The Pull List: BATMAN


When I first heard about DC’s New 52, I was skeptical and didn’t pick up any of their revamped titles.  It seemed like just too much of a gimmick, and had I been burned far too many times in the 90s to approach the move with an open mind.  As the good reviews began to pile up, I begrudgingly picked up Batman on the strength of Scott Snyder’s Black Mirror Batman arc, which I maintain is one of the best in the Dark Knight’s 75 year history.

Since its relaunch, Batman has been one of the most consistently strong books on the shelves. While I found part two of The Court of Owls a bit of a letdown, Death of the Family lived up to the hype and then some.   Again when I heard about Year Zero I groaned, seeing nothing but a rip off of Year One, but when I finally picked it up though I was immediately won over.

tumblr_lvb2xdOMx01qi55qmo1_1280

Scott Snyder and artist Greg Capullo are a dream team, and a duo that almost didn’t mesh at first.  Snyder’s style is very refined with every beat and moment is mapped out in his scripts.  Capullo likes to keep things loose allowing for the discovery through the process.  When they began together, their collaboration went over very poorly.  Despite his previous work with Batman, the idea of writing issue #1 was incredibly intimidating for Snyder.  The result was a more detailed script than his usual.  Something Capullo was not fine with.  To give you a better concept of how meticulous Scott Snyder is, even after an issue is released he is still tinkering with dialogue and some of the lines.

Despite the rough start between the pair, they have clearly found a rhythm that works. As Snyder works the horror angle within the book, he is well served with Capullo who had an 80 issue run on Spawn taking over right after Todd McFarlane stepped down (he also had a great run on X-Force). Together, their fresh take on Batman gives the industry a blue print of how to revamp a character while staying true to their roots. If you’re not reading Batman right now, you should be.

batman-172-e1361462036252