DC Comics reviews 5/3/22 – Flashpoint Beyond #1, Batman #123

Batman #123

The Shadow War rolls on in Batman this week. Batman and Robin close in on a new lead on Ra’s al Ghul’s actual killer while Deathstroke, Rose and Respawn tangle with more of Talia’s assassins.

Writer Joshua Williamson seemed excited to pen some actual Batman and Robin dialogue complete with some quips from Damian. This issue felt a bit more like Batman reading like normal and not on reactive mode. Williamson lets Batman do some detective work and track a usable lead.

Deathstroke’s subplot is less complicated as it’s one big battle.

Howard Porter’s art wasn’t his best this issue. Panels were hard to follow, and the characters were frequently arranged in awkward poses. In other pages, facial details were missing. During an interrogation it was hard to determine if a character was missing an eye or Porter just opted not to draw it.

Given the action heavy nature of this chapter, Porter’s unusually choppy art wasn’t the best presentation.

Shadow War’s fifth chapter advanced the story and had some significant developments. The big drawback was Porter’s art not really measuring up this installment.

Rating: 7 out of 10