Welcome back Tony Daniel as regular writer/artist on BATMAN!Bruce Wayne may have returned, but when an aging but wealthy technology developer comes to Gotham with his beautiful daughter, it turns out he's in search of a joint project with WayneTech. DNA tracking is the name of his game, and there are others interested in his proposal. But when the developer goes missing, Batman finds that his tracks stop in the city's violent Chinatown neighborhood, where a new deadly Triad gang has taken root. Guest-starring I-Ching!
I really debated whether or not I should rank this issue higher or lower than where it currently sits. I feel like Tony Daniel is putting forth a tremendous effort, both in terms of his improvement as a writer and his incredible amount of ability as an artist. In terms of craftsmanship, I can't deny the quality of his work. The problem is that, as a storyteller, he still struggles. He can't seem to find the right voice and visuals for Dick Grayson as Batman, often times putting himself at odds with himself as the writing doesn't always mesh with the art and vice versa. So, although this is a Buy It, it's a Buy It with an asterisk. The moment Daniel finds that voice, though, he is going to blow us all away. Read Full Review
I'm all about a writer also inking but I felt that the art was a little sketchy for my tastes. There were also a whole lot of dramatic poses, which seemed a slight bit over the top. I can forgive them because the story was still intriguing but it felt sightly gratuitous. Overall, this issue was a good read and I don't feel pressured to know the ins and outs of all the other titles crowding the Batman scene right now. This one remains self-contained enough for both hardcore and casual readers alike. Read Full Review
As Mr. Grayson is my favorite Batman, I know that I'll be able to come to Tony Daniel for my monthly fix. He's selling what I want. Go pick it up. You'll see. Read Full Review
I don't know why I was expecting not to like this. Maybe it's just because I've been so enamored with what Morrison's doing in Batman & Robin that I'm skeptical of anybody else's take on these characters. With that in mind, I was really pleased to find a rock solid superhero title here. Daniel's art has an impressive mix of modern flash and classical fundamentals, and his writing's just as sharp. Read Full Review
Daniel continues to impress more and more with his artistic abilities. Whatever storytelling flaws the artist suffered from in his earlier Batman work have largely been ironed out by now. Thankfully, the slightly more exaggerated style Daniel exhibited in his recent collaboration with Morrison has been toned down again. This issue is a showcase for Daniel's character designs, some of which are more successful than others (again, Catgirl is particularly offensive). If Daniel's work has a flaw right now, it's that he tends to be a little overly aggressive in his inking. His figures don't always need as many lines as they exhibit, and in one particularly odd panel a character appears to have spontaneously donned a mask based on the amount of unnatural shading at work. But again, the art in this series is fundamentally sound with just a few quirks weighing it down. The same goes for the book as a whole. This new arc is off to a chaotic start, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Read Full Review
Daniel wrote eight issues of "Batman" (and drew six of them) before stepping aside for four months while Bruce Wayne came back into town, and I'm glad to see him back. But with that time away, some aspects of the book feel slightly rough. Hopefully now that he's back for good, with time those rough edges will get a bit more polish. Daniel succeeded in that before, there's no reason to think he won't do so again. Still, "Batman" #704 has some good parts going for it right now, and it bodes well for the months to come. Read Full Review
Maybe Tony Daniel should stick to what he does best, art, because he just can't seem to tell a logical story. Read Full Review
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