REVIEW: ‘Batman,’ Issue #70 – “The Fall and the Fallen,” Part 1

Batman #70 is published by DC Comics, written by Tom King, with art by Mikel Janin and Jorge Fornes, colors by Jordie Bellaire, and letters by Clayton Cowles. The issue starts a new five-part story arc, “The Fall and the Fallen,” following the conclusion of the “Knightmares” arc. Batman is finally awake and is out to take on all of Arkham Asylum and Bane. But to do that, he must face his biggest foes including the Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow and many more.

After finally waking up from Bane’s induced nightmares, the Caped Crusader is understandably angry and taking it out on every criminal and member of his famed rouges gallery that gets in his way. Batman spends a majority of the issue yelling at Bane from whatever high tower he is more than likely watching the action from while beating up everything that gets in his way. Bruce is beyond angry and what little patience the Dark Knight is known for having is long gone. But despite this being a new story arc, it is very much just a continuation of the “Knightmares” arc. An arc which, unfortunately, I am still not in love with. While Batman #69 felt like a solid conclusion, it is clear that more questions have to be answered and we won’t see Batman’s showdown with Bane for at least another four issues.

That being said, this issue was far more action-packed than previous ones and both Janin and Fornes did an excellent job at making the panels feel alive. The panel design and art itself is dynamic. Not to mention, I am never disappointed when Janin draws Batman. He manages to get Bruce’s jawline just right. Bellaire’s coloring continues to be perfect and fits the tone of the issue well.

Despite there being a lot of action, not much happens in this issue. We don’t see any major confrontation with Bane and Bruce doesn’t come any closer to understanding how Thomas Wayne, a.k.a. the Flashpoint Batman escaped the collapse of his dimension and ended up in this part of the Multiverse. King writes some fantastic dialogue but in the overall context of the story, it doesn’t say much.

DC Comics’ within their marketing has tasked this issue with “paving the way for the next big Batman event.” The Knightmare story arc has felt like an event that just won’t end and at this point, I am fatigued by it. King’s best work within his entire run of Batman has been on personal stories that showcase the Dark Knight’s relationships with Selina, members of the League, and so forth. At this point, I don’t know what the overall purpose of this story is. I don’t know what greater clue we are learning about Batman, or Bruce, despite the story having all the pieces on paper to be fantastic and really delve into the psyche of the Dark Knight.

Overall, I do think Batman #70 is headed in the right direction but this storyline is becoming cumbersome.

Batman #70 is in comic book stores everywhere now