Convergence: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1

Over all I thought this book was great and I am really excited for the second part. This book like so many other Convergence titles, really reminded me what a casualty certain areas of the "New 52" were to long-term fans like myself. Countless fantastic stories like Knightfall, Sword of Azrael and No Mans Land have been wiped from continuity. Its great that DC is revisiting the pre-Flashpoint universe and in my opinion, making the right move by hopefully bringing back the old continuity or at the very least, bringing back older stories and character in to current continuity again. Read Full Review

Overall: Take away the team-up, tweak the story a bit, and this could have been a great one-and-done issue on a Bat-title. As it is, it's a solid tie-in that gets weighed down just a bit by some clunky dialogue and exposition, but is made up for with great art and an enjoyable story. Read Full Review

Convergence: Batman: Shadow of the Bat #1 may give Azrael fans a reason to smile, but the dialogue slows things down. Read Full Review

"Convergence: Batman: Shadow of the Bat" #1 is unadulterated fun that need only do one thing: bring the reader on a wild ride. Hama, Tan, and Santos succeed in that regard and transport us to a simultaneously strange yet familiar world that feels claustrophobic and in need of saving. Bruce and Jean Paul are just the heroes snatched from the 90s that were born to be saviors. Read Full Review

If youve read my reviews for any amount of time, you know Batman is one of my absolute favorite characters. I want to love every Batman story that comes out. I wanted to love this issue, but its just not there. There are good pieces here that can hopefully make the second half of the story something special, but for now, Im more interested in finding out about who Batman and Azrael are going to have to fight than I am in Batman and Azrael themselves. Read Full Review

The writing in this issue feels appropriately like a throwback, though it also tends to use a great deal to say very little. This is a text-heavy issue, but it still feels hard to follow if theres no pre-existing connection to the source material. Theres that handy guide to which universes are being presented at the start of the issue, but nothing is said about them. The art, though, is truly excellent and though it trips up in a couple of places, it still makes these characters look as cool as they ever have, particularly the much-maligned Azrael. And thats no small shakes. Read Full Review

The story in this issue intrigued me while the dialog seemed campy and forced. The art was the saving grace for this title. The art team of Philip Tan, Jason Paz, Rob Hunter and Elmer Santos' really made this title worth the price. I liked the story overall and will likely read SHADOW OF THE BAT #2. Seeing Jean-Paul Valley and Bruce Wayne interact with each other had a very nostalgic feeling that made this a cool book to read. I am not entirely sure how this will tie into the Convergence series but lets see" Read Full Review

If this were just a one-shot resurrection of the old "Shadow of the Bat" title, it would have been a pretty decent nostalgic romp. As a "Convergence" issue, though, it's weakened by the very premise that gave birth to it. As it stands, it can be enjoyed more for what it almost was, rather than what it is. Read Full Review

Not sure where Convergence Shadow of the Bat is going but Azrael is back so that's interesting. Bruce provides some great humanizing comments that make him reason to Jean's zealousness. In all moderate stuff. Read Full Review

Entertaining, but slight; feels inconsequential. Read Full Review

All in all this story wasn't what I thought was being advertised and that brought with it a little disappointment. What I believed was going to happen was we were going to get a Post-Knightfall Bruce and an Azbats who was Batman before succumbing completely to the System and being forced out of the mantle. What we got here was close but I am one of those guys who likes details being fleshed out in a concise manner. If some of the dialogue was spent instead on explaining what happened in the year before the dome for Azrael that would have been helpful as I might not have as many knits to pick. Does it do the time period that it was set in justice symbolically? I would have to say yes. But I think I would have done things differently in the way the issue actually shaped up. Read Full Review

Larry Hama does a great job of telling a Batman story under the dome and juggling the demands of "Convergence", however his interpretations of the characters leave something to be desired and the dialogue is wordy and unnatural. Thankfully this is one of the most beautiful of the "Convergence" tie-ins I've read. Part of the fun of convergence" is seeing classic versions of favorite characters but those with an attachment to this era of Batman may find the depictions of Bruce and Jean-Paul unconvincing and those coming to the book fresh will lack the nostalgia to overlook Hama's odd scripting choices. All in all, it's a strong effort but falters as often as it succeeds. Read Full Review

If there was a stinker this week, then this is it. Read Full Review

Like a fresh coat of paint, the story could have been saved by some fun or dynamic artwork. Unfortunately, the partnering of penciler Philip Tan and colorist Elmer Santos is awkward at best. Read Full Review

As of right now, this issue is the biggest disappointment that I've had during Convergence.  Where I thought I'd get a cool walk down memory lane to when I first started reading Batman, instead I got a over complicated sting operation story that I could barely understand because the art, while excellent to look at couldn't tell a complete story.  Not to mention my confusion when the Dome comes down.  I hate to be this negative but this book was really poorly crafted. Read Full Review

Supes' soups

Apr 16, 2015

After reading all these 2 issue one-shots, I found myself feeling exhausted. That's because unless you have done research or read DC for decades, the characters in these stories may either be unknown to you or super vague. If you are familiar with the versions of Batman, Superman, etc. you still hesitate to pinpoint who it is exactly. Shadow of the Bat was a decent read, (This week's one shots were all average with no standouts like last week's Superman or Nighwing & Oracle) but for those who haven't read Knightfall, Azrael might be unfamiliar. The story itself was believable, having the dome, necessities like food and medicine will become luxuries. That premise made Bruce and Azrael trying to stop gangsters like Tobias Whale a genuine conc ern. The problem is once the dome lifts and we hear Telos's chant for the millionth time, the stakes are drastically changed and we enter a giant battle royale, which makes me wonder how all the issue #2s are gonna turn out. Overall Convergence is strange, by trying to please everyone, I feel DC is doing itself a disfavor. Most of the newer readers will have little vested interest in these particular interpretations of these characters. And these one-shots barely do the old characters justice. Also although the New 52 wasn't perfect, after 3 years of hard work, they actually did a relatively good job of building a new canon. Now they undermine it with what is turning out to be a mess of an event and it's a damn shame. more

nlindsay

Jun 24, 2015

What the heck was that? Squandered opportunity...

mrDovydas

Apr 18, 2015

This was bad. 90's bad.