1. Batman #27 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo (DC)
THE comic of the week is unsurprisingly Snyder/Capullo's latest Batman comic, Batman #27. I don't know how they keep doing it but each issue they put out is pure comics gold! Like a lot of recent Snyder comics, he throws in a one-page scene that seemingly has nothing to do with what's happening in the story proper and is designed to mystify readers. Opening in 1946, a Japanese nightclub singer is singing about the moon to an audience of American GIs, focusing on one blonde haired young man in particular... Huh?! And then KAPOW! Straight back into the thick of it with Batman fighting off armed police who're somehow able to anticipate his every move. And Bruce is on the ropes, his costume riddled with bullet holes, his cowl smashed and bloody, barely remaining strapped to his head, he's throwing gas pellets, he's cut off from the Cave, he's barley hanging on. One daring escape later and he's on a boat, fortuitously near him and piloted by Jim Gordon! If there's one complaint to make about this issue it's that there's a lot of exposition going on. As soon as Gordon's rescued Batman, he begins telling him about the same specific episode from the last issue that turned Bruce against all of the GCPD, when it looked like Gordon accepted a bribe in the form of a nice trenchcoat. As everyone reading that issue guessed, it wasn't as black and white as that and Gordon explains the meaning of it which, despite its length, is a great story. Later on Alfred gets his turn at soliloquising, this time telling the audience his thoughts on why Bruce has become Batman, also managing to tie into some of those weird scenes from earlier issues. These aren't bad things necessarily but the problem with exposition is how awkward they can seem in the middle of a fast-moving issue it seems a little artless to just dump in tons of dialogue from a character. It would be annoying if the dialogue wasn't quite so good as it is, I just feel that Snyder is a better writer than this and could've communicated this information in a better way. I like that this issue shows the beginning of the legendary Batman/Gordon relationship and that it starts with Gordon saving Batman in his moment of peril. I also really liked that Gordon hands Batman his glasses so Bruce is able to remove the damaged cowl from hurting his head without Gordon sussing out his identity. There's a trust in that moment that's very sweet. I also like to think that Gordon didn't just start telling Batman that random story about Bruce Wayne as a kid and the trenchcoat apropos of nothing I like to think that Gordon's figured out Bruce is Batman but has chosen not to tell him that. Batman may be the world's greatest detective but Gordon's no slouch either. Capullo's art is stunning and, at least to me, seems to be getting better with each issue. The inversion of the Year One scene where Batman takes on the SWAT team and wins, is fantastically rendered with the action playing out at a frenetic pace it's an extremely tense and exciting sequence. The catacombs scene at the end when the real culprit behind it all is revealed looks amazing and gothic, and there's even a panel that's Capullo's rendering of the famous Dark Knight Returns cover (it's a beautiful panel but a very weird scene. Batman's watching a teenage Barbara playing with her dog and then disappears when Jim enters the room o...k?). Amazing colours from FCO Plascencia too help make the pages really pop. Snyder and Capullo are back with their latest monthly masterpiece: Batman #27. If you like Batman at all, you need to be reading this series. * Those are my picks for the comics of the week. What're yours? Did you enjoy these yourself? Let me know in the comments below!