ok well I didn't hear people talking much about this issue so I decided to do some talking.

The story starts with Batman visiting a villain in Arkham Asylum and questioning them about the escape and whereabouts of another villain. I'm going to put up pictures but you honestly don't need them because if you read Batman then you've read that exact sequence a dozen times or more. Is it an original lead-in to a story? no. Does it work fine, yes. At any rate, in this case he's questioning the Scarecrow (why do they let him keep that mask?) about the escape of Killer Croc. The death of another long running villain of Batman's during Croc's escape, whose I won't name I won't mention, is strongly implied during the start of the book.



The panel on the right explains it but long story short - Killer Croc goes nuts and heads to Barcelona, Spain and promptly begins killing ye faire maidens. Batman says not on my watch and promptly jumps on a Wayne Enterprise private jet to Barcelona, Spain.


Then as Bruce Wayne steps off the tarma-
*record skips*  Yeah that's right, Bruce Wayne. Incidently, this is partly why I wanted to review the book. Bruce Wayne is supposed to be dead, he's even been replaced but here we have him venturing to Barcelona to stop Croc. Firstly, yes it's not the first time canon has been broken in comics. Secondly, the story was probably written before they knew Bruce was going to be killed off. But lastly, it doesn't detract from the story to have it happen this way but it begs some questions: How many times will we see Bruce Wayne as Batman reappearing? Do writers prefer to write about Bruce enough to not worry about canon outside the regular Batman titles?

Ultimately I think if Bruce Wayne proves more popular than the new Batman (read BFTC if you haven't already, it was worth the money) then we'll see Bruce back before long and not just in one shots like this. It's really up to the fans who Batman is and they'll vote with their wallets regardless of what any editor at DC wants.


Back to the book though, I've only led you in at this point and that's all I will do because if this kind of Batman story sounds like your cup of earl grey then pick it up and keep the creators in a job. Which leads me to whats important.

What do you get for your $3.99? You get a great one-shot Batman story, the entire story is over by the end of the book (my favourite kind of story). You get to see Batman do what he does best on the trail of  a tougher-than-usual Killer Croc in a foreign country. No GCPD looking the other way for the Caped Crusader on this one. He also has to make do with his Barcelona Cave, as soon on the right (which is in rather good condition considering he must have been there twice ever).
The writing, aside from a fairly generic layout of the story is really quite good and the interactions between Bruce/Batman and the characters in Barcelona come off as well thought out and echo with genuine sentiments. Visually, you get some terrific, rich interior art and the cover is done by Jim Lee himself. 'Nuff said. I give it a 4/5 stars.

Written by Mark Waid
Interior Art by Diego Olmos and Marta Martinez
and Cover by Jim Lee

This has been my first review and if you like it let me know and I might do some videos for the less appreciated kind of books that don't get the same kind of noise as your major crossovers. Sometimes the best stories fall between the cracks of the biggest titles out there. Take care viners :)

-Dane