While there is some action, particularly in the back half of the issue, this is a mostly character-based psychological drama, and a welcome one at that. Without actually featuring Batman in or out of costume, Tynion gives us some answers around the fine line between heroism and madness. As Bruce explains "what crazy is" to the Riddler, he sums up exactly what separates any version of Bruce Wayne from a villain, and exactly what kind of stuff he is made of at his core. Read Full Review

In a very obvious way, the Riddler, Mr. Freeze and Clayface want to make Bruce remember because it gives them purpose. If their greatest adversary can't remember them, then they're just psychos and their actions have no meaning. However, on a smaller scale, Bruce's friends are guilty of a similar selfishness. The only reason he's even at Wayne Manor is that Julie, Alfred and Geri Powers (who took control of Bruce's assets post-bankruptcy) want him to be the man they knew. Geri wants him back as a powerful CEO and friend, Julie wants the boy she knew as a child and Alfred wants the man for whom he was a pseudo-parent. Bruce is vehemently against reclaiming any part of his past and yet they push him toward it anyway. So, what the issue is ultimately doing is forcing readers to ask ourselves, why do we need to see Bruce Wayne go back to an awful existence when he could be happy instead? Is it because it's the right move for the story or because it would make us feel better? Read Full Review

Get to know your former hero!  For this Annual we take a break from Jim Gordon to focus on Bruce Wayne and what his life is like now that he...... well, what it's like now that he has no idea what it was like before.  We get great callbacks to past stories, while putting a pin in the Arkham Manor series as well.  Just a really solid story that shows us that even without the cape and cowl..... or a memory of the cape and cowl, that Bruce Wayne isn't someone to toy with.  We've got all that and a art style that really compliments this story....... So what are you waiting for?  Go get some Batman! Read Full Review

Batman Annual #4 is a well crafted story that plants a lot of seeds for the Bruce Wayne 2.0 character. With this single issue he is no longer a blank canvas with no personality, and I'm very intrigued to see where the story goes from here. I highly recommend this Annual as a compliment to the ongoing Batman series. Read Full Review

"Batman Annual" #4 is a story of a man who's extraordinary life has been replaced with one of anonymity and happiness. Yet it seems as if he will never escape the past and may well be pushed back into his "real" world. We all know Bruce is going to one day don the cape and cowl once again. But until that happens, Tynion, Antonio, McCaig, and letterer Steve Wands have given us just one part of Bruce's journey through his new life that is intriguing, suspenseful, and thoroughly compelling. Read Full Review

Annuals tend to be rather inconsequential as publishers often want to keep the central character's main story to their proper title, and usually a lesser creative team works on these issues. On paper, James Tynion IV and Roge Antonio aren't nearly the creative team that Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo are, but they manage to tell a very good tale about the new Bruce Wayne and the ghosts of his former life. Sure, this story is relatively inconsequential, but it's a good story that adds some wrinkles to the overarching Batman narrative. Read Full Review

Tynion's grasp on this world, coupled with Roge Antonio's moody, atmospheric renderings, should be enough to sell this Annual. But then we find that the creators have made room to broach the innate hypocrisy that exists in Bruce Wayne's former campaign against crime, or at least, that's how his Rogues perceive it: witnessing three enemies coming into Batman's home to enact a grudge by a misplaced sense of righteousness is a gorgeous flip on the typical Batman tropes. It's heavy, psychologically daunting stuff coupled with the perfect amount of sardonic wit. You won't be able to set it down. Read Full Review

James Tynion IV was charged with the daunting task of uniting several disparate plot points from various writing teams. Not only did he manage to merge them together in a cohesive way, but the story that was birthed from their union is a web of intrigue not to be missed. While Batman is still absent from his own title, the inclusion of dearly missed Wayne Manor is exactly what this fan needed to put his homesick mind at ease. This is the closest we have gotten to an actual Batman story in months. Filled with direct answers to several nagging questions, and a showdown with classic Batman villains, you'd be ridiculous to pass this one up! Read Full Review

Batman Annual #4 is another example of Snyder's considerate exploration of the psyche of Batman, providing us another glimpse of the man beneath the cowl who's been analyzed for decades. While most can admit Batman has never been of completely sound mind, the story is another reminder of why he's exactly the kind of crazy a madhouse like Gotham needs. Read Full Review

Batman Unplugged vs. The Riddler and Company? There's no way this doesn't end up being an awesome premise. Read Full Review

Overall, the experiment of having Wayne Manor act as the home for the criminally insane didn't last long and had little impact outside of the limited Arkham Manor series. Other books in the Bat-Family of titles never took advantage of the situation for new and different stories which is a shame. To see an annual dedicated to wrapping this story-line up also feels like a bit of an overkill, but it did need wrapping up. This may not be worth your $4.99, but its a solid read if you can find it for cheap at a later date. Read Full Review

Batman Annual #4 has some compelling elements as it ties into the larger Superheavy conflict. It taps into the potential of Bruce Wayne's amnesic state in a way the main Batman comic couldn't. Unfortunately, this issue loses steam once the focus shifts to a battle between Bruce and his old rogues gallery. Read Full Review

The GCPD take the REAL villains this time. Bruce give a look at the manor as the sun sets, and says “Maybe the gardens wouldn't be a bad place to get married.” Read Full Review

BATMAN ANNUAL #4 was a good annual, even if it had a few wrinkles that could have been ironed out. I'd like to see Tynion and Antonio work together again on a Batman book. Read Full Review

Overall, this issue offer a look at Bruce Wayne without his memory, and restores the Manor back to its previous form. However, the story isn't that compelling, and the villains are a big disappointment. Read Full Review

This story was a decent one-off. You don't need to know what's happened before it but it also doesn't hurt. James Tynion IV is a good writer and creates a decent story here with Roge Antonio's art complementing the dialogue quite well. That being said, I don't know how much I got out of it. The Bruce not remembering Batman bit has run its course, and the book suffers when he's not the one in the cowl. I am glad we focused on mainly him throughout the whole issue, but I am ready for him to split time with the true Dark Knight. A decent read, but not essential. Read Full Review

So apparently the great experiment that was Arkham Manor has come to an end. This annual issue, tossed out on a Fifth Wednesday, serves to tie off that storyline with a nice, simple bow and give Wayne Manor back to Bruce Wayne. I'd say it was fun while it lasted, but I lost interest in Arkham Manor fairly quickly. Read Full Review

Beyond the cover and a cool idea, "Batman Annual" #4 doesn't have much else going for it. Other than bringing Wayne Manor back to its traditional role in the Bat-mythos, there's really nothing critical or worthy of note contained within. Read Full Review

The "Batman" Annual is a decent idea executed horribly wrong. Alfred's missing hand appears and disappears several times and the climatic scene is missing the 'show' aspect of what Wayne is doing as the artwork doesn't hold up to its end of telling a story. Editorially the comic book has nothing to do with the top selling "Batman" title but seems to be an extension of "Arkham Manor" which last so the light of day in March with one sixth the readership as "Batman." A reader of only "Batman" will be lost in the shuffle as to how Wayne lost his house and how it was turned into an asylum. When you charge five bucks for a comic book you need to make sure the top effort is there and not just the page count. This comic book is a mess. Avoid it. Whatever Tynion was hoping to do with this issue was simply not supported by the rest of the team involved. Read Full Review

Very interesting way to explore the Batman/Bruce Wayne psyche indirectly. The ending falls a little flat, it's a bit convenient; and what the heck happened to the gun that the Riddler was holding? Did he just forget that he had it? Alfred's hand also appears in two or three panels, I have a feeling that this was drawn with his hand in tact and the hand had to be removed later, as evidenced by the way Alfred handles the gun, it doesn't feel right. It probably would have worked better if he had some sort of prosthetic instead of a stump.

this is the single best issue of Batman i have read in a quite a while since Death of the Family and some of the early issues of Zero Year.
i've loved this series since the very beginning but i just haven't been as into it for the last year or more.
this issue gets right into the story and the characters without overburdening the reader with excessive narration and history lessons that kill the pace.
my only gripe was with the art. in some panels Alfred is missing his hand while in other panels he has both his hands. surprised that made it past editorial.