Batman: The Dark Knight #3
Issue Title: Catch Me If You Can
Written by Paul Jenkins
Pencils by David Finch
Inks by Richard Friend
Reviewed by Steve Seigh
There’s a few things that just didn’t sit right with me when reading this months issue of Batman: The Dark Knight. For a change we’re actually going to get into some spoiler territory here, there’s really no way to avoid it if I’m going to properly get my points across, you’ve been warned. Okay, so the issue started off well enough with the reveal that the Joker was actually just Clayface in disguise. Normally this would have excited me, and it did for a few fleeting panels until we come to the moment when he’s defeated … by humiliation? If you’ve read the issue then you know what I mean. Wasn’t that odd?
Moving on. I did enjoy that we learned more about the toxin being administered to the now loose inmates of Arkham Asylum, and the mystery surrounding The White Rabbit (so hot) continues to add to the mystique of her character. Then something happened that really made me scratch my head and say, “why?” Of course, I’m talking about the cameo of The Flash. First of all, how did The White Rabbit manage to outrun The Flash? Couldn’t Batman have very well just said, “I’ll be fine. Go catch her for me so I can ask her more questions.” The Flash would have nabbed her right then and there, and they could have had a nice chat. Moving on, The Flash joins Batman once again when investigating the whereabouts of Poison Ivy toward the end of the issue. So, we’ve bothered to place The Flash inside of this issue, have him tag along with Batman, only to have him prick his finger on a thorn and run away? Both events involving his cameo seemed very uneventful to me and I truly do not understand the point of having a character make a guest appearance without having them actually do anything.
The artwork continues to be good but I just was not feeling the writing of this issue. I like the plot overall but this issue seemed to be a bump in the road of what really could have been a smooth trip into some more eventful territory. Hopefully David Finch can pick up the pace next issue and get this train moving. With so many Batman books on the shelves these days one has to wonder if this one is starting to go south.
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?
The inmates of Arkham Asylum have been injected with an unknown string of The Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin and hell is kinda sorta breaking loose.
VERDICT
Wait and See – With the events of this issue being rather questionable at best I’m beginning to wonder if this particular run of Batman would be worth your time. You be the judge.
