All Star Batman #4

Quick Summary

Pros: The story and art are both still really great and continue to add to the enigma that his Harvey Dent. In addition, we get to learn about a lot of the information Snyder has been teasing us with so far.

Cons: The plot was a little lackluster as it did not offer the same thrills or excitement that previous issues did. It also had a lot of odd plot and continuity issues that will manage to bug anyone paying even somewhat close attention.

Overall: While this issue was not as good as some of the few that came before it, it is by no means a bad comic. It still has the action that we have come to expect here and it even comes to deliver the answers to a few small questions that we have been asking.

Story

The action has been rising ever since All Star Batman started, yet this issue comes off as more of a plateau than anything else. We get to learn a bunch about character motivations and backstories yet do not get to see much more happen. Although this does not make for the most exciting issue, a story arc cannot completely consist of rising action and thus this is almost a necessity. I still think this series is going very well and hopefully this issue will provide for more greatness in the future.

(spoilers start here)

This seemed to be an issue focused on information and backstory issue rather than action, and in these places it was a success. The backstory about Harvey’s father’s return sheds a new perspective on his and Batman’s current actions. Additionally, seeing Harvey address Two Face in a Total Recall moment not only gives more detail about Harvey and Two Face, but also shows us that maybe there is something to this cure at the end of the rainbow. This examination of Two Face has been one of the most consistently good things about this series and I am really hoping it will continue as such in the future.

On the downside, there is also a plethora of small plot and continuity issues here that do not really make much sense. For one, Harvey decided to give Penguin and the villains the tracker code he placed on Two Face as a contingency plan, yet neglected to give this same code to Batman, his main plan. Then, Two Face reveals that he has extended the tracker code that Harvey put on him despite the fact that he seemingly just learned about it. Finally, Two Face talks as if he has been using a battalion from the Court of Owls for a while now, especially since he says “I’ve used it a lot” about their technique of drowning people. However, he also states that the Court gave them to him in response to his threat to release everyone’s secrets, which only happened at the beginning of this series. Overall, there were just a bunch of small things that did not make sense.

The backup issue was not as exciting or thrilling as the previous issues, yet it did give a solid conclusion to this mini-arc. I also enjoyed Duke’s examination of the Joker being Batman’s blind spot and his statement that the Joker does not act out of pure malice, but rather a perverted love for Batman. However I would really like to see and learn more about this “cursed wheel” and what exactly it is; hopefully this will play out in the next issue.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The art here is as good as the rest of the art has been in the series so far. However this issue lacked the landscapes and outdoor scenes that were so great in the prior issues. Most of this issue takes place inside buildings or sewers or takes place high in the sky, so there was not much room for the amazing panels like the past few issues. Unfortunately, this seems to just be how the cookie crumbles for this issue.

Continuity

Being so close to the first issue and not really making any additional connections, I have included the continuity list from All Star Batman Issue #1 (Review).

Since this is a new series meant to be a little bit more cut off from the rest of the Batman Universe in Rebirth, there are not many connections to be made here. However, parts of this do involve Snyder going back to some characters and unfinished stories from his work on Batman. This means you may be a tiny bit confused if you have not read any of Scott Snyder’s Batman.

• Duke Thomas is a character first appearing in Scott Snyder’s run on Batman. However the only thing about his character that directly relates to this work happens in Batman: Rebirth #1, which is collected in either Batman Vol. 10: Epilogue or Batman Vol. 1: I am Gotham.
• The larger plot points from the rest of Duke’s short history can be found in:
  • Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year- Secret City
  • Batman Vol. 5: Zero Year- Dark City
  • We Are Robin Vol. 1: The Vigilante Business
  • We Are Robin Vol. 2: Joker
  • Batman Vol. 7: Endgame