While Batman is investigating the murder of Anarky a new mask joins his pursuits in the Big Apple. The youngest daughter of the Fox family is trying to make the world a better place which unintentionally mirrors her brother. As the Question has Batman openly sharing his thoughts, the only question I ask myself is, who is still reading this?
Watching Naruto growing up I was often confronted with the constant filler episodes that they would splice into the story to really draw out certain plots that were way more condensed in the original manga. Filler episodes aren’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes filler episodes are incredibly entertaining or profound one and done stories that flow well with the ongoing narrative. The latest issue of I Am Batman is not a good filler. John Ridley’s writing has had lots of problems since the beginning but in this issue my main concern is the dialogue. There are so many panels that neither advance the plot nor give us something interesting to chew on. The dynamic between the Question and Batman isn’t working for me because both characters just lack interesting personalities to begin with. Batman is so occupied with comparing himself to the previous Batman and the Question just hands out the most milquetoast questions that are supposed to help him along this journey. 
The dialogue is also instrumental in helping us uncover the mystery behind Anarky’s death. This issue heavily relies on Batman’s investigative skills to be the draw but the investigation of this arc is turned into a series of filler episodes and “previously on” moments. While there are a lot of unanswered questions, the questions that do get answered are exclusively brought forth through people telling Batman exactly what’s going on or confirming things that he already knows. While he visits radicals and talks to people that are on his side there is never a feeling that he is asking the right questions or connecting with people but rather that the story demands him to be there in order to receive the information he needs. The investigation and dialogue are two elements of this issue that are making this storyline a slow grind to get to the finish line.
The art on this issue is definitely a lot better than the writing but whereas previous issues had certain pages really blow me away there was nothing here to really grab my attention. Christian Duce has been working on and off as the artist for I Am Batman and has shown that he can make his art fit the universe that John Ridley is trying to create. There have been lots of artists working throughout I Am Batman so it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly that universe is supposed to look like so I’m glad to see that Christian Duce has helped in making I Am Batman feel a bit more consistent.
Even though Batman is visiting multiple locations in different ways there isn’t really that much for him to do and the art suffers from its inability to showcase something exceptional. Every fight scene is de-escalated which puts more pressure on the investigation to work (I already explained why I think it doesn’t). There are people meeting up to talk or going to a place to talk but apart from the details in the scenery or the close-ups of Batman (which just show him standing still usually) I’m really just trying to get to the next page. I should say I’m just trying to make it to the end really because I could easily skip this issue and probably get a recap of any important information in the next one.
I was a really big fan of the colors in the previous issue of I Am Batman which I can still appreciate, especially when it’s depicting New York City at night. I do feel as though the colors for the tech spaces and the outside during the day are very cut and dry. I also have a small nitpick about the fact that the imagined scenarios and flashback panels are tinted with the same orange hue. Apart from that the colors have been very vivid and striking with every element in a panel feeling unique.
Recommended if…
- You have nothing else to read right now
- Filler episodes are your favorite episodes
- Every artist of I Am Batman is your favorite artist so you couldn’t possibly skip this issue
Overall
I was mostly bored with this issue. The plot advances very slowly and the characters feel really bland and uninteresting. I wasn’t able to latch onto the art because the settings and action don’t have any showstopper moments. So as much as I appreciate the consistency and details of the realistic world that Batman is in I don’t really care about why Batman is there or what Batman is going to do now that he’s there. I would suggest skipping this issue and checking out the next one because you probably won’t be lost anyways.
Score: 3.5/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
