A New York State Of Mind: Reviewing ‘I Am Batman’ Volume Two

Launching and establishing any new series, chiefly those for relatively new characters, can be quite difficult to do at times. Finding that hook that will get readers to invest their time and spread the word to others is a real balancing act. Especially if it’s decided to launch a book with a crossover through its first handful of issues.

With the Batman Fear State event behind it the second volume of I Am Batman truly stands as the next evolution and progression for the Jace Fox version of the caped crusader.

As was shown in the aforementioned first volume Gotham is now far behind this Batman as Jace and half of his family have gone to New York City (so that sister Tam can get medical aid in her recovery) and shocking not shocking so has Detective Chubb (and eventually her partner Detective Whitaker) after being removed from the Gotham PD and reassigned.

With these issues, John Ridley essentially treats the first five issues as a prologue and this arc is the real introduction to his version of a Batman series (at least one in the present-day compared to his alternate future set one). There is a lot going on here as not only is there stuff to set the new Batman up in his new home city (his ally Vol came along to help get him a base and such) but there is an alteration of the whole dynamic of Batman and the police.

Ridley continues to work in a lot of real-world issues in the stories such as feelings about the police (including a new commissioner that is every sort of bigotry wrapped into one massive out-of-touch package), the politics that govern far too much of our world, a killer that is seemingly targeting the rich and powerful of the city who hold dark secrets while also still fitting in a hefty normal focus on the idea of family. Ridley hits a lot of good points about the police and Batman’s place and the system, the heavy focus on cops with a number of them being “the good ones” main characters can be a bit off-putting. While Batman having relations with the police is a long-time part of any version of the character, it can feel like something that is from another era that should be left behind. Especially when we’re talking about our first Black Batman.

Much of this volume is focused on trying to finally establish not only just who Jace is as Batman but what foes he’ll fight and also begin to establish his supporting cast better. It’s a bit hit-and-miss but gets better as the issues move along. Seeing Jace struggle as Batman, coming across his first foe that isn’t just corporate or bigoted evil but is just seemingly ‘pure’ evil sort gives us good reminders that this Batman is still new and fresh. His experiences are different from those of Bruce Wayne, and it’s giving some good development to watch him not only go through stuff but have a very solid family/supporting unit to rely upon in these moments.

Overall, this is essentially a solid opening arc for the character and his new world, which does some good work at building a foundation while still struggling to really find its place and focus.

Another element of the series that was lacking in stability at times was the artwork as a bit of a sense of musical chairs had many of the various artists popping in and out. Thankfully that slows down here as Christian Duce and Rex Lokus handle most of the pencils and colors respectively in these issues with Ken Lashley handling the first issue with Lokus before Duce came on board.

Lashley has a bit of a rougher style in his artwork, which actually works with some of the more gruesome panels but just overall with a Bat-style book. It pairs nicely with Lokus’ colors which shift from brighter to darker depending on the moment which showcases how New York is very similar yet far different from Gotham. There is great energy to be found in a lot of the action panels as well as a lot of the shots that just show off various portions of New York or familiar landmarks. Lashley has a keen sense of paneling, as the pages have a lot of different panel styles to them that make sure there is a sense of visual continuity but also variety.

Duce has a really smooth sort of style that works well with the intimate quality of this storyline, as most of the action and character bits are very close up and personal. All the paneling is very good, especially when Batman and the killer (Manray) are having their first back-and-forth as little headshot rectangles in columns facing off. Later in the volume, there are action scenes that showcase Manray dispatching various people trying to protect the mayor and they are done in a way that showcases how brutal they are without getting too gory. There is plenty of that sort of depth and detail on display throughout, but there are a few pages in some of the volume where some of the faces were a bit wonky and creepy when they are not meant to be.

No matter who is on the art, Lokus does a great job of really mixing the brighter and darker tones needed for this story, bringing plenty of weight and depth of his own to the artwork. They capture a lot of the dark and gritty atmosphere one should see in a Bat-book while also bringing a lot of bright popping colors to bear in the right areas.

Troy Peteri has been doing very solid lettering work across so many books lately, and it continues here. Lots of little elements and changes are used to give different characters’ dialogue their distinct personality or emotion while making sure that tone/volume is easy to read through these words. Making those solid distinctions in the tone/volume of any given dialogue is a very important thing to be doing with these works as it helps the reader know how they should be reading the words. That might seem small but it’s an overall big thing.

I Am Batman Volume 2, featuring issues 6-10 of the series, is now available from DC Comics.