The anit-Batmn villain known as Wrath appeared last month in Detective Comics and it has fans frothing at the mouth in anticipation. You see, he got a minimal appearance in the original DCU, but the New 52 has given the character a whole new reboot and it’s a fascinating one. Here’s hoping issue #2 does him justice. So, is it good?
Detective Comics (2011-) #23 (DC Comics)
Check out last month’sreview of Detective Comics #22.
Last month the owner of Caldwell Industries approached Bruce Wayne to buy Wayne Corp. It turns out this same man is donating futuristic weapons and armor to the GCPD. Oh, and he’s parading around in armor, calling himself Wrath and killing cops left and right. Batman realizes he’s going to need to attack Caldwell from both sides, as Batman and as Bruce Wayne. How does it go do you think?
Batman doesn’t use guns… maybe he should?
The issue opens with a quick recap of the going ons, including who the character was that just got pushed out of a hovercraft by Wrath. They’re calling him Scorn and he was in a super powered suit like Wrath’s, only he couldn’t kill Batman so he got death. We quickly learn Wrath has been recruiting prisoners with a prisoner work program and of course he only picks those who hate cops. Scorn was one of them. Batman then confronts Wrath and that’s when he realizes Bruce Wayne needs to get involved.
There’s a few things that are very right about this series so far and the one at the head is how the pieces are coming together nicely. Writer John Layman has got this plotted very well and while it’s a bit of a cheat to have Wrath beat Batman and then just run away, the confrontation between Bruce and Caldwell is interesting. We haven’t seen Bruce in action too much since the New 52 took over and it’s a breath of fresh air for this series.
Dangerous throw.
Artist Jason Fabok kills it once again, although this issue reads a little more conventionally in comparison to the last; the last issue had a lot of rainy shots that added drama to the street scenes and made it very clear when the police were in danger whereas this one plays it in much more standard fashion visually.
That blood is intense.
The backup in this issue, as all DC comics at the $3.99 price range get backups, ties into the main story nicely. It’s actually a huge surprise and improves on the Man-Bat story and Wrath story really well.The art by Andy Clarke is quite killer too, pun intended, The color by Blond is exceptional too as the blood looks incredibly real.
Caldwell’s Wrath!
8.0
- Man-Bat looks great
- Bruce Wayne sequence exciting and interesting
- THe battle ending between Wrath vs. Batman is cliched
What we have here is a good Batman comic and a great superhero comic. The art took a dip for me this issue, but that’s layout related.
It’s also frustrating to see Layman let Batman off with your cliched “I’m only letting you live Batman because…” That said the drama is building nicely and this might go down as one of, if not the, best Batman story arc from the New 52.
Is It Good?
Yep. Wrath is intriguing and, if they don’t muck it up, could end up being a truly awesome villain to add to Batman’s rogues gallery.
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