By Daniel Vlasaty

Let me first say that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to review Batman this month. As you know, if you read my review of Batman #15, I was not a fan of that issue. I didn’t like it, but I do feel like I might have been needlessly hard on it in my review. But this issue is the first issue in a new arc (called I Am Bane), so I figured I’d give it a shot.

And I actually really enjoyed this issue, even if it was mostly set-up.

Batman gets word that Bane is on his way to Gotham and Batman is getting ready for him. He meets with Jason, Damian, Dick, and Duke at a weird Batman-themed fast food joint to basically tell them to stay out of it. He doesn’t want anyone else to die. And that’s kind of it, story-wise. Catwoman makes an appearance, Bruce has his usual back-and-forth with Alfred, and there’s just a lot of foreshadowing. But it’s the last page that really has me interested in seeing with this arc goes.

King does a good job of setting up the tension that we are likely to see in this arc. He does a good job of showing us what we’re going to see from Batman here. This one is going to hit close to home and Batman will be overburdened in trying to stop Bane and save all of his people and protect his city. So basically, business as usual for Batman. But also he gave us that little taste of Catwoman in this issue so you know there’s going to be some drama there, too.

One of the better parts of this issue was the interactions between Dick and Jason and Damian. It’s always pretty good when they’re all together on the page, but I thought King captured each of them really well. I thought he showed their competitive natures and their bickering and squabbling in a way that I, as a fan, have come to expect it when they’re all together. The fact that it all took place in the weird Batman-themed fast food restaurant was just an added, quirky bonus.

David Finch’s art is always pretty good and I thought it fit the story well enough. There wasn’t much action in this issue, aside from the first few pages, and I thought he handled it fine.

It seems like Jordie Bellaire is everywhere right now. Is there a comic book that she is not coloring these days? I mean, damn. And I was really happy to see her name on the cover of this issue. Usually there isn’t much variation in colors in a Batman comic. It’s usually pretty dark colors, muted. Batman does most of his work at night, so it’s understandable. But I thought the pops of color in the restaurant scene were refreshing. And the coloring on the last page of this issues. It was real nice. The dark shadows of the batcave and the bright red letters popping off. (Read it and you’ll see – it’s a nice page).  

I stand by my review of Batman #15, but this issue really did bring it back around for me. I’m excited to see where the story goes with the rest of the I Am Bane story arc.

Score: 4/5

Batman #16
Writer: Tom King
Artist: David Finch
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Publisher: DC Comics