Bruce is back and he doesn't even know it.
Uhm Spoiler Alert? Yeah thanks for the heads up DC, Bruce Wayne The Road Home is a series of One Shots that began this week with multiple books bearing the banner, this is awful because that banner is the only spoiler alert you will get when reading these issues. So before you make a huge mistake and actually READ this, please bear in mind that a little guy by the name of Grant Morrison is on the verge of finishing his tale about The Return of Bruce Wayne, where he will actually bring Bruce back. If you enjoy continuity and logical explanations (as logical as Grant can be) then stay away from this book (for now). Anyway, let's take a look at this issue:
PLOT:
If you have indeed read this then you know that DC is making the same mistake as Marvel with Captain America Reborn and the first Siege Tie-ins, with that being said, even though the story is pretty much decent, my number one problem with it was reading the voice of a character that is still being reintroduced in another book by Grant Morrison. In my personal opinion the "death" and status quo of Bruce Wayne after Final Crisis was very well handled by DC, his fate was kept under wraps for some time and it was only by solicitations and interviews with Morrison that we found out Bruce was coming back. This mistake has crippled the main act at Return of Bruce Wayne and probably all of the Road Home One Shots. But what about the issue itself? Well if you could burn the last four pages of the issue maybe the whole thing could work as a nice "stalker narrator" plot where nothing really happens and we all stay (sort of) happy, unfortunately the voice of the dark figure observing Dick and Damian is ruined by the end of the whole thing. Dialogue as a whole was decent, all voices (except Stalker Pants over there) were clear and the use of Tommy Elliot was a nice touch. However, the scenes of the titular characters themselves were kind of sloppy, we never got to see much action and the whole "let him go" strategy used by Dick seemed kind of lazy. Overall the story in this One Shot served as a couple of glued up scenes featuring Brucey Stalkey Pants, Vicky Vale and Tommy Elliot in a funny mix which apparently continues in the Red Robin One Shot. Meh.
ART:
The art was handled by Cliff Richards with Ian Hannin on colors and it's their fine work that saves this issue from a "2" in the score. The dynamic of the mini action scenes and overall poses of Batman, Robin, Predator Bruce and Red Robin were just fine, it's the sequential continuity in the "conversation" and "closeup" scenes where this issue suffers, Richards has a knack for changing character faces and hairstyles through out the issue, the biggest and most notable faults are specially done on Vicky Vale in the Tommy Elliot scene and in her "reasoning" scene later in the book. Colors are great and do a great job injecting life on the somewhat dull artwork.
SO:
Plot could have been at least good but falls short due to the Bruce Wayne mistake and other unecessary plot elements like the use of Killshot.
Art carries most of the load here but suffers in some panels due to lack of uniformity on the character design of most of the un-costumed cast.
In the future we will get the explanation of why Bruce is back to normal and NOT AN OMEGA SANCTION BOMB but until then I'm sure DC has really disappointed me of their handle on flagship titles.
PLOT:
If you have indeed read this then you know that DC is making the same mistake as Marvel with Captain America Reborn and the first Siege Tie-ins, with that being said, even though the story is pretty much decent, my number one problem with it was reading the voice of a character that is still being reintroduced in another book by Grant Morrison. In my personal opinion the "death" and status quo of Bruce Wayne after Final Crisis was very well handled by DC, his fate was kept under wraps for some time and it was only by solicitations and interviews with Morrison that we found out Bruce was coming back. This mistake has crippled the main act at Return of Bruce Wayne and probably all of the Road Home One Shots. But what about the issue itself? Well if you could burn the last four pages of the issue maybe the whole thing could work as a nice "stalker narrator" plot where nothing really happens and we all stay (sort of) happy, unfortunately the voice of the dark figure observing Dick and Damian is ruined by the end of the whole thing. Dialogue as a whole was decent, all voices (except Stalker Pants over there) were clear and the use of Tommy Elliot was a nice touch. However, the scenes of the titular characters themselves were kind of sloppy, we never got to see much action and the whole "let him go" strategy used by Dick seemed kind of lazy. Overall the story in this One Shot served as a couple of glued up scenes featuring Brucey Stalkey Pants, Vicky Vale and Tommy Elliot in a funny mix which apparently continues in the Red Robin One Shot. Meh.
ART:
The art was handled by Cliff Richards with Ian Hannin on colors and it's their fine work that saves this issue from a "2" in the score. The dynamic of the mini action scenes and overall poses of Batman, Robin, Predator Bruce and Red Robin were just fine, it's the sequential continuity in the "conversation" and "closeup" scenes where this issue suffers, Richards has a knack for changing character faces and hairstyles through out the issue, the biggest and most notable faults are specially done on Vicky Vale in the Tommy Elliot scene and in her "reasoning" scene later in the book. Colors are great and do a great job injecting life on the somewhat dull artwork.
SO:
Plot could have been at least good but falls short due to the Bruce Wayne mistake and other unecessary plot elements like the use of Killshot.
Art carries most of the load here but suffers in some panels due to lack of uniformity on the character design of most of the un-costumed cast.
In the future we will get the explanation of why Bruce is back to normal and NOT AN OMEGA SANCTION BOMB but until then I'm sure DC has really disappointed me of their handle on flagship titles.
