The Batman needs no kiss on the cheek!
I was looking forward to DC Retroactive: Batman - 1990s more than any other Retroactive book (which for the most part have been descent but passable). The main reason for this is I started reading comics in the 90s and it was a lot of Batman books. So like a band covering one of my favourite songs I wanted to know if it would live up to my expectations. It did.
I thing I remember about 90s Batman was a lot of it was based on crime and specifically gangsters. They really focused on Gotham having an underworld and I think both of the stories in this book convey that. The first story (which will be the focus of my review because the follow up is actually a comic from the 90s) even has Scarface and the Ventriloquist which were characters that were very popular in that decade. Those characters fit in great with the whole Gotham Crime aspect I talked about earlier. Scarface, although a puppet, is really just a gangster. Because of this style the story plays out a lot more like a police procedural than Batman comics seem to today so it's a fun tribute to comics of the time.
I like the art and cover but if you compare it with the back up story or other Batman comics from the 90s you'll see it's not the same thing. Not that makes it bad but in my opinion they don't make Batman art like they did in the 90s... and maybe that's a good thing.
I also liked the backup, probably even more than the new story but together they make a good package, though $4.99 for the pair seems a little steep. I'd recommend this book to anybody who grew up reading Batman in the 90s or anybody who wanted a quick preview of what Batman had to offer during the decade.