Batman #699

Well, this represents my first miss. Sort of. I actually did read this comic and write the review yesterday, and had every intention of posting it once I had a chance to get a cover scan going. But between the breaking news of Bin Laden's death and a deadline for my day job, I simply forgot that I hadn't finished.

Anyway, here's yesterday's review. I'll have a new one up for today shortly.

Title: Batman
Issue: #699
Date: July 2010
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tony S. Daniel
Art: Guillem March
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Editor: Mike Marts, Janelle Siegel

The Riddler has been poisoned by an almost-fatal dose of Joker toxin. Or has he? All is not as it appears in this story that hearkens back to an earlier criminal conspiracy by Riddler, Blackspell the Magician, Firefly (the third-rate villain, not the Whedon TV show, but you knew that, right?) and some other villains who I guess don't even rise to the level of third-rate and who are dead by the time this issue starts up.

This had some good action, and the plot generally made sense. I particularly liked Riddler's escape from a guarded hospital room by good old fashioned bribery. Somehow the concept of a corrupt Gotham police force makes more sense to me than an utterly incompetent one.

The final battle with Blackspell got very silly, with Blackspell transforming into what can best be described as an angry ent. Which doesn't help at all against the Batman. Dude should have just decided to make like a tree and leave (sorry!).

This was complicated enough to make me want to read more, but logical enough to be entertaining without all the pieces of the puzzle.

Backup story introduced the new Green Arrow series. Gang chases lone woman into woods. Tackles her and then get shot in their respective hands and arms by Ollie. I'm not really a fan of gratuitous implied rape, or of the use of it to justify gory (but non-lethal) violence by the hero. But the final splash page is almost good enough to make me forget all of that. Almost. Welcome back, Ollie. Hope they give you some better writing once your new plot actually gets going.

Rating: 6.5/10