Alright guys, I'm gonna beef up my coverage on a lot of these Bat books, so I hope you aren't sick of me yet.
With this comic, I think it may have been more appropriate to put v. instead of the 'and'… Batman v. Ra's al Ghul.
So, first off, this art is very eye catching. Gleason & Gray have been getting all the credit on this book, but I'm giving the shout out to John Kalisz on colors. Especially the scenes that take place in the dark. His daylight colors don't come off near as vibrant, which is a shame. In the opening pages, you see three main colors… or two, depending on your definition of color. These are Yellow, Green, and Black. The art team keeps Batman in the darkness for majority of this issue, so you only see his eyes, making me recall the Animated Series. There's even a shot looking into a Lazarus Pit, which would be pretty boring. But they put a reflection of a character in there (I think that's a Yetti?) that adds a new dept to the art. Frankenstein looks like a freaking beast… and I mean that in a good way. The guys on art really bring out the best in him, and he looks great. Of course, I'm a huge fan of Frankenstein, and would love it if these two just continued to team up. If I had a nitpick on the art it's: 1) keep the vibrant colors throughout, and 2) On close up shots, Gleason puts too many lines in the characters. Especially in their faces, making them older, and uglier… Except for Frankenstein. He needs all that detail. He's supposed to be ugly.
Spoilers ahead…
Ra's has just dunked Talia's body into this 'special' Lazarus Pit (as if a normal rejuvenating pit isn't special enough) that will wipe the memory from those who bathe in it. However, the process takes 24 hours. Ra's reveals that it took a special crystal that had to be added for this to work. A crystal that Talia found. This answers a key question in the New 52, because Ra's also states that this crystal is also responsible for "…producing limitless energy in the stasis chambers to accelerate Damian's growth…". There we have it! And answer! Live it up folks, 'cause it doesn't happen much in the new DCU.
Ra's plans on using the pit on both Talia and Damian, so that they will be completely loyal to him alone. Batman, Frankenstein, and… Yetti's? (I missed the last few issues, bare with me) go on the attack to rescue Damian's body. It's Man-Bat ninja's vs. Yetti's, Frankenstein decapitating Man-Bat ninja's, and Batman using his explosive gel from the Arkham games to blow up a pillar, and a hole in the wall to escape with Damian's tomb. As Batman makes it to the Bat-plane, Ra's has caught up to him. Throwing Frankenstein's body near him (It's ok, guy. Frankenstein can't die), Ra's threatens Batman, and his friends, stating that he has all the time in the world. Batman threatens to kill Ra's and make sure he won't come back, and Ra's believes him 'this time'. They have a beat down, when they are suddenly interrupted by Glorious Godfrey, along with his minions and Parademons… Whaat?!
I have no clue who this guys is, so I looked him up on Wikipedia. He's a longtime villain, a Kirby creation, who is loyal to Darkseid. Leading us into Robin Rises: Omega.
The main issues I had with this overall, is that the exposition was just too long in the beginning, as cool as the art was. It went past the point of explaining things to me, and ended up confusing me. Less is more! Also, why has Batman been threatening to kill so much recently? It was more believable in Forever Evil, but here, I don't buy it. And just as he's about to go through with it, there's an interruption. Can you say cop-out! It was a fun issue, though, despite my complaints.
Batman and (Ra's al Ghul) #32:
Reviewed by Corbin Pool
