Unfortunately for this story if you came in blind you might find it a little cheap. All the setup in the previous issues is necessary for the emotional resonance to bleed through, at least when it comes to Mad Hatter's backstory. I also don't believe in this Bruce Wayne love story, however tragic it is. Read Full Review

This was an alright read with a great atmosphere thanks to Szymon Kudranski and colorist Hi-Fi, but Kudranski's style is so vastly different from Sciver's that it's going to make for one extraordinarily jarring trade paperback! As for the writing of this book the romance subplot is falling flat for me and Mad Hatter's target for the perfect Alice is a predictable and boring direction to take the arc. There are some very corny lines as well that I could have done without. At the very least, you'll finally understand New 52 Jervis Tetch's turn to the dark side, grasp what his latest evil plan is all about, and you'll likely be shocked by what the first phase leaves in its wake. It could be the most disturbing Bat-title of the month. I went back and forth between a 6 and a 6.5…thereabouts. It's not great. It's not terrible. Quite the long review to just say “Flip through it at the comic shop and decide for yourself.” eh? Read Full Review

This issue was just fine, but if anything, it was a bit by the numbers. The predictable nature that has developed between all three of Hurwitz's stories has really begun to drag this arc down for me. Yeah, these villains had bad childhoods, one would assume, they're pretty horrendous people, I get it, but it just keeps going on. I might as well get started on the next write up, Hatter kidnaps Natalya, he still had a bad childhood, there you go. All that said, it's still a well told issue, with some pretty enjoyable art, so it definitely has some good going for it. Read Full Review

Szymon Kudranzki steps into art duties on this issue and he has drastically different style than this series has carried in previous issues. Kudranzki has a penchant for character close-ups, tight shots on faces, and expressions. Backgrounds appear to be an afterthought if they are there at all. What this means is that Batman: The Dark Knight #19 does read or look like a Batman book at all. In fact, you could take the Caped Crusader out of this issue entirely and it wouldn't really change much. That's not a good thing. Read Full Review