Batman: Damned #1 (of 3)

by Brian Azzarello

[Quirky Cat]

There have been so many spinoff and miniseries coming out of Batman’s arc lately, I almost overlooked this one. I can’t tell you how glad I am that I took the time to read this one! Seriously, if there’s one Batman miniseries you read this year, let it be this one.

This is a darker telling of Batman and his antics, both in regards to the plot, perspective, and art style. But it all works together perfectly. The tone compliments the art style, and both reflect the plot in perfect balance.

Here we find Batman getting himself in a mess, as per usual. Unlike usual though…things go poorly for him. Okay, that isn’t exactly out of the norm for him either, but it certainly seems and feels like things go slightly worse for him than usual.

Side note: in regards to the introductory scene of this series. Holy cow! I won’t spoil it by saying exactly what happened, but man! If ever I needed an example of Batman not being a perfect good guy archetype, this would be it. I understand he was injured and possibly delirious, but those were not the actions of a good man.

Ahem, moving on. The biggest twist of the whole plot has to be the person that’s telling the story. And no, it isn’t Batman. Nor is it anybody we typically see running with Batman, or any part of the Bat family. I was shocked…but I’m also really into this new perspective. It also explains the darker tones being shown. Here’s a hint for those impatient few out there: you can narrow the character down by the title of this series.

I’m not sure where this plot is going to go just yet…but I am incredibly excited to see what happens next. I feel like this comic is the perfect example of the dark tones the recent round of movies was trying to hit. Granted, that’s my personal opinion and I haven’t actually seen those movies…so…grain of salt.

I’m completely in love with the art for this issue. It’s hyper-detailed and stylized at the same time. It’s strikingly beautiful, with lots of motion and stylistic shading. Sometimes the full image won’t be visible on a page, having a chunk of it concealed by shadow. But it actually works really well in this context.