I’m going to try something for the next few weeks here.

You may notice from previous Pipeline columns that I don’t talk much about the most recent comics being published. I often take fresh looks at old favorites in this column, or cover European comics over on PipelineComics.com

While I read as much of the comics news as I can and listen to plenty of podcasts, I’m not caught up on anything Marvel or DC publishes these days.

For the next few weeks, I want to drop in on some of those comics. Can someone enjoy one of those popular comics if they’re dropped in on a basically random issue? If every comic should be written like it’s someone’s first, I can be the perfect person to judge if the comic works.

Honestly, both universes have changed so much since I was a Wednesday Warrior that they might as well be all new characters in all new universes.

We’ll start with a best-selling comic this week, and one soon to have a creative change.

“Batman” #71

I love the Andy Kubert cover. While I’m a bigger fan of Adam’s work, I have fond memories of Andy’s work on the X-Men titles and other places in the 90s and early 2000s. His style is just perfectly suited for superhero comics, so I’m always happy to see him drawing one.

The interiors to the issue are by Mikel Janin and Jorge Fornes. One of those two is doing a killer David Mazzucchelli impersonation in the scenes set in the Batcave and Wayne Manor. The other does a great job at the police station and on the rooftops with various super heroes.

Tom King is near the end of a massive 85 issue story arc now, so it’s not exactly fair to judge this issue on its own. However, that’s the game here. There will be people who want to try a random issue of something, and that’s me now. I’m not completely in the dark, though.

I know about the recent storyline where Batman has been dreaming things, one issue at a time. This issue maybe is where things start to come together? Or maybe it’s another dream? Half of it is in Batman’s head, at least. Maybe we’ll find out in the next issue what’s real and not?

One thing’s for sure — Batman is off his game and he’s threatening to take down everyone else with him. It’s a really weird storyline to drop into the middle of, because Batman is so different. He’s mopey and he can’t really be reacting this badly just to getting dumped at the altar, can he? He’s Batman!

Part of me wanted to slap Robin, too, for bringing that up so quickly.

That said, I love the red Bat Signal being used for, I suppose, a desperate emergency. Watching Batgirl call all of the Bat Family for help was especially entertaining.

And my favorite panel of the issue might have been Batgirl recapping events to Batman:

“And Dick is… Ric.”

Yes, Dick Grayson is off on his own adventures from what I understand, having been shot across the head, losing some memories, and trying to rebuild his life without Batman’s influence as “Ric” instead of “Dick.” It’s just crazy enough to work.

I like the parallel construction of some of the scenes and the moments therein. There are back to back double page spreads that are laid out exactly the same, but drawn by the two different artists.

The final page is split across both, as Batman loses and punches Robin all at once. I love it anytime creators play with the structure of comics storytelling like that.

Jordie Bellaire adjusts her coloring to the different artists in different ways. The Mazzucchelli Lite pages maintain a flatter look, even though they have definite textures and shadows to them. They’re like a light watercolor look (almost spongy) to what’s mostly flat coloring. The superhero pages do a great job in keeping things colorful and bright, even at night, with washed out backgrounds that recede strongly. The coloring styles match the art styles, and that’s all you can ask for.

It’s a fantastic looking book, and Clayton Cowles’ lettering holds that down. He’s great at creating lots of small balloons to fit Tom King’s writing style. I like the way the balloon outlines join together and stay out of the way of the art. Credit to both artists for leaving Cowles enough room for the lettering, too. There’s a lot of talking heads in this book, and that’s well accounted for in the layouts.

Final Verdict

(What is it with DC and putting “Watchmen” references everywhere?)

This issue is just far enough away from what I’m used to with a Batman title that I’m curious to read more, but I’d want to start back at the start of King’s run and read straight through. I’d need to do that because all the supporting characters here are in the middle of their own dramas that I’m not up to date with, either. Even knowing so many of the spoilers of the major plot twists in the series, I’d be curious to see how King and his crew of artists put it all together.

I’d love to see King writing Batman at his best rather than at his mentally least stable. Maybe I’ll find that in earlier issues…

In any case, I get the feeling that this run of King’s will work best when read in collections. Reading it month to month would leave enough lingering questions to get people to question the strength of the material. I can understand that. If you don’t know where he’s going with something, it’s easy to lose faith. Most of the times in those circumstances, though, the end of the story pays everything off and it all read better.

I hope that’s what happens here, too.

So, what’s next? Maybe I’ll sample one of those crossover books Marvel is doing these days. “War of the Realms,” right?

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