Batman: Bad Seeds Sunset #1 // Review
The plants are taking over. Pamela Isley should be thrilled...or at least satisfied that she’s doing what she has to do. That’s not the case, though. Her actions are putting a lot of other people in danger...including those that she loves. There’s really no other option, though. She’s cornered she’s about to lose all of the power that she ever had: she’s giving Gotham City over to a supernatural power in Batman: Bad Seeds Sunset #1. The writing team of G. Willow Wilson and Matt Fraction opens-up the corse of a big multi-title crossover with the art ream of Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cliff Rathburn. Color comes to the page courtesy of Tomeu Morey.
Batman addresses all of his allies in Gotham City. It’s a pretty grim picture of everything that’s coming from the dark knight. It’s not like they don’t know it’s a dire situation, but it’s not like they haven’t handled anything like this before. Still..Batman might not be totally aware of just how badly things are going until a gentleman who lives in the sewers tells him just how bad everything is going to be what with everything that’s going on. Waylon’s more than some homeless guy who lives in the sewers. He’s a survivor also known as Killer Croc. If he’s giving Batman legitimate advice, something has clearly gone quite wrong.
Wilson has been leading up to this moment in Pamela's wife for quite some time. She's given real power and she's forced to understand it just how powerless it truly is. She's forced to make decisions that she would rather not. Meanwhile, Batman is given a few moments here and there are to truly illustrate just how dire things are. The pacing of the issue is really impressive. There's a check in with just about everyone in town. Who's notable other than Barbara Gordon, but she’s kind of busy in her own title...
The script jumps around a lot. And so it's nice to see each location in and within Gotham City feeling particularly distinctive without overwhelming the page. It all flows remarkably well. And given the fact that there is as much going on in this issue as there is, it's nice to know that they're able to do that. It's quite an accomplishment. There are some particularly dramatic poses/here and there. Pam looks totally in control even when she's not. She has perfect poise. It's impressive to see her stomach cross as so cool and calm, and yet still have as much personality on the page as she does.
Wilson and Fraction work quite well together. One wouldn't necessarily assume that this was an issue that was written by two different authors. It all blended together quite well. And yet those who are familiar with both others will clearly be able to tell who wrote what. Typically a collaboration like this might feel more patched together from two different titles. There's a real blending in a real fusion that feels perfectly at home and its own cover.
