Now this was an awesome issue. It did everything that the fist issue of a story arc should. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
It starts off with a pilot testing an experimental aircraft made by Blackhawk Propulsion Laboratories, which Wayne Enterprises is investing in. The test run goes smoothly until the plane is suddenly swamped in black clouds. Out of these clouds comes a fleet of World War II planes. The Blackhawk base is then attacked, and invaded by several mysterious men, and their leader proclaims, “I have returned.” The man asks Lee Cheng, the man Wayne is working with, if he knows who the mysterious man is. Cheng says he thinks so, and then the man shoots one of Cheng’s colleagues. Cheng says that the man’s name is Theodore Gaynor. Gaynor then forces Cheng to transmit some engine schematics from his computer. Batman intervenes and manages to save the rest of the staff, but the assailants escape into the storm clouds.
Later Batman pays a visit to Cheng, asking who the attacker was. Cheng tells batman That Gaynor was a Blackhawk during the war, and he was a brutal man who used the war as justification to commit atrocities. However, Gaynor has been dead for sixty years.
Then we go to the Batcave, where Batman has managed to pinpoint the ultimate destination of the file transmissions; Powazki Cemetery, the final resting place of Janos Prohaska Blackhawk.
Batman goes to the Cemetery, and finds that the tomb is empty, the body has been removed. He is then ambushed by a giant robotic squid. He manages to destroy the robot, and is then greeted by a woman in a Blackhawk uniform. The issue ends at Cheng Estates in New York, where we see Cheng telling a strange old man that Batman set off the automatic alarm at the cemetery, and that Zinda Blake is with him as well. The old man says batman will come looking for him, if he lives that long, I thought this was a great issue, and I can’t wait for the next one. It set up the story and left off with an intriguing cliff-hanger. Royal McGraw is an excellent writer, and it shows. This issue is filled with great dialogue and never once feels boring or drawn out.
The art by Marcos Marz was great as well. His work feels clean and polished, and flows nicely.
All in all, I can’t think of one thing I didn’t like about this issue, and I highly recommend you pick this up. I can’t wait to see where this story goes.
Batman Confidential #36:
Reviewed by TheCapedCrusader
