Glunders Reads Comics

Pick of the Week: Batman #5

As if there was possibly another choice. A spooky, claustrophobic book that set certain corners of the interwebs ablaze this week. 

“So shocking and amazing it should come with a warning,” says Comic Book Resources. And that’s probably about right: this is, in fact, a dizzying comic, bound to make readers a bit squeamish thanks to its… unconventional narrative choices. Also, in one hallucinatory sequence, an owl claws its way out of an old woman’s mouth, so there’s that. It’s juicy!

You’ll need to have read the first four issues to get anything out of this. Still, this is perhaps the most compelling argument thus far as to why you should buy into writer Scott Snyder’s vision for the Batman mythos.

Don’t even think about buying a digital copy, though. It’s unfortunate, I guess, that this is the issue DC chose to for its “combo pack” option, since it requires readers to rotate the actual book a number of times (an entire sequence is actually printed upside down). It just won’t work as well on an iPad or PC. As someone who still buys physical copies, though, I love that Snyder’s done something creative with the medium.

• Legion of Super-Heroes #5: The one and only Walter Simonson joins Paul Levitz in this single-issue story. I haven’t picked up Legion since its iffy first issue, but can’t argue with the art on this one. This sucked.
   
• DC Universe Presents: Deadman #5: The final chapter of a surprisingly good story. Pick this up with the previous issues if you haven’t already. 
   
• T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents #3: Aaand we’re halfway through this excellent miniseries that you’re probably not picking up. It’s not too late!

19 January 2012 ·

• Tags
• batman
• comics
• dc comics
• scott snyder