DC Comics reviews for the week of 1/23/19

Batman #63

Over the last three issues, Tom King has gotten very experimental with Batman. The previous two issues came off odd and weirdly timed after such a great cliffhanger. This one feels more like there’s a point to what earlier felt like a bad detour.

The nightmare theme continues, but this time Batman isn’t alone. John Constantine is on hand to help Batman deal with a clear case of what if? In this case, what if Selina actually didn’t run away and married him? That’s a big game changer and King embraces the concept while having Constantine play the cold water to snap Bruce out of it. It’s Constantine that finally provides insight as to what’s actually happening to Batman. That was the link that’s been missing from previous issues. And as this story plays out, it feels like the appropriate time to resume to the regular storyline.

It also doesn’t hurt that King is reunited with his regular Batman artist Mikel Janin. Over these 63 issues, Janin has been the one artist who’s defined this run. I’m a big fan of his clean, streamlined style and how cinematic his pages look. He also works very well with King’s narrative style and is able to choose the best image for the lengthy text. Janin keeps his pages simple and it’s the best approach when King can get especially verbose.

Colorist Jordie Bellaire does her regular masterful work here with one page early on that creates a gorgeous sunset. Janin draws the moment well enough, but without Bellaire, it wouldn’t have nearly the same impact.

By the end of this issue, I felt far more intrigued with where King is taking this story and the clever use of Constantine with this cliffhanger definitely has me excited for the next issue.

Rating: 9.5 out of 10