Batman: The Dark Knight #5 continues the run of David Finch and Paul Jenkins, and continues to be a hard pill to swallow every month.
After last month's shocking reveal of Scarecrow as the villain pulling all the strings, we open this issue to see Batman fighting the effects of the toxin. Scarecrow tells him his heroism is just his defense mechanism and he forces him to see everything Batman considers to be his fault. He sees all the villains, his son, blood, and of course, his mother's pearls.
Scarecrow continues to taunt him with everything he can't control, with everything that happens despite his best efforts. Seeing that Batman is refusing his gift, the understanding of fear, he gives him something else, something that will give him an emptiness of soul to go along with his emptiness of eyes. As Batman passes out, Scarecrow tells him someone is coming.
Superman appears, having received the message from Wonder Woman that he needed help. Batman resists his help, ordering him away and calling him an alien. They fight, Batman insulting Superman and Superman begging Batman to regain control.
Batman's speech bubbles have switched fonts to indicate the drug has taken effect as he continues to fight with Superman, who continues to try to talk sense into him. Batman finally crosses a line and Superman throws him down, through the roof of an old house. When he goes down and tries to rouse him, he doesn't answer.
As always, the issue looked beautiful and I will never not compliment David Finch's art. All of the splash pages are beautifully rendered, with a great eye for detail. My problem here is that there are no less than three splash pages, in an issue that could have been told in fifteen pages.
The plot continues to be somewhat nonsensical and just an excuse to get David Finch the opportunity to draw whatever and whoever he wants. If, by the end of this arc, this manages to all make sense, I'll print out every single one of my reviews and eat them.
Batman: The Dark Knight #5:
Reviewed by Melinda Hinman