Batman #34 Review
“The Meek”
Writers: Scott Snyder & Gerry Duggan
Artist: Matteo Scalera
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Steve Wands
Covers: Matteo Scalera & Moreno Dinisio, Rafael Albuquerque (variant), Ryan Sook (Selfie Variant)
Review by Scott Keys
Batman #34 is something that has been lost in the modern comic book landscape – a stand-alone issue. In this day and age of “writing for the trade” these lovely little nuggets of comic book goodness are almost never seen anymore. I have to say, though, that THIS issue was far from ordinary!
I’m gonna start off by saying this: HEY DC!!! HIRE SCALERA FOR A BAT-BOOK FULL TIME, LIKE, YESTERDAY!!!! Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s get down to brass tacks. “The Meek” centers around some murders that Batman is investigating, but the trail is mostly cold. He only knows that they were seen by Dr. Thompkins. What Snyder, Duggan, and Scalera do masterfully is take us on a good, old-fashioned detective story, suitable for the world’s greatest detective.
I love when writers take Batman and put him back down with the people and the innocents that he has sworn to protect! Don’t get me wrong, I like the Batman that single-handedly took out the Justice League and Darkseid, too, but in my opinion, THIS is Batman! What really brings this story to life is the beautiful artwork by Scalera. I have to say that his style is perfectly suited for the “dark detective” aspect of Batman, able to convey mood and tension with just a few strokes, but also psychoses that Batman has to deal with.
After the epic storyline, “Zero Year,” this was the perfect issue to follow-up with. It has mystery, detective work, heroics, darkness… everything you expect from a Batman book. What it didn’t have was a “to be continued” at the end, which lets the readers “catch their collective breath” before the next mega-arc. You won’t read a better single-issue story from any publisher this month, you can bank on that!
Story: 5 / 5
Art: 5 / 5
Overall: 5 / 5
Scott Keys is a father, Butler University grad, pharmacist, and full-time comic nerd. You can follow his adventures around the spinner-rack and his Incoherent Comic Book Ramblings on:
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