Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batman #712 Review

By Dan Horn
July 20, 2011 - 16:09

As I closed Batman #712, I had to laugh. Had my prayers been answered? Was Tony Daniel becoming a passable writer? In a chapter that's still overburdened with filler and cliche, I had to hand it to Mr. Daniel. This was an improvement.

Two-Face is going after Mario Falcone and his ex-wife Gilda Dent, and, as always, Batman arrives just in time to save the day. That doesn't mean every life is saved, however, and it definitely doesn't mean that certain responsible parties get shipped back to Arkham. Meanwhile, the Riddler has ostensibly found just the information that he has been searching for.

It's a lowbrow book, lots of explosions and maladroit, Lifetime-original-movie domestic abuse, but this issue is finally admissible. In a world where Daniel has guided the Batman series for far too long and has stepped in as the lame duck helmer of the Detective relaunch, it's good to see him writing stories with some measure of aptitude every once in a great while. This is by no means an admission of excellence or even of sufficiency, only a testament to its averageness, sadly a commendation for this title.

Visuals are so-so, that same bothersome, magenta-gray palette this book is always employing, and maybe a little looser than last month's pencils and inks, which might be chalked up to the new assists in each category. There are some really admirable images early on, but the issue's interiors seem to slowly devolve after the opening credits.

All in all, this is not a bad issue of Batman, comparatively, but still not quite good. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'll even give Tony Daniel's Detective Comics a try in September.

Rating: 6 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12