A review by tshepiso
Batman: War Drums by Troy Nixey, Andersen Gabrych, Bill Willingham, Cam Smith, Brad Walker, Damion Scott, Pete Woods
3.0
This is technically my first batman comic and I'll say I'm not all that impressed. i find bruce as a character more often aggravating than indearing. which made the first handful of detective comics issues a bit of a drag to get through.
the plot of the comic overall hones in on the shifting power of Gotham's street gangs. seeing batman's attempts at manipulating the power vacuum and following other vigilantes like tarantula onyx and Orpheus was fun enough but nothing on that front of ever-building mystery ever truly hooked me.
the book did lift up with its introduction of Stephnie brown's robin. Stephanie is an incredibly charming character. her spunk and determination made her a compelling character and she softened batman's hard edges in a way that made him a more appealing character to follow. her time as Robin was unfortunately shortlived but it was fun while it lasted
another reason the back half of this s comic was overall more engaging than the front was Damion Scott's art. while Pete woods did a fine job in his work on detective comics the noticeably dark and muddled aesthetics of that series became honestly a bit boring to read. the switch to the more lively robin series with its bouncy aesthetics and bright colours more suitable for teen heroes added some much-needed vitality to the art.
Overall Batman: War Drums was fine. It's clearly setting up a larger story but the self-contained arc in this story like batman battling against the Santa priscan murge and Stephanie brown's time as robin were entertaining enough to read on their own
the plot of the comic overall hones in on the shifting power of Gotham's street gangs. seeing batman's attempts at manipulating the power vacuum and following other vigilantes like tarantula onyx and Orpheus was fun enough but nothing on that front of ever-building mystery ever truly hooked me.
the book did lift up with its introduction of Stephnie brown's robin. Stephanie is an incredibly charming character. her spunk and determination made her a compelling character and she softened batman's hard edges in a way that made him a more appealing character to follow. her time as Robin was unfortunately shortlived but it was fun while it lasted
another reason the back half of this s comic was overall more engaging than the front was Damion Scott's art. while Pete woods did a fine job in his work on detective comics the noticeably dark and muddled aesthetics of that series became honestly a bit boring to read. the switch to the more lively robin series with its bouncy aesthetics and bright colours more suitable for teen heroes added some much-needed vitality to the art.
Overall Batman: War Drums was fine. It's clearly setting up a larger story but the self-contained arc in this story like batman battling against the Santa priscan murge and Stephanie brown's time as robin were entertaining enough to read on their own