Batman "aint got time for that" The Dark Knight #21
Cover Art: 2.5/5
Ethan Van Sciver doesn't do a horrible job on this cover, but it is sub-par to the many awesome covers that have come out this week (6/23/13) and it is not representative of how great an ending to this story arc with the Mad Hatter really is. The best cover, by-the-way, of this series is issue #10. All my comics are digital now, and when I go to my Batman:The Dark Knight folder, that cover always jumps out at me. I digress, okay cover, good detail, NO FEET once again (I don't know what these artists have against drawing feet!). The idea was there, but Bats looks too stiff ripping the HAT, and he looks like he was drawn with a vagina (seriously, look at the cover and he looks like he has a vagina)
Story Art: 3.9/5 Story LIne: 4/5
The story art is really fun in this book and gives me my favorite Batman images of the week. I love the "MAD" inserted into his cape. I have always thought of Batman as the Middle Linebacker of the Superhero world. Tough as nails and always coming after you. This is my "Middle Linebacker Batman" image as he is about to go get himself a sack!
The art in this book is not going to win any awards, but it will keep me reading this book, being a hardcore Batman fan, and gives me my "Batman kicking a$$" fix for the week.There is some good use of emotion, when Bats sees his dead girlfriend on the bat-signal for the first time, has a moment of humanity for her, then immediately gets pissed and the next thing you get is the image you see here, Action Batman! There is some trippy moments when Batman inhales some purple powder and it takes him down the "rabbit hole". This drug would cripple a normal man, but Bruce Wayne is no normal man. He is the freakin Batman! And as quickly he falls into the rabbit hole, he pulls himself out and knocks Tweedle-Dumbs freakin JAW off. Middle Linebacker tough! He then proceeds to BEAT....THE.....$I-I!T.....OUT.....OF......MADHATTER! The look on Hatters face after he says "Come on, Come on,...I'm all DOSED UP!" and Bats replies " SO AM I" is priceless. In fact, here it is. Bats comes oh so close to killing Hatter, and without Alfred, he might have. But, because Bruce is a hero, he must save the drowning Hatter, do the right thing, take a brief respite, and come back with a vengeance. Classic Batman.
Overall: 4/5 This is a tough book to appreciate this week with all the great books that have come out this week, but it is a must read for any Batman fan looking for a great Batman fix, or any newcomer to Batman who wants to know what Batman is all about. You get all of that with this episode.