Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batman #697

By Dan Horn
March 17, 2010 - 15:24

Batman #697

I’ve always been told, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Well, I’ve been biting my tongue for months now in regards to Tony Daniel’s Batman, and I just can’t take it anymore.

With this final installment of the current six-issue story arc “Life after Death,” we see Batman finally hunting down Black Mask, and learning the true identity of the villain once and for all. But, we don’t see the end of Tony Daniel writing Batman comics. *Sigh*

There have been way too many things going on in Daniel’s current story arc for any of it to be interesting. He spends very little time on character development and an overwhelming amount of time building a convoluted mystery, with very little clues to keep readers entertained. By the time Black Mask’s identity was revealed, I wasn't very surprised, but my attention had been so diverted and exhausted by all Tony Daniel’s other little rabbit trails that I didn’t really care either. The story is also oddly paced, and it seems like it’s all happening in someone’s dreams, complete with strange coloring choices, nonsensical plot progressions, and absurd characters like the out of place and time Falcones and the goofballs in Black Mask’s Ministry of Death. Tony didn’t spare any time at all getting us caught back up on how these characters relate to each other or why we should even care. It was just, “*BAM!* Here’s all these obscure villains everyone forgot about. Now let me flex my drawing muscles and show them duking it out with Batman.” But, at least he CAN draw, and we’ve seen plenty of proof of that.

Yet, the question that’s still lingering in my mind is, what has Tony Daniel done, besides draw a few issues of a questionably good arc by Grant Morrison and write and illustrate the promising but poorly executed Battle for the Cowl miniseries, that qualifies him for such a protracted tenure on such a frontline book? Nothing. DC has absolutely been shafting Batman readers by using this ridiculously prolonged Tony Daniel run as filler until we see the return of Bruce Wayne.

I have to admit that, though Daniel’s current story arc isn’t good by any stretch of the imagination, his writing has been improving. DC should have put Tony Daniel on another book for the time being to let him cultivate his talents. Then, perhaps he would have had a clearer idea of how to tell the story he wanted to tell. It could have been great. It could have been a contender.

Rating: 4 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12