and it's another cult with a creepy leader.
I love the idea, the dark and grim setting, and I seriously am in love with the cover of this issue. However, there isn’t something right about this issue, something that’s probably overlooked and something that I never expected from a Gotham City crime-fighting veteran like Dick Grayson.
Make no mistake that the scenery is beautifully dark and perfectly fits into a Batman comic title. In my personal opinion, I would have to say that the artwork really took some major attention from the artist himself. I love how Jock was able to not only keep up with the storytelling, but also damn well perfectly define Scott Snyders storytelling. I bet that most of the full five-star ratings naturally came from the environment that Jock gives for this issue.
However, I can’t say the same for the storytelling. I can tell how the artist really helped out the writer to where some glitches and hiccups are easily overlooked. Like any self-respected comic fan would say “Glitches and Hiccups are basically normal for comics”, which is true. But, there wasn’t something right with Snyder’s storytelling, something that had me think twice about giving away a full five star rating. At first I thought that it was the crime that was being committed. Coming from a Batman title, I never thought that criminal evidence being auctioned was illegal enough to where it gained the attention of Batman, what’s funny, is that it’s not normally illegal. Yes, currently people of today’s world pay millions of dollars to have some form of artifact that defines a famous killing or killer, not entirely illegal, but extremely morbid. But for this story that’s trying to have a villain that Deals off items illegally, I thought it would be something like human trafficking to Black Market dealings with a morbid touch to it. Yet the DC universe isn’t today’s real world, so it’s entirely not fair to judge what’s illegal or what gains the attention of Batman. For all I care, Batman can express his vigilante ass-kicking quest on gothic jaywalkers and candy shoplifters.
Then I thought it was how careless it was for Batman (Dick Grayson) to walk right into a predictable trap that even THE Batman would easily suspect, even hiding behind the newest design of a facial disguise. Maybe it was Dick’s first time as being the Batman and naturally there are mistakes, but not coming from a man who spent a great portion of his aerobic life as THE Batmans sidekick. Seeing that this trap was cut off within the issue and not knowing what happens next, I couldn’t judge that either as a hiccup or a mistake.
Still something was there, and then I noticed something familiar.
A morbid, gothic-like, CULT group with a single disturbed leader. I can easily think of four people who meet the criteria and all four are villains within the Batman titles.
As much rocks and harsh comments I may get for this, the villainous group known as the Mirror House is Clichéd. There’s no hiding or denying that the writer based an idea for this story off of somebody else’s and altered in his own unique style.
Hardly something to fully b**ch about, this comic no doubt is worth the money and attention for any Batman, DC, or comic fan out there. Clichéd in some form or way, it’s still a self-respected Batman title that has the respect and some serious solid artwork that well defines Batman, the characters, and Gotham City.
