Part 2 of the new Ventriloquist's return and origin! Batman and Zatanna struggle against the combined threat of Scarface and the new Ventriloquist as the villains attempt to take out an entire Gotham crime family!
Speaking of Zatanna, in my review of last issue, I voiced my excitement at the prospect of a Zatanna/Batman romance, but I have to say, after reading this issue, I'm glad such a pairing will likely never see the light of day in any serious capacity. Though they work in the confines of a JLA story, Batman and Zatanna just don't work that well together in a grounded story. Unless the two are going up against the likes of the Joker (which made for a brilliant 2-part story by Dini last year), having Zatana around for a fight with armed gangsters feels too much like cheating. I don't want to see Zatanna utter a backwards phrase and have the goons drop their Tommy-guns, I want to see Batman forced to disarm his enemies the old fashion way. From a story perspective, I think the Bat-books are far better off with less Zatana as opposed to more, though I wouldn't mind seeing her pop up from time to time to demonstrate her and Bruce's unique chemistry. Read Full Review
Overall, this isn't Dini's strongest issue, mostly because of the fuzziness that emerges when considering that Scarface the puppet is actually a magical being as opposed to a crazy old man. Zatanna also feels like too much of a plot device rather than a crucial piece of the story-arc and anything that could have developed between her and Bruce is left out to dry. Nonetheless, Dini still manages to make this issue feel as though it were an episode of the Animated Series. He's done a great job keeping his storytelling style episodic and similar to the old show that it works extremely well and I hope he continues to utilize the style. Read Full Review
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