The HomeWorld Critically kind pop culture news & more.
“City on Fire”
Writer: Paul Dini
Pencils: Dustin Nguyen
Inks: Derek Fridolfs
Colors: John Kalisz
Streets of Gotham and the Manhunter second feature continue their freshman story arc, as Gotham City tries to recover from the loss of its Dark Knight. Spoilers within!
Picking up where last issue left off, Gotham City is aflame thanks to the machinations of Garfield Lynns, a.k.a. Firefly. As Batman and Robin try to stop the flames consuming the city, Hush (who has been surgically altered to resemble Bruce Wayne since the “Heart of Hush” storyline) fakes being on fire to trick Alfred into freeing him from his prison inside of Dick’s new Batlair. Batman and Robin scour the city and find Firefly, but only a few second after Black Mask and his men do. Firefly tells Black Mask that the chips which are making Gothamites catch fire, seemingly spontaneously combusting, are based on the chemicals Black Mask injected into the Arkham inmates (See Battle For The Cowl), which Firefly has now managed to burn out of his own system. He tries to kill Black Mask, but Batman and Robin step in. Robin gets bested by Mr. Zsasz, who helps Black Mask escape, while Batman takes down Firefly. Back in the Batlair, they discover that Hush is now effectively impersonating Bruce Wayne in their own home, and is donating $1 Billion dollars of Wayne’s money every month towards Gotham’s recovery.
It’s a nice finale to the story (which I reviewed last month), as the mystery of Black Mask’s identity grows deeper. Its also fun to see Batman and Robin in the different books, as they operate as more of a team than they currently are in “Batman and Robin“. Dini has a good handle on these characters, resulting in an enjoyable story from start to finish. Nguyen continues to handle the art chores with precision, resulting in a clean, fresh art style that I’ve really come to enjoy. “Batman: Streets of Gotham #2 gets a B.
Manhunter returns again in the second feature…
“Who The Hell is Jane Doe?”
Writer: Marc Andreyko
Pencils: Georges Jeanty
Inks: Dexter Vines
Colors: Nick Filardi
Kate is still on a search for the murderous Jane Doe in Gotham, but having no luck. There’s no record of her existence in an official capacity at City Hall, so its off to Arkham, where Jeremiah Arkham gives her information on Doe’s origins and abilities. As Kate is leaving Arkham, she’s ambushed by the waiting Doe.
Another great entry into the second features, but as you can probably tell by the summary, they’re really, really short. The stories have a great pace to them and move quickly, but ultimately there’s just not enough room for much to happen. Its still a damn good story, and definitely worth picking up. The art’s also top notch, including the creepy renditions of the skinless Jane Doe. The only thing holding back this and DC’s other second features are the lack of space devoted to such rich, diverse characters. The second “Manhunter” co-features also gets a B.
