The road to the release of the
ARKHAM CITY game on October 18th continues, and the second issue of this mini-series continues filling in the blanks and picking up on some of the cliffhangers left by the first game to push us toward the status quo of the new game. Paul Dini continues to show us a little bit of new information about the characters, and begins maneuvering the pieces to the positions we’ve been teased with in the promotional trailers and screenshots that have been released about the forthcoming game.
In this issue, Mayor Quincy Sharp begins breaking ground on the new Arkham City facility, transforming a run-down, dilapidated portion of the city into its own quarantined, punitive community. Vicki Vale attempts to probe Mayor Sharp on the issues presented with Sharp feeding her a lot of non-answer idealistic garbage that’s being fed to him through a headset off-site by a face as yet unseen (although for those that have read the last issue, have seen promo material for the game, and look at the panels in this issue, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out who it is). Bruce Wayne makes a short appearance here, annoyed and disappointed that the Arkham Parole Board, of which Bruce is a prominent member, apparently doesn’t have any say on who will get transferred to the new city and who will not.
As the story goes forward, Batman decides to do a little more digging into Quincy Sharp, and we discover some interesting information about the disturbed former warden’s past, as well as learning that Sharp’s secret contact is actively trying to learn more about Batman while The Dark Knight simultaneously tries to learn more about him. Dini and D’Anda both do a good job of choreographing the action here, emphasizing the brilliance, skill, and agility of Batman in the way that he thinks and in the techniques that he uses to get out of a particularly tough situation.
We’re also treated to some further development with The Joker, with which Dini uses an interesting juxtaposition of surprisingly rational thoughts in his head while spewing traditional, lightly-crazed Joker-speak with his mouth. By the end of the issue, things are starting to look like the new Arkham City facility will be an interesting hotspot in the city, while also serving its corrupt masters with power.
Carlos D’Anda continues his strong artwork here, using the design prowess he flexed in the previous issue and amping it up a bit for this one. Batman’s gadgets are particularly sleek in this issue, and some of the new equipment he uses here may give us a hint as to what will be available in the new game. There’s at least one new “vision mode” that Batman employs that would make for a unique and awesome tool in the game, as well as some new interference equipment into video and radio signals.
Gabe Eltaeb’s colors also help accentuate D’Anda’s work, making the explosions and computer screens appropriately more vibrant in their “pop” than the drab rundown buildings of the future Arkham City, and adding a sleek sheen to parts of Batman’s costume when necessary. Other character work, particularly on The Joker’s face, also stands out as slightly washed out, to me evoking the garish and unsettling features of The Harlequin of Hate.
In the end, this issue was just as satisfying as the first, and essential to anyone who wants to know all the details of the new ARKHAM CITY game by the time they pick up the controller this October. Dini continues to show that he’s a writer that can examine every aspect of who Batman is by giving him unique problems for his brilliance to wrestle with, as well as hard physical challenges that will test his body as much as his mind. Solid stuff.
