Just finished reading
Batman: Universe (collecting
Batman: Universe issues 1 - 6 from 2018/2019).
Batman takes on an old foe outside of the Gotham City limits when the Riddler's theft of a Faberge egg leads the Dark Knight thousands of miles away in search of answers, When the immortal super-villain Vandal Savage joins forces with the Riddler, Batman is transported to the Old West and meets the original owner of the egg , gunslinger Jonah Hex!
Along with Jonah, the Dark Knight teams up with fellow heroes including Green Arrow and Green Lantern on a quest to find the Riddler and crack the egg's dangerous power. But will these superheroes get the edge over the most brilliant villain Batman has ever faced? Or will the Riddler's nefarious scheme run its course exactly as the clever criminal planned?
All that's missing after those last two sentences is 'Tune in next week! Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!' And that's a clue to the tone of this. Okay, it's not
quite Adam West, but it's getting there.
Writing is by Brian Michael Bendis, he of the unbridled hate following his work on
Superman. I've never read any of his work at Marvel, but I see a number of people saying that his take on
Daredevil showed that he'd be a good fit for Batman, and that his strength is writing for street-level characters. I found his style took some getting used to. It's very... quippy, almost distractingly so. Again, looking online I see that 'snappy banter' is Bendis' thing, and there's certainly plenty of it;
Batman: I don't fly.
Thanagarian: You have wings.
Batman: It's a cape.
Thanagarian: I'm sorry. I assumed it was for a purpose.
Batman: It glides.
Thanagarian: Aw. Cute.
Hal Jordan: Dinosaur Island!
Batman: I love dinosuars.
Hal Jordan: You do?
Batman: Of
course I do.
Hal Jordan: "Batman loves dinosaurs".
Batman: I have a giant dinosaur in my Batcave.
Hal Jordan: Oh... Yeah.
I need a cave.
Have to say, the banter feels more natural to me coming from Nightwing, Cyborg, Green Arrow, Hal Jordan, and Alfred (he's here, this is a non-continuity story) than from Batman. I won't lie though, some if it did make me chuckle. The plot itself isn't exactly complex. A Faberge egg possesses some strange power that can (amongst other things) zap people around the universe when they're not expecting it. Riddler steals it to order. Batman wants to know who for, and why they want it. That's pretty much it. It reads like an excuse to put Batman in some off-the-wall situations, throw in a few guest stars and generate some laughs. There's no substance to it. I realise that the story isn't meant to be particularly profound, but it feels like the comic book equivalent of fast food/empty calories.
Art is by Nick Derington. A lot of people have praised it. For me it's a little too cartoonish. I guess it fits the tone of the story, but I prefer my Bat-stories more serious, and my Bat-artwork more dramatic.
I can't say it's bad. It's entertaining enough, but I won't read it again (I'll admit I seem to be in the minority, by the way. Most of Reddit seems to praise it, and Goodreads rates it 4/5 stars).
7/10