Batman #92 continues as Batman takes on the Designer while the villain terrorizes Gotham City. The issue, published by DC Comics, is written by James Tynion IV, art by Guillem March, with colors by Tomeu Morey, and letters by Clayton Cowles. Previously, we saw more insight into how to Designer brought together the greatest villains of Gotham through Catwoman’s eyes. The previous issue also finally showed the connection the Joker has to the Designer. And with the Joker’s return, everyone is on edge.
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Now, in Batman #92, the Designer’s heist has begun. In the midst of stopping Deathstroke, Batman must also avoid the Riddler’s death traps in order to catch to the Designer. Meanwhile, Catwoman and Harley fight their way through a hoard of zombie cops.
The Riddler is a difficult villain to write. Not only does Eddie have to come off delusional, deranged, and intelligent, he also has to give Batman enough befuddling riddles to make his game seem worthwhile. Luckily, the riddles Tynion crafted are clever. Batman’s banter with Riddler is humorous and a lovely callback to everything I love about Riddler focused Batman stories. That being said, as much as I love the Riddler’s dialogue, his design and March’s artwork is tough to look at. Riddler looks like if Victor Zsasz from the Arkham Games raided Jim Carrey’s wardrobe while he was filming Batman Forever. Needless to say, the design leaves a lot to be desired.
Unfortunately, a lot of the art suffers from poor design, Penguin at the beginning of the issue barely looks human. He instead resembles a Norwegian troll. His skin looks like leather and his wrinkles feel as though they have been deeply carved on his face, making them seem like added prosthetics found in FX makeup.
Morey’s coloring attempts to hide a lot of these sins but painting the pages in a bright neon color palate. While on some pages it does distract from the subpar art, it also takes away from the scenes as a whole. Gotham City looks more like The Grid in Tron. Everything is neon blue and green. Because of this, the city loses its classic gritty and dirty look and instead resembles something out of Blade Runner. The only scenes that weren’t difficult to look at were with Catwoman and Harley. The pages are colored with darker cool tones but even still, March struggles with any close-ups – and this book has a lot of them. Faces just seem slightly warped or over-detailed.
Batman #92 also marks the first time we have seen Punchline on her own and as much as I want to like her, she is just not interesting. Tynion’s run on Batman didn’t exactly start off strong but I had hope that the story would get better. At this point, I do not know if that will happen. Outside of a few positives, most notably the Riddler’s riddles, the issue isn’t interesting. The Designer is meant to be a terrifying force but the stakes don’t seem that high. Deathstroke being played as a pawn and distraction as the series as gone on is also incredibly disappointing. Every aspect of the story that had me intrigued for more has been pushed aside for more Joker and more Designer. I have no doubt this issue will sell well because it is still a Batman book, however, I don’t think it is worth picking up.
Batman #92 is available now in comic book stores and through digital retailers.
Batman #92
TL;DR
Outside of a few positives, most notably the Riddler’s riddles, the issue isn’t interesting. The Designer is meant to be a terrifying force but the stakes don’t seem that high. Deathstroke being played as a pawn and distraction as the series as gone on is also incredibly disappointing. Every aspect of the story that had me intrigued for more has been pushed aside for more Joker and more Designer. I have no doubt this issue will sell well because it is still a Batman book, however, I don’t think it is worth picking up.
