Review: Batman: The Drowned

Quick Summary

Pros: The concept is unique and interesting. The story continues to be as dark and twisted as one would expect. The artwork and colors are fantastic.

Cons: Some parts of the Drowned’s backstory are not nearly as developed as one would hope.

Overall: This is one of the better offerings in the already great series of Dark Batmen one-shots. It tells the story of a evil, yet strangely sympathetic, version of Batman who’s confrontation with Atlanteans has changed both her mind and body. It is a great issue that’s biggest problem is that it leaves readers wanting more. Fans of Batman, Aquaman, or comics in general should definitely pick this one up.

Story

Thus far, the Dark Batmen tie-ins to Dark Nights: Metal have been fantastic. Batman: The Drowned is no different. In it, Dan Abnett, tells the sad and chilling tale of a female Batman who’s rage against superheroes has pushed her so far into darkness that she now despises the light. This issue is so good that one of the only problems is that it isn’t long enough to show off everything one would want to see about this amazing new character. This is a one-shot issue that could easily be an entire series on its own and is something every fan should read.

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This issue starts out with the Drowned submerging the King of Atlantis’ home. It immediately demonstrates her power and her hatred for everything in the light. She then goes head to head with Aquaman and Mera and shows that she is even more powerful than the two of them combined. It is a quick and effective demonstration of how threatening this new character is to our heroes and is something that garners her immediate respect.

Then, readers start to learn about her past in a way that almost makes her a sympathetic character. On her Earth, the love of her life was killed, so she responded by killing a majority of the worlds heroes, including the Queen of Atlantis. In a weird way, she seems to be doing all of this in order to give power to the powerless and balance out the metahuman’s control over the world. The story even mentions her sitting through peace talks and shows her being cheered on by her people. In contrast, the Atlanteans seem vicious and are the ones who attempt genocide in flooding the Earth as a final move in the war.

However, at the issue’s conclusion, a twisted truth is brought to the surface. The Drowned corrupts Mera’s mind and forces her to attack Aquaman, a tactic she reveals has been used on all of her soldiers. This casts her entire past into question and paints her as a malevolent dictator rather than a benevolent elected servant. It is a nice twist to end the story and something that has a lot of potential to play out in interesting ways as this series progresses.

The only problem, with this issue, is that the story doesn’t delve into the Drowned’s background nearly as much as one would hope. References are made to the Drowned defeating the entirety of the world’s metahumans, only to meet major resistance when confronting the Atlanteans. However, this war with the metahumans sounds like an incredible premise which, I personally, would have rather seen. It also opens a world of questions in regards to how the Drowned was able to defeat every metahuman and causes readers to ask why that wasn’t shown. Ultimately wanting more from a character is a good problem to have, though it will be upsetting if readers are never given the chance to see these things.

(spoilers end here)

Art

Philip Tan and Tyler Kirkham do some gorgeous work with the art throughout this issue. Their gritty attention to detail and 19th century aesthetic make this issue feel as if it plucked from a centuries old fairy tale rather than a modern day story. The final product is a version of steampunk without the steam and with a whole bunch of water instead. This sets the tone for the issue and makes it feel even more fantastic and epic than normal.

Then Dean White and Arif Prianto’s colors come into play and kick the already great looking book up to a whole new level. The muted grays, blues, and greens of the ocean give the book a somber and dark tone, something one also feels from the Drowned’s dialogue. The Drowned herself then uses purples and pinks in order to signify her otherworldly status. All of these colors come together in a symphony of beauty that perfectly fits the tone that the story was developing.

Continuity

Batman: The Drowned is part of a series of seven one-shots designed as tie-ins to Dark Nights: Metal. Most of the events in this issue flow out of Metal #2 (Review).

For more information on the timeline of the Metal event see our “Metal Timeline” right here. Or see our other Metal reviews right here.

This issue also references the stories from other comic books, all of which are detailed below:

• Earth-11 being a gender-swapped version of Earth-0 is a concept originating from Superman/Batman #23, which is collected in Superman/Batman Vol. 2. The existence of this Earth was further confirmed in Grant Morrison’s Multiversity.
• Dead Water is mentioned. Dead Water is an Aquaman villain who was introduced (in this continuity) in Aquaman Vol. 8: Out of Darkness.

The main story here continues directly into Dark Nights: Metal #3 (Review).