Of course, a date night with Bruce Wayne is memorable.
This month’s BATMAN #5 continues the arc writer Matt Fraction and artist Jorge Jiménez have been building, but feels mostly like a standalone issue (not a complaint).
Bruce has picked up Dr. Zeller for a “non-date-which-later-is-a-date” to discuss some business. What comes next is an exciting chase through Little Tokyo by suspecting sword-wielding dwellers on bikes. There are turns, collisions, fighting, and a surprise appearance by a samurai bird lady, and an ally, all with an interesting final page.
Fraction does an excellent job on this issue by keeping the focus small, but playing it big. We are attached to Bruce’s hip the whole time, and the writer keeps his foot on the gas throughout. There’s no Batman in this issue, yet Bruce is Batman most of the time. It’s a great balancing act, and a new situation we fans enjoy of “how is Bruce gonna get out of this without tipping off he’s Batman?”
We will see in the next issue.
Jimenéz continues to be an exciting action artist. There’s so much movement in this issue, and he makes sure nothing is stale. There’s definitely a Manga influence in these pages, and I found that quite charming. His character work is also very good, perfectly portraying Bruce but actually Batman underneath. Great stuff.
This was a blast of an issue. This team came together to deliver perhaps their best issue yet on a somewhat simple premise. It’s fun, exciting, and left me wanting more.
Bravo. – Ryan Lower