Review: Batman and the Signal
Quick Summary
Pros: The entire collection has plenty of action and excitement. Duke’s character is handled well and is more interesting here than ever before. The opening and closing stories have great mysteries that generate plenty of interest. The visuals are great and assist with the storytelling.
Cons: The opening story never explains concepts that it teases. The middle story isn’t that memorable. Secondary characters are lackluster in the closing story.
Overall: Though relatively new in the world of comics, within this volume, Duke Thomas shows how great a character he can be. This collection contains exciting action, compelling mystery, and a focus on Duke that allows his character to be better than ever. The collection has some problems but none are large enough to significantly damage the overall quality. Those who already enjoy Duke as a character and those interested in seeing what he can do should consider picking up this collection.
Story
Batman and the Signal is an entertaining collection of Duke Thomas stories that succeeds in turning him into a unique and worthwhile character. Each of the stories collected here are exciting, give Duke time to show off his skills, and build up excitement for his character. The two main stories also preform well as interesting mysteries, getting the reader simultaneously invested in Duke’s hidden past and a compelling criminal investigation. There are some problems with the individual adventures but none of these problems are significant enough to take away from the appeal of this collection as a whole. Overall, this is a solid collection that definitely succeeds in driving interest.
(spoilers start here)
Batman and the Signal opens with the “Cursed Wheel” story arc that was originally told in backup chapters from All-Star Batman Vol. 1 (Review) and All-Star Batman Vol. 2 (Review). This is an exciting mystery that has Duke step into the spotlight for the first time ever. The adventure here features a compelling investigation, some great character development for Duke, and even a bit of creepy pseudo-horror to set it apart from other bat-comics. However, the best aspect of this comic is the way in which it propels Duke into the future by revealing that there is far more to his character than meets the eye. Though Duke made appearances in comics before this point, this is the comic that convinced me he is a character worth watching out for.
The only significant downside here is that the titular “Cursed Wheel” training method is never explained in any sufficient manner. The theory behind this concept is flirted with and sounds incredibly interesting, yet, by the story’s conclusion, almost nothing about it is revealed.
Batman and the Signal then goes on to tell a brief but entertaining story from DC’s New Talent Showcase 2017 #1, by Tony Patrick. It shows Red Hood taking Duke under his wing for a fast-paced and exciting training session. Though this is fun and is likely to be a nice treat for Red Hood fans, it doesn’t really do anything that memorable. Instead, this chapter simply provides a decent interlude for the collection but isn’t a major draw all on its own.
Finally, the volume concludes with the entire story from the titular Batman and the Signal series, by Scott Snyder and Tony Patrick. Like the “Cursed Wheel” story, this arc centers around an exciting mystery with an enigmatic personal connection to Duke. This allows for two separate investigations to play out at once, ensuring that there is always something to look forward to in the next chapter. It makes the end more satisfying and makes the path to get there more tense. The conclusion of this arc also functions like the conclusion to the “Cursed Wheel” in building plenty of excitement for Duke as a character.
The biggest problem with this closing story arc is secondary characters. The narrative sets up Duke’s two friends and a daytime police officer with supporting roles in the story. However, none of them are developed enough to truly garner any interest on their own. Instead, Riko provides an outburst that felt so random and out of place that it forced me to look back and see if I missed the building tension that led to this outburst. All in all, this closing story arc could have benefited from minimizing the roles of these secondary characters and focusing more on Duke.
(spoilers end here)
Art
Batman and the Signal starts out with some fantastic artwork in the “Cursed Wheel” portion of the book. Declan Shalvey’s art presents crisp, clean, and purposefully detailed pages. Everything here already looks nice but gets even better when paired with Jordie Bellaire’s striking colors, which allow the entire experience to stand out as something unique. This high quality artwork continues as Francesco Francavilla takes over on both art and colors. Francavilla’s creepy art style, chaotic panels, and outrageous colors create a visual palate that mirrors the unease Duke feels throughout the story. All of these artists help make the “Cursed Wheel” portion of the book a visual success on every page.
From here, the book moves on to the “Role Call” story from DC’s New Talent Showcase 2017 #1. Here, Minkyu Jung’s pencils do a solid job in depicting a few entertaining fight scenes. The fighting here is fluid, the characters are detailed, and the entire experience is laid out in a way that makes sense. However, there are places where depth feels a bit off or characters are simply posed in strange ways. Plus, one of the pages has Catwoman swinging out of a building despite there being no open windows in sight. Overall, this chapter looks alright but isn’t necessarily that great.
The Batman and the Signal collection closes with all three chapters from the Batman and the Signal series. These chapters, from artist Cully Hamner, look great and do a wonderful job in showing the reader what Gotham looks like in the daytime. This is where the collection’s visuals are the most imaginative, as towering skyscrapers and creatively designed buildings shine in the light of the sun. It also helps that the characters look great as well and the entire story arc has colors that match the tone. Overall, these final chapters are another win for the visuals in this collection.
Continuity
Batman and the Signal somewhat continues the plot thread from Batman: Rebirth #1, which is collected in Batman Vol. 1: I am Gotham (Review).
This series ends with this volume.
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Duke’s friends Izzy and Riko are reintroduced here. These two are friends Duke made in We are Robin Vol. 1: The Vigilante Business (Review).
- The current condition of Duke’s parents is explained by Batman Vol. 7: Endgame (Review).
- Duke’s past at the Lucius Fox Center for Gotham Youth is first shown in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review).
- Duke’s relationship with Daryl Gutierrez and Daryl’s current situation are explained across Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review) and Batman Vol. 9: Bloom (Review).
- Batman mentions meeting Duke during the Zero Year. This is in Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year- Secret City (Review) and Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year- Dark City (Review).
- Duke mentions learning something from the Joker and coming into contact with Shazam’s dagger; both of these events happened in Dark Days: The Casting, which is collected in Dark Days: The Road to Metal (Review).
- Batman references Barbatos. Barbatos was the villain from Dark Nights: Metal (Review).