I know it’s not a cure, like we’d hoped. But it’s a resolution at least.
The All-Star Batman series was one of the kick-off series for the DC Rebirth relaunch that happened when the New 52 relaunch finally wrapped up and I guess it’s notable for being Scott Snyder, since he did so much acclaimed work on Batman during New 52. If none of that means anything to you, don’t worry, it barely means anything to me. Bottom line is that Batman is taking Harvey Dent/Two-Face out of Gotham City on a road trip; they’re headed for an isolated location where Harvey says there’s a cure for his condition that will allow them to burn Two-Face out of his brain forever. Two-Face, unfortunately, knows all about this and has put a massive bounty on Batman’s head.
Honestly, the best things here are kind of the action sequences. The fact that everyone is trying to kill Batman, including just random normal people he comes across, lets them bring in some heavy hitters. The story opens with a fantastic scene in a diner with Firefly and Killer Moth and before it’s over Batman is literally rampaging through a field, wielding a chainsaw and if that’s not something you want to see, I don’t know what to tell you. A later action scene featuring KGBeast is even better and the violence is rendered very viscerally; seems like more blood sprays than in most Batman comics, but maybe I just didn’t read much of New 52. The story isn’t all good; there’s a weird subplot back in Gotham about Commissioner Gordon having decided that he’s going to expose that Bruce Wayne is Batman for . . . some reason. Never quite understood what was going on there. But I did like the ending of the story and it felt like the final twist was very true to Batman’s character.
I also really liked the secondary story in this collection, The Cursed Wheel, which develops Duke, a new member of the Bat-Family. It features one of my favorite Batman villains, the psychopathic serial killer Victor Zsasz. He’s struck again, but this time he actually a left a survivor and that’s never happened before. So the mystery revolves around the psychological elements of the story and why this victim survived. I really liked it a lot. I found Duke to be a compelling character and the scenes with his parents, who have been driven insane by the Joker, were generally upsetting and disturbing.
Anyway, it’s not perfect by any means nor does it reach the level of greatness, but overall, it’s got a break-neck pace, great art in the action scenes and some genuinely good character work. I really enjoyed this one. 3 ½ stars.
tl;dr – Batman & Two-Face on the run together is a great set-up and this comic mostly delivers; a few story problems, but good character work and amazing action sequences. 3 ½ stars.