Batman #22 Review

BATMAN #22

by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, James Tynion and Rafael Albuquerque

Before Bruce Wayne was Batman, he was... THE PENGUIN!

The first chapter of Zero Year was an incredibly disappointing debut for the new Batman storyline by Scott Snyder. And this issue just continues the disappointment. This is sad, as Snyder is one of my favorite writers as of late. He's made 4 of the best Batman stories I've ever read in a while, The Black Mirror, the Court of Owls, Death of the Family, and the spectacular Batman #12. The first problem Zero Year has is that it tries to be too different. Now, I understand that Batman's origin is a story we've all seen before, and it has to be fresh each time. However, this deviates too much from the formula of any Batman story. For one thing, Bruce is written as an unlikable jackass, and I don't see any way he would ever become the hero we're all attached to. Another problem is, the tone. On paper, making Bruce Wayne a very Jason Bourne-like character sounds great, but the execution doesn't do much with it. Another thing I didn't like, was the confrontation with the Red Hood gang. It felt sort of stale, and lacked any of Snyder's normal pizzaz. Despite all these flaws, Snyder sets up some interesting plot threads, involving Edward Nygma, and Phillip Kane. And Alfred steals the show in EVERY SCENE HE'S IN. He even bitch slaps Bruce, and that instantly brightened my day.

As Snyder's writing has a lapse in quality, Greg Capullo's art makes this book. He would be perfect on drawing a secret agent book, and his rendering of the many set pieces give off a sense of energy and motion, and you really feel like Capullo's having a blast drawing it. He even brings in some  JH Williams-ish page layouts that add more spice to some scenes.

The backup story is no where near as bad as the backups during the Clayface arc, but they don't even reach the mystery and amazement of the Court of Owls backups, or Jock-drawn stories. Tynion's story is interesting enough, but I wish he did more with the entire premise of "Bruce Wayne being buried alive underneath a Sphynx". Thankfully, while we still don't have anymore American Vampire this month, Albuquerque really delivers in this issue. His painted style just looks gorgeous.

Batman still soars over a lot of books DC is publishing right now, but this issue was a major bummer in terms of story. Zero Year is not the best story Snyder and Co. have put out, and while the story leaves something to be desired, the art astonishes. 

STORY: 2/5

+ Interesting plot threads

+ Alfred bitch slapping Bruce

- Bruce deserved that bitch slap

- This is not a Batman story, it's not even a Bruce Wayne story!

- The Red Hood confrontation

ART: 4/5

+ Energetic

+ A blast to look at

+ Engaging page layouts

BACKUP: 3/5

+ Excellent art

+ Decent writing

- Feels like more could have been done with it

VERDICT: 3/5