Kiss and Makeup
The first arc of writer Brian Buccellato and artist Francis Manapul has come to a close and the ending did not disappoint. The last issue ended with Batman and officer Harvey Bullock kicking the crap out of each other... which is just a great change of pace. The dynamic between Batman and Harvey is evolving and we get to see different sides to their hate/tolerate relationship. Harvey's drive to prove he is the better detective is interesting to watch, as Harvey says "I need to know, that we're better than Him." Jim Gordon being in prison appears to have turned into a blessing for this creative team. I look forward to this competition moving forward, because Harvey is a damn good detective and will give Batman a run for his money.
Some people may have an issue with the ending, however , I like the fact that Batman does not save the day; completely. That's right, Batman fucked up, and could not stop crime at hand. In fact both Batman and Harvey, make it to the scene at the same time. Batman and Harvey Bullock have a lot of great dialogue, and at one point, I just want them to hold hands, and share their feelings with one another... weird? Fine. Once again, Manapul does a great job laying out action scenes, and we get to see Batman do his best Iron-Man impression with a huge metal Bat-suit. Batman also gets a bit over his head, which is an interesting way to see the dark knight. Buccellato has setup some interesting new characters which I am sure will return in a future story.
Even though this is the conclusion of this creative teams first story arc, there are several interesting threads that can be picked up in future stories. One of the most interesting is a new character, Annie, who has crossed the line and murdered for her father, right under Batman's nose. Annie is a tragic character, and it's interesting that Batman doesn't see the clues, even though he is the world's greatest detective. Batman fails in this story, and even though he shows up to beat up the mess, there is a lot to build upon. This creative team will be taking a two issue break to build their next story, but if they keep this quality up, this will be one of the top books at DC.
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