Batman #70 Review - Running The Gauntlet
Writer: Tom King | Artists: Mikel Janin & Jorge Fornes | Publisher: DC Comics
In my Batman #69 review I mistakenly listed it as the end of the Knightmare’s storyline. While #69 was the end of the dream aspects of the story, this is the end of the arc.
In this installment we see Bruce escape from his fear toxin induced coma and make his way out of Arkham Asylum. Along the way we see an extremely angry batman dispatching several rogues while swearing vengeance on Bane.
It is hinted that Bane is secretly controlling the rogues in this comic. I still find it weird when Batman (or any hero for that matter) beating all their rogues in a single issue. These guys tend to give Batman problems in any given issue so having him wreck several villains seems cheap, lazy, and diminishes the characters.
I went back and looked at some of the reviews for this issue when it released in 2019 and fans were giving King a pass because the plot finally moved forward. On that note this issue is an improvement over the last several comics. However, the book continues to be held back by lame dialogue and the weird poetry that Tom King keeps inserting into his scripts.
The art from Mikel Janin and Jorge Fornes is inoffensive, but the art direction is undercut by the lack of any narrative tension in this story. I have seen an angry Batman before; this take seems forced.
In Short: Batman finally escapes his nightmare’s and waltzes into his next story arc.