COMIC REVIEW: ‘Batman: Detective Comics’ #23.3 Scarecrow

‘Batman: Detective Comics’ #23.3 Scarecrow

• Cover by Jason Fabok
• Written by Peter Tomasi
• Art by Szymon Kudranski
• Colours by John Kalisz

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BEWARE OF SPOILERS

Scarecrow is another of the more intricate issues in the ‘Villains Month’ series thanks to his involvement with The Secret Society which has already been established in earlier issues.

Rather than follow the template of other villains issues which have been simple retellings of origin stories this is one of the standout issues, much like Penguin, which takes the character on a present day based story with a well defined arc from start to finish.

Scarecrow is continuing his journey delivering the society coins and spreading the word to the other super villains in and around the city which also allows for guest spots by Mr. Freeze, Killer Croc and Poison Ivy to name but a few.

Scarecrow himself acts almost as a narrator in the story, there are times when he didn’t necessarily even need to appear but he remains the heart of the story throughout.

This issue also acts, just as Bane does, as a great segue in to the ‘Arkham War’ arc as Scarecrow hypes up the impending battle.

The artwork in this issue takes on a dark, watery nature which is really atmospheric and great to look at. Killer Croc loses some of his design flair from his own issue but still looks great.

Pay particular attention to the landscape page that ends this story which is a great way of showing how Gotham has descended in to ‘No Man’s Land’ style chaos.

7/10