The Beautiful Ones they hurt you all the time.
With all the writers to write Batman, Paul Dini never seems to disappoint, he really gets The Batman and writes him well on a street-level. This issue was really only a throw away idea, but it works well. We see Batman's detective work with things like obtaining a fast-food receipt and we really see gimmick crime abused in a good way.
The story is called The Beautiful People and I am glad J.H. Williams III (J3) did the art, because I don't think anyone in the business makes prettier pages then he does, and if you read my Elegy review then you have read my love-letter to his art. This issue is his art at the level we see when he became a seasoned veteran with his work on Promethea. The art alone makes this comic a nice investment, J3's layouts have that classic touch I miss in comics, his layouts have those dynamic panels like the art during Moore's Swamp Thing or Tim Truman's Scout. Layouts like that I can only describe as being magic.
Since this issue's story doesn't have a huge impact over the Canon life of Bruce Wayne I have to hold back the 5 star rating, the art is stellar and I can flip the pages for some time and just be in awe.
If you can find this issues I do recommend it, if you can't find it, it is collected without the addition of the cover in DC Comics Presents Batman Conspiracy.
Cheers
- Silkcuts