Batman #1 // Review
The commissioner is hanging out with a beat cop when a large mass of green scaly flesh lands on a meat van. It's a giant monster of a thing. Tearing straight through the roof and into a steak of some sort. Normally, this would be kind of alarming. But since this is Gotham City, it’s a reason for ANY police officer to call for backup in Batman #1. Writer Matt Fraction tries his best to come-up with something new for the dark knight. It’s an opening that is brought to page and panel by artist Jorge Jimenez.
There’s a professional security guard who is working a vivarium in Gotham City. As difficult as it might be for a police officer to work, the beat in a city like that, it's got to be a lot more difficult as a security officer. You might find yourself suddenly in the presence of a large lizard. Someone who did breaks in. And you know that if you call the police, you're not necessarily going to get the kind of help you need. Thankfully there's this guy with pointy ear is in a long black cape. And he's going to tell you not t call the police. Chances are you're going to listen to him.
There is much to be admired in Fraction’s writing. It's all peripheral stuff, though. For the most part. The little pop-up icons that show up over the course of the issue provide a little bit more information about what it is that Bruce is doing when he's using the tech that he's got. That's a little fun. And it's also quite a bit of fun to get some sense of the size of the city with a very specific locations mentioned in and around the edges of seeing changes and things like that. For the most part, however, there really isn't much original about the actual story that's being delivered.
Jimenez brings the power of the Finder points of Fraction’s story to the page with a great deal of efficiency. There's a great degree of confidence in Bruce as he's walking through the adventure. There is a kind of dark enjoyment that plays through as he is engaging the adventure. This isn't something that's often explored. This sense of pleasure at doing the job that he's doing. And, after all, it is just a really expensive hobby for him. So he's going to enjoy it. Even if he's completely serious while he's doing it. And it's kind of fun to see that develop around the edges of the characterization.
It's not really often that there's a first issue of a Batman series. It happens more often for him than any other character. But it's always interesting to see what happens when someone tries to open up a new title for a character who has been around for as long as he has. Fractions doing a pretty good job. It's just really hard to come up with anything new for this guy.
