DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT:  BATMAN #1

Who Burns Who, Part 1

October 2009

Written by Peter J. Tomasi

Pencils by Ardian Syaf

Inks by John Dell and Vicente Cifuentes

Covers by Andy Kubert and Bill Sienkiewicz

Synopsis

In Gotham City, Batman (aka Dick Grayson) and Robin (aka Damian Wayne) stand before the desecrated grave of the Wayne family.  In the Himalayas, a black power ring finds Boston Brand (aka Deadman).  He leaps into his own body and feels too much pain to stay.  He then decides to find a body he does know:  Batman.    Elsewhere, black power rings make the dead rise as Black Lanterns.  Meanwhile, Deadman finds Batman, but is startled to find a different person under the cowl.  Deadman then switches to Robin so he can explain what is happening to the dead.  Grayson decides to check on his parents’ grave, but stops at another grave:  Jack and Janet Drake.  Dick calls Tim Drake and informs of what is happened.  Tim is on his way back to Gotham. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This one surprised me.  I am not expecting much out of the tie-ins, so maybe my expectations were a little lower than normal, but I really liked this issue.  Or maybe it has to do with the fact that writer Tomasi is also the writer of Green Lantern Corps and has been a part of the group setting the foundation with the Blackest Night lead-ins for the past several months.  Either way, this was very good.  Hopefully it is a sign of good things to come. 

What caught my eye in this issue is the way Tomasi deals with death.  Not in the zombie kind of way since they don’t actually meet a Black Lantern, but in the real life death way.  The scene with Dick and Damian at the Wayne graves and the way they handle the situation was beautifully written.  And I like the fact that Dick’s first thing he thinks about are his parents, but even in the midst of that he still thinks of Tim’s parents, who also happen to be closer.  I think this issue could’ve easily devolved into a fight featuring Dick fighting dead enemies (especially Blockbuster given the way he died), so to see Tomasi handle it differently was welcome.

Here is the list of Batman villains that have risen from the dead in this issue.  When you consider the 70-year history of the Caped Crusader, it is surprising the list is small (and features a lot of lower level villains), but then when you realize Batman’s motto is not to kill, I guess the number is about right.  Plus, Blockbuster was killed in an issue of Nightwing, so that one doesn’t count.  And Abattoir was killed by the first replacement Batman, Azreal. 

Roland Desmond = Blockbuster

Arnold Wesker = Ventriloquist

Anatoli Knyazev = KGBeast

Margaret Pye =  Magpie

Edmund Dorrace = King Snake

Deacon Joseph Blackfire = Deacon Blackfire

Tom and Tad Trigger = Trigger Twins

Arnold Etchinson = Abattoir

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