By "New" we mean "Here are things we've done already!"
This really should be 2.5 stars, but I've rounded up just because it was better (sort of) than most of those not-that-great Justice League collections. The artwork is both impressive and nauseous together: the impressive parts remind us of Neal Adams's way of revitalizing series with real movement, fine detail, and believable action. The nauseous parts are the over-abundance of blood and gore. That truly is not that impressive. The depiction of the female characters is also insulting to every human being, but I guess you can't take the Image out of the artist. The writing is likewise a confusing combination of rambling internal monologue and decent storytelling. Much of the "story" is a recap of old storylines - mainly Knightfall, which adds to the overall "what part of 'New 52' is really 'new'?" company-wide confusion. Nothing is a surprise, but at least some of the character moments are good (and for some the familiarity might actually be enjoyable). But then again, just when one thinks things are going to run intelligently, along comes another "I'm going to take down Batman and Gordon!" I.A. guy ... I mean, honestly. Don't these two have enough to worry about? Is writing for Batman truly that difficult we have to rehash this nonsense? Finch teases us with potentially enjoyable moments only to snatch them cruelly away, such as the potential enjoyment of seeing Batman and Flash together only to sidetrack the Flash immediately and send him away. This could have been better without the blood and violence - I know this is the "Dark" Knight, but subtlety and implied violence would work far better than showing it, especially so frequently. If offstage violence worked for Aeschylus and Sophocles, surely it could work for crafters of Batman tales. I acknowledge this review does not apparently mesh with 3 stars, but as it was on the whole better than most JL tales of the New 52, and the potential of storylines such as Gordon at the psychiatrist office and The White Rabbit (despite her embarrassing visual appearance), I'll say "decent effort." Faint praise all around, on me!
