Review: Forever Evil- Arkham War
Quick Summary
Pros: The action and thrills in the main storyline are great. Plenty of Batman’s villains get a chance to shine here.
Cons: The subplots are mostly uninteresting. The collection’s conclusion is very disappointing.
Overall: This is a book where Batman’s most vicious enemies go head to head in an all-out war for Gotham City. Being centered around a war, the entire volume is filled with great fight sequences and some entertaining moments from the villains. However, the subplots are lackluster and the conclusion is not good. Overall, pick this one up if you want to see Gotham’s villains fight each other in large bouts of action.
Story
Forever Evil: Arkham War, by Peter J. Tomasi,is a celebration of Batman’s rogues’ gallery through the story of an epic war for the fate of Gotham City. There are great moments from specific villains, the main story is entertaining, and there are plenty of awesome fight sequences. However, the majority of the book’s subplots are uninteresting and the ending is extremely anti-climatic. In addition, the main storyline does not have many major positives outside the fighting. Overall, this is a volume for those who want to see Batman’s enemies engaged in high-level action and don’t mind making sacrifices elsewhere.
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The entire collection follows Bane’s attempt to rule Gotham City after the events of Forever Evil (Review) have left it defenseless. In achieving this goal, he is put in direct opposition with the rest of Batman’s enemies, who have already divvied sections of the city up amongst themselves. This is the titular “war” and is where the majority of the book’s tension and thrills are derived.
This is also where the majority of the book’s positives can be found, as the battles in this war prove to be very entertaining. Bane is absolutely brutal in every one of his encounters and is driven in a way that makes him a terror to behold. Meanwhile, the inmates of Arkham each get a great moment in the spotlight, whether it be highlighting Professor Pig’s sadistic nature or Scarecrow’s intellectual side. Then, when the two are put at odds with each other, the showdowns are fierce. This leads to moments like Man-Bat impaling a man with a radio tower and Bane throwing Killer Croc off a roof. Those looking to this book for action will absolutely not be disappointed.
Unfortunately, the book’s subplots are not nearly as entertaining. One involves Penguin attempting to manipulate events to his advantage and another involves the Gotham Police department’s attempts to manage the chaos. Neither subplot is expanded upon enough to make it interesting and neither has a significant impact on the overall story. They conclude feeling like distractions, rather than unique pieces of a larger narrative.
In addition, the book’s conclusion is a tremendous disappointment. Bane has completely taken over the city and has an army of Talon mercenaries at his disposal. There is potential here for the story to go in many directions, from the Talons rising up against Bane to Penguin’s mysterious plan somehow affecting him. However, instead of going down this route, the book’s conclusion simply sees Batman show up and defeat Bane in a fistfight. It is anti-climactic and completely takes away from the seven chapters of progress Bane made here.
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Art
The majority of the artwork, throughout Arkham War, is provided by Scott Eaton. Eaton’s work here is decent and is a nice match for the specific subject material. He does well in highlighting the battles that take place in this “war” and specifically succeeds in depicting full-page spreads with numerous combatants.
However, there are a few moments that pop up now and again where the artwork just looks odd. These range from a character’s action looking incredibly stiff and static to motion simply not being depicted correctly. These moments are rare and do not have a large effect on the overall visual quality of the work, but are worth noting all the same.
Continuity
Forever Evil: Arkham War continues directly from the ending of Trinity War (Review) and explains what happens in Gotham during the events of Forever Evil (Review).
This collection does not have a direct sequel in any specific comic book. However, some elements from this storyline are continued in Batman Eternal (Review).
This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:
- Bane decides to attack Gotham at this time because of information he obtained in Talon Vol. 2: Fall of the Owls (Review).
- Bane’s history of defeating Batman can be read in either Batman: Knightfall Vol. 1 (25th Anniversary Edition) or Batman: Knightfall Omnibus Vol. 1.
- Commissioner Gordon mentions the Green, earthquakes, and plagues all effecting Gotham.
- The Green took over in “Zero Year”, told in Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year- Dark City (Review).
- An earthquake struck Gotham in Batman: Cataclysm.
- A plague hit Gotham in Batman: Contagion.
- Penguin’s recent trouble with the self-proclaimed “Emperor Penguin” is brought up. These troubles ate detailed in Detective Comics Vol. 3: Emperor Penguin and Detective Comics Vol. 4: The Wrath.
- The Court of Owl’s Talons were all defeated in the “Night of the Owls” event, collected in Batman: Night of the Owls.
- One specific Talon, William Cobb, plays a part in this storyline. His defeat can be found in either the Nightwing chapter of Night of the Owls or in Nightwing Vol. 2: Night of the Owls (Review).
- Zsasz mentions being brought back to Gotham by Nightwing. This happened in Nightwing Vol. 5: Setting Son (Review)