Batman the Merciless #1 - Mobile Edition

DC Comics
Batman the Merciless #1
By Hervé St-Louis
October 14, 2018 - 16:45

DC Comics
Writer(s): Peter J. Tomasi
Artist(s): Francis Manapul
Letterer(s): Tom Napolitano
Cover Artist(s): Jay Fabok, Brad Anderson
$3.99

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The Batman of Earth 12 fought against a super powered Ares who had just defeated Wonder Woman. He donned Ares’s new powered helmet and became a merciless Batman with gain a hundred times the powers of the god of war. Recruited by the Batman who laughs, he leads a new war against Earth 0, home of the Justice League. But with no heroes to help them the American government may want to destroy all lives in the hopes of eliminating Batman the Merciless.

It’s a Peter Tomasi story so even though the whole Batman Metal crossover annoyed me and I tried to follow as little of it as possible, I admit that I was entertained with this story. This is another story where we see the weaknesses of Batman turn into his greatest challenges and the greatest threats of his world. In a sense, it is not a new story but in another, it mixes Batman with the Greek mythology that created Wonder Woman. Batman as a war god is a good read.

The best aspect of this comic is the artwork by Francis Manapul who has all the gravitas needed to depict havoc on a wide planetarian scape. I sense some John Romita jr. influences for the first time. But it’s exactly what is needed to depict chaos and war.

Rating: 9/10