Through The Twisted Mirror
In contrast to the first issue, this issue is one big 30 page story as opposed to three 10 page stories. I think this is a good format for the first two issues, to get you used to the two different kinds of stories that will be told. So of course the cover for this issue is directly related to the story rather a general generic Batman 'could be anything' cover. And boy is this a great cover. At it's basest components, it's Batman standing in most of the cover with the logo over his head. Except Joker is Batman, and everything's dark and twisted and frankly it looks fantastic. And it's a perfect symbolic representation of the story inside.
So the interior art matches the cover art, and boy does Ben Templesmith have one of those unique styles. The proportions are all sorts of crazy in nonsense ways, but it's played to the story's advantage. It helps set the creepy, grotesque, and distorted tone. If I was judging his characters on the art alone, he'd be terrible. But he's a comic book artist, this is his style and he knows how to make it work as a positive.
It's really the artwork that makes this issue work so well. The story is not bad by any means, but it's how different and fitting the artwork is. Joker dressed up as Commissioner Gordon is just so twisted it's beautiful. In a creepy way.
The story isn't exactly unpredictable, though I'm wondering why Batman never considered hypnosis when he ruled out toxins, because that was my very first thought. The success is more in the atmosphere created when all the characters have to deal with the PR behemoth The Joker has unleashed. There's also a good bit of suspense when Bruce Wayne is captured, with some obvious delicious irony.
In Conclusion: 4.5/5
Some might be turned off by the art, it is REALLY wild and stylistic, but I found it to be nothing but an enhancement to the issue. The only problems I had were the aforementioned lapse in logic and a general sense of familiarity with most of the plot elements; otherwise Legends of the Dark Knight is shaping up to be a damn good series, wild and uninhibited to set it apart from the other Batman series'.
