Alfred Pennyworth continues to tell the story of his youth and how he came to the employ of the Wayne family. His father worked with the Waynes, and their clocks. Alfred joined the British SAS and had a prolific career as a lost soldier before being approached by a man called Briar. The same Briar is threatening Batman in the present. We also learn that Batman, according the Penguin, Blackface and others does a bad Bruce Wayne impression!

Scott Snyder’s multilayered storytelling continues here. One must pay close attention to his words or the story will cease to make any sense. Batman caught against odds he can’t escape jumps into danger and seemingly survives thanks to the goodness of villains who want him to survive and defeat a common foe.

Alfred witnesses his near-death escapes and near-defeats and every time shrugs as his son is about to die. Snyder no longer minces words here. Alfred is Bruce Wayne’s father and compass. But he is an unassuming father figure who will not get in the way of his son’s path. He sees himself as the father he never had, yet like him, he gives everything to the Wayne family.

I like Rafael Albuquerque’s work. It reminds me of Eduardo Barreto’s work but with thinner lines. The art is probably the one thing that made me most interested in the comic. It reminded me of the old 1950s Batman or the one from the Bruce Timms cartoon but with a bit more realism and crime noir.

Rating: 8/10

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