- Written by Scott Snyder
- Pencils John Romita Jr. & Declan Shalvey
- Inks by Danny Miki & Declan Shalvey
- Coloured by Jordie Bellaire, Dean White
- Cover by Danny Miki, John Romita Jr. & Dean White
“My Own Worst Enemy” part four! So close and yet so far from his goal, Batman must now wrangle Two-Face out of his own assassin-filled riverboat casino before it plunges over Niagara Falls to their deaths! The Dark Knight will have to go all-in on the most deadly gamble of his life if he intends to make it out alive.
Pickup your copy of ‘All-Star Batman’ #4 at Comixology now!
Consistency is the name of the game with ‘All-Star Batman’ and finally it is starting to happen. I’ve been tough on this series in previous reviews, really tough. The first three issues have been hugely overstuffed with various characters from the Batman universe. Odd for a series whose concept is based on taking Batman out of his normal surroundings.
Once again the story picks up directly after the last issue as we find Batman double crossed by Two-Face. I’m still a little confused as to why Two-Face has a group of Owls by him as he hasn’t previously been connected with the Court. There’s a lot of moments in ‘All-Star Batman’ which feel very contrived for the sake of the story. Batman’s suit in this issue, for instance, seems to be full of new gadgets which are perfectly designed to deal with the exact situation he has found himself in. Given that this story is written by Scott Snyder, the mastermind behind ‘Endgame’ and ‘Court of the Owls’ it feels like slack storytelling.
Still it’s hard to argue with how this story is starting to come together. Once the fight with Two-Face and the light aircraft sequence which follows it is over then ‘All-Star Batman’ finally starts to work. For the first time some of the supporting characters reappear in a second issue so KGBeast, Penguin, Great White Shark and Black Mask get the award for being more consistent than any other characters so far. With that there’s a plan, there’s a structure to what’s going on and finally this is beginning to feel like a Batman story.
I’m still not 100% sure what it is but its there.
With the story finally coming together I was a little less distracted by the artwork. In writing this review and focussing on it again it still bothers me and it still feels incredibly stiff compared to many other comics but with the story starting to work it’s definitely less of a distraction.
Verdict
‘All-Star Batman’ #4 is perhaps the issue we’ve been waiting for. It shows the series most consistent characterisation and storytelling and finally the Scott Snyder we know is starting to show his personality. Stick with it.
