Review: ‘Batman Of Two Worlds’ Is A Fascinating Experiment While Not Quite Fulfilling Its Promise
by Tony Thornley
Right now, comics are being absolutely dominated (no pun intended) by DC Comics’ Absolute line, with Absolute Batman at the head. But the prime Batman title is seeing a creative resurgence that frankly it hasn’t seen since 2011’s New 52 relaunch. Batman Of Two Worlds is stepping into the middle ground between those two versions, and showing us just why we should be paying attention to both.
This issue — halfway between a one-shot and a sampler — comes from Matt Fraction, Scott Snyder, Javi Fernandez, Nick Derington, Tomeu Morey, Frank Martin, Tom Napolitano, and Clayton Cowles.
In this Batman Day special, Prime Earth Bruce Wayne chases across Gotham, after a security guard accepts a payoff allowing a group of criminals access to dangerous tech. Meanwhile on Absolute Earth, that same man is a bank manager and secretly the inside man for a group of bank robbers that are terrorizing the low-income neighborhoods of Gotham, something the Batman will not tolerate.
Now, right away, the solicitation for this special promised both Batmen working the same case on their world in their ways. This special doesn’t quite do that, but it is one hell of an introduction to both Batmen and how they’re different.
I personally liked Fraction and Fernandez’s special a little bit more. It was fun to watch Bruce have to go acrobatic, and using his agility to keep up with these teleporting criminals, which Fernandez emphasizes so well in his figure work and layouts. Fraction shows that his resources play a bit part in his campaign, but Fernandez never makes them a distraction, but an extension to Bruce’s style.
Snyder and Derington show Absolute Bruce is a total wrecking ball. When confronted with the bank robbers, Alfred suggests a specific tactic in his ear, but Bruce ignores that and just tears through them his way. Snyder shows Bruce as a defender for the defenseless and Derington makes him a physical powerhouse.
Morey and Martin use their colors to distinguish the two Gothams, with Morey using blues and glowing lights and Martin using more red and earthy tones. Cowles and Napolitano do similar things, with Cowles’s letters being very formal and structured, while Napolitano’s are rougher, and more hand-drawn in appearance.
Even though I pull both of these books every month, I think this one-shot did its job. I was drawn to both stories, and if I hadn’t been reading either already, this would have been enough to drive me towards the first trades.
In that way, it was a perfect success.
Batman of Two Worlds is available now from DC Comics.
