DCU Comic Book Reviews

BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #54

The Power Of Six, Super Powers Conclusion

May 2011

Written by Marc Guggenheim

Pencils by Jerry Bingham

Inks by Jerry Bingham

Cover by Jerry Bingham

Synopsis

Then…Bruce Wayne joins the Zhuguan.  Like the others, he has been given an elixir that has given him special powers.  The Zhuguan then attack Huairen, a crime lord.  Now…Batman is fighting genetically altered human beings, the “children” of a man who was also altered.  Then…the Zhuguan execute their plan precisely, which ends with Bruce stabbing the Huairen through the heart.  Bruce then looks for Ri to heal him, but Ri’s energy has been spent.  Bruce realizes that was the plan all along.  Bruce then revives Huairen, saving his life long enough until Ri can rest long enough to heal him completely.  Bruce then walks away.  Now…Batman is overwhelmed by the sheer number of altered “children”.  However, the odds change by the arrival of the Justice League of America.  Later, Bruce/Batman realizes that he can only trust himself and only trust what he can accomplish with his own two hands.  He doesn’t know if that will ever change.  But he hopes that it does. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Ultimately, what it comes down to is that this is a story with two different plots that are not connected except in the manner in which the writer connects them.  It is more or less just an exercise in structure, in writing a story with narration that works for bleeds from one to the other.  I can appreciate the narrative device that Guggenheim uses and I can appreciate the craft and the hard work it took to put together this story.  But at the end of the day, the structure doesn’t help the story.  Or rather, can’t make up for the fact that the two stories really have no connection.  Oh, Guggenheim tries and you can see the idea has some merit (although it doesn’t really have anything to do with the title of the story), but overall the ending falls flat.  As a result, the entire story falls flat.  It is a interesting idea, but it doesn’t quite work. 

For some odd reason, the version of Bruce’s Batman on the first page and Ri appear on the last page of the recent issue of Justice Society of America.  Given the huge difference in time periods (and Bruce’s change in costume), it doesn’t make sense.  The only explanation is the fact that Guggenheim is the writer of both books, but I am not sure if it is a mistake or intended or what.

 

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