All-Star Batman kicked off with a madcap road trip. Essentially it was a bit like the great Robert De Niro film Midnight Run, but with Batman escorting Two-Face to collect a bounty. And that bounty was a cure instead of money. Because Bruce Wayne doesn’t need the cash, don’t you know. Where that tale had a more traditional manner of bringing in all of its guest stars, harkening back to stories like Public Enemies, this second story is a more sophisticated exploration of the Dark Knight’s villains. It’s a damn ambitious journey to the Ends of the Earth that scribe Scott Snyder and his rotating all-star artists take us on.
Our favorite pointy-eared vigilante faces down some of his greatest, if not most prominent, members of his rogues gallery. There’s a visit to the icy arctic to battle Mr. Freeze, a hot confrontation with Poison Ivy, a trippy crossing of paths with the Mad Hatter and one special villain saved for last. A blight is sweeping the planet and Batman must track down its source, cure, and more. On the surface, it’s a chase story. But that would be selling what Snyder, Jock, Francisco Francavilla, Tula Lotay, and Giuseppe Camuncoli. The story is broken down into clearly defined and separated chapters, stories within stories as it were. The question becomes about whether the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.
Every chapter of Bruce Wayne’s journey is told in a completely different style, with a different point of view, and the kind of writing that Snyder knows will play to each of his artist’s strengths. It’s thrilling to see the reunion between Snyder and Jock after their instant classic Black Mirror. Then to bring onboard the dizzying revolving door of uber talented cohorts and this feels like we’re being spoiled.
At times thrilling while at other points engaging if cerebral, All-Star Batman Vol. 2: Ends of the Earth is a fascinating and rewarding read. And man does it stand up to rereading.
Collects All-Star Batman Issues #6-9.
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