DC COMICS/DC Black Label – @DCComics
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
STORY: Scott Snyder
PENCILS: Greg Capullo
INKS: Jonathan Glapion
COLORS: FCO Plascencia
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
EDITOR: Mark Doyle
COVER: Greg Capullo with FCO Plascencia
VARIANT COVER: Rafael Albuquerque
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (February 2020)
Mature Readers
Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
Parts (Eight) “The Signal” and (Nine) “The Doorway”
Batman: Last Knight on Earth was a three-issue comic book miniseries written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo (pencils) and Jonathan Glapion (inks). Colorist FCO Plascencia and letterer Tom Napolitano complete the creative team.
Batman: Last Knight on Earth was the second release in DC Comics' then new prestige and event publication imprint, “DC Black Label.” Batman: Last Knight on Earth follows a younger version of Bruce Wayne/Batman as he travels a ruined Earth, with the bottled, still-alive head of The Joker in tow, trying to find the mysterious power that devastated the world. Eventually Batman learns that the master of this scorched Earth, known as Omega, is apparently another younger version Wayne/Batman. He also reunites with several former allies, including, Dick Grayson-Nightwing, the former Commissioner James “Jim” Gordon, Diana/Wonder Woman, and Duke Thomas, to name a few.
Batman: Last Knight on Earth #3 opens with a flashback to the old days, as Batman and Commissioner Gordon ignite a new Bat-signal. Then it is back to the future as Batman gathers his allies for an assault on Omega. Batman and Joker will attempt to infiltrate Wayne Tower, Omega's base of operations, and Diana will lead the allies and Owls to Arkham Island where the a mind-control signal is broadcast from inside Arkham Asylum. But there are adversaries awaiting both fronts of Batman's mission, and this last knight will learn the true identity of Omega.
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are the most popular Batman writer-artist team of this still young twenty-first century, and they are also among the most prolific of the last 50 years. I can say that Snyder-Capullo is thus far the best Batman creative team of these new times.
Snyder's Batman reminds me of the Batman/Bruce Wayne that Frank Miller and artist David Mazzuchelli introduced to readers in the Batman: Year One story arc (originally published in the comic book, Batman, issues #404-407). He is young, fresh, and determined with a somewhat humanitarian bent, but is still a fist or boot for justice.
Capullo's Batman is sleek and youthful, a combination of science fiction and technology character design mixed with Batman's original pulp fiction origin (in particularly, Walter Gibson's The Shadow). Inker Jonathan Glapion keeps Capullo's clean-line clean.
FCO Plascencia's colors blend superhero pop-art style with the science fiction comics futuristic dreams of Moebius. Letterer Tom Napolitano letters for the end of the world, but still fashions a comic font so that The Joker and his dialogue can stand out in the edginess with splashes of color.
Batman: Last Knight on Earth #3 is an emotional finale to a quality Batman comic book miniseries. I think Snyder and Capullo are saying that from time to time, like clockwork, Batman and his mission turn sour. Then, it is a time for renewal, and that is the story Batman: Last Knight on Earth tells. And in our world, the Batman line of comic books sometimes turns stale and over the past 80 years, there are have been renewals, revamps, and reboots. Is it time for another?
8 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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