is rather clever because it takes the Legends of the Dark Knight premise from Batman: Animated Series and uses it as a means of explaining the various playable skins in the the Arkham games. Stories about Scarface and Mr. Freeze on the other hand fall flat.

Rounding out the book is an origin story for the Abramovici Twins. You’ll know them as the hammer and sickle brothers who worked for Joker and Penguin. It’s a pretty boring story but the artwork by Juan Ryp is fantastic and well worth checking out. He really did a nice job of capturing the look and feel of the games. Overall though, there really isn’t much that I personally would ever come back and re-read again someday.

Supplemental Material

The only bonus material that comes with this book is an Xbox 360 code for 5 downloadable Arkham City playable skins. These include the 1970;s Batsuit, Animated Series Batman, Earth One Batsuit, The Dark Knight Returns Batman, and the Batman: Year One Batsuit. The Batman Beyond and Sinestro Corps skins are not included oddly enough, but all 7 suits can be downloaded on the X-box marketplace for 400 points. From what I can tell these suits can’t be purchased individually so it’s pretty lame that they would leave these final 2 skins out of the free bundle included with this book. PS3 and Wii owners will find nothing of use here.

Value

$22.99 seems kind of steep even with the downloadable content code and the stylish hardcover. It’s just not a good enough read to warrant paying full price. One of the advantages of buying a graphic novel is that it’s usually cheaper than buying the single issues and that’s not the case here. These five issues would’ve been $3.00 a comic. Amazon is offering it for $13.75 which seems more reasonable but even at that price I have to say that there are other books in that same price range that would give you far more bang for your buck. This is something that will only appeal to real die-hard fans of the video game who feel the need to collect everything.

Overall

It’s has a really good looking hardcover presentation and there’s some good artwork inside but you really only get a couple of stories that are worth reading. The code for playable skins is a great added incentive for Xbox gamers, but it’s worthless to everyone else. If you’re an Xbox owner who hasn’t downloaded these skins yet and has been curious about this series then I suppose it might be worth the Amazon price but anyone else can skip it. Nothing here enhances the story of the Arkham City video game in any profound way.

SCORE: 5.5/10

The post Batman: Arkham Unhinged, Vol. 1 review appeared first on Batman News.

I’m feeling rather tuckered out after writing the massive 6,700 word The Dark Knight Returns review and today’s Batman #17 so expect for the rest of today’s reviews to be pretty short and to the point because this guy needs a break from Batman.

Batman: Arkham Unhinged continues to improve in quality with issue #11 but not enough to make it a need-to-buy comic. The story surrounding Joker being put on trial by Two-Face before a jury of his peers is a really fun concept but it never reached it’s full potential. It’s an idea we’ve seen before in the Batman universe. First it was the classic Batman: The Animated Series episode “Trial” in which Joker was the judge and Batman was the defendant. Another one that’s fresh in my memory was in the recently reviewed No Man’s Land, Volume 4 which featured Two-Face as the judge and prosecuting attorney in a trial of The People vs. Commissioner Gordon. Both of those stories were given a fair amount of time to do what needed to be done, but after the perfectly paced setup of Unhinged #11 the book sprinted toward the finale.

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The post Batman: Arkham Unhinged #11 review appeared first on Batman News.

If only every issue were as good as this one!

Batman: Arkham Unhinged #10 is a great stand alone story that has great art, wonderful surprises, solid references to the video game it’s based on, and it does a fine job of explaining Deadshot’s origin as well and that’s a story that needed to be retold for a new generation of comic readers.

Bruno Redondo did a fantastic job capturing the essence of the video game. Penguin, Batman, and Deadshot look exactly like their Xbox and Playstation incarnations, as does the city.You’ll even see a few Suicide Squad characters make their Arkhamverse cameo. The dark, cold colors by Gabe Eltaeb give each scene the right look and feel of the game as well. The art’s only shortcoming is with the Joker. While the art team did a fine job capturing a particular version of the Joker from the games, he doesn’t look like the ill Joker who wears a darker suit and has lost more of hair. This Joker simply has a few bruise marks and some squiggle marks on his cheeks as if Joker’s ailment was an afterthought.

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The post Batman: Arkham Unhinged #10 review appeared first on Batman News.

Here we have a Mad Hatter story that takes place within the Arkham City video game’s timeline. It isn’t a prequel. It also doesn’t jive with the events of Arkham City very well and that’s a big problem I have whenever this series tries to slip in tales that coincide with the game rather than predate it. In the video game, you– you’re Batman– YOU struggle through hallucinations, free yourself of his hypnosis, defeat his zombies, and destroy the hat Tetch. By destroying the hat you have rendered the Mad Hatter impotent. Batman doesn’t even bother chaining the lunatic up because he knows, you know, that no further harm can be caused. In this comic we see that the Mad Hatter dusted himself off, found some more mind altering chemicals stashed who-knows-where, hired new henchmen, and began kidnapping women. This whole thing, to me, cheapens my achievements as Batman in the video game. It makes me feel like I was a shitty Batman. I had infinite rope, why didn’t I tie this guy up?

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The post Batman: Arkham Unhinged #9 review appeared first on Batman News.

Well that’s probably the best story this comic has had since issue #2. Sure, it doesn’t flow very well, but the artwork is good and seeing a Killer Croc origin story is a refreshing change of pace and a good glimpse into the inner workings of the Arkhamverse, which is what this series promised in the first place but has so rarely delivered on.

This is to be the origin of the Arkhamverse’s Killer Croc. I opened it up, thought the art looked good and started reading the green boxes filled with Croc’s narration. My brain instantly recalled the voice used in the video games but that voice and these words didn’t jive. They didn’t complement one another. So I switched it out with the tried and true voice from Batman: The Animated Series, the grey, Cajun Killer Croc– that one was always my favorite. Nope. Didn’t work either. Lines like “He’s a creature. Like me. All anger and fury. Relying on pure animal instinct.” just didn’t ring true. Killer Croc’s voice never felt right. Not once. Fridolfs failed to capture the way Waylon Jones speaks either in the video games or in his better comic book appearances.

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I like to think that I saw everything Batman did in Batman: Arkham City from the moment Bruce Wayne was abducted until Batman brushed past Gordon without saying a word. I believe that I did see everything because I was Batman. The only moments of lost time I had during my tenure as the Dark Knight was when a pile of rubble fell on me and it was up to Catwoman to come to my rescue. Issue #7 of Arkham Unhinged, however has a different take on things. It says that I, Batman, was tricked by Harley Quinn and held captive by Poison Ivy at some point between getting hauled out of the rubble and confronting the Joker. I’m Batman. I don’t forget. I know that didn’t happen.

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