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COMIC BOOK REVIEW
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Author: Bill Ramey Friday, August 3, 2007 From DC COMICS: "Part 1 of a 2-part story written by John Rozum! Dr. Jonathan Crane has discovered that being confined in Arkham simply means a captive audience for his experiments in fear. Now, more powerful than ever, he easily escapes from the Asylum and spreads his reign of terror throughout Gotham as the Scarecrow. With the entire city spooked and the Scarecrow committing seemingly random crimes, can Batman stop him before the game turns even more deadly?"
Exactly what is a “filler arc?” I guess that it’s when the normal creative talent on a certain comic book is not “there,” and people fill in for ‘em. I think.
Hey, we all know that Paul Dini is writing DETECTIVE ( THE definitive Bat-comic in my book) and Don Kramer is doing the art -- well, the pencils. And they are not present on the latest, D835. Look, I was sorta kidding earlier -- I know what “filler arcs” are. And for the most part, I haven’t blinked an eye when someone other than Mr. Dini and Mr. Kramer aren't the creative forces behind ‘tec. But with the latest, I did...halfway. I was quite intrigued by the premise of this 2-part story written by John Rozum with art provided by Tom Mandrake titled “ABSOLUTE TERROR.” It features The Scarecrow as the main baddie -- and he’s personally one of my favorite Bat-villains. And the damn thing starts out promising with Dr. Crane breaking out of Arkham clothed in a very BATMAN BEGINS-esque looking costume. Is it just me, or has the Ray Bolger look kind of tired? From that point on, this one went straight down hill. Bad dialogue and a less than interesting plot killed it for me. The Scarecrow is now whacking folks just for the sake of whacking them…with knives. And he’s leaving actual scarecrows all over Gotham as well. And apparently, based on reading this comic, Gotham is all in a panic over all this nonsense. And I use the word “nonsense” on purpose. There’s two subplots that I’ll address as well: One started out good, and then went to sucking rather quickly. And the other was crap from the green light. One involved Bruce’s love life and the other involved Tim/Robin. I’ll let you read it for yourself and decide. The artwork was OK -- no big complaints here. I liked the “look” of Batman in this one -- and frankly, that’s my primary focus. I do prefer Mr. Kramer on this title -- although I’ve criticized him a tad in the past for having “Same Face Syndrome.” I also tend to criticize “Splash Page Syndrome,” but when you don’t have it, you certainly miss it. I’ll wait for the conclusion of this 2-part "filler arc" to make my final judgment on this one. But right now, I’m certainly not fired up for it. Unless "Crazy Quilt" shows up and saves the day.
BATMAN IN COMICS, and ON-FILM.NET.
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