Batman Annual #2

Batman Annual #2 

Story by Scott Snyder and Marguerite Bennett
Written by Marguerite Bennett
Wes Craig: pencils
Craig Yeung, Drew Geraci, Wes Craig, Jack Purcell, Sandy Florea and Marc Deering: inks

Solicitation and Preview

Review
This is an annual story: longer than a normal comic, nicely paced, self contained, and shows why it wasn't in the regular book.

The story is OK. It didn't exactly fire me up, and the concept behind it wasn't one that really stuck for me. I get Batman trying to help Arkham build better security for the cells. I get getting to know the new doctor and having him guide the story along as he encounters the inmates for the first time. Probably the worst thing about the story is the Anchoress herself. She is a character that has been in Arkham for years and wants it to return to the sanctuary that it was before Batman came along to put all the crazy in there.

The problem with her is that she comes off as crazy to begin with in the flashback scenes. That her desire not to be caged, that caused the death of her parents, was something that has been around for a very long time, even before she got into Arkham. I don't see this character being usable in another type of story, and having a one note villain like that push the story along isn't something that I can really get behind.

This book had six inkers on it. It shows. To say that anyone can ink isn't doing justice for the inkers who know what they are doing. The simple inconsistency from the beginning to the end with the look of the characters just didn't win me over in the art department. I really would like to know which pages Craig inked his own pencils on so I could get more of a sense of how his art style works.

The cover is your typical Jock kind of cover, which I always appreciate. I almost wish he went for something else other than Batman and the city silhouetted. If the story takes place in Arkham, why not have the cover represent that in some way? I almost feel like they used this cover simply because they had a Jock cover lying around, so why not use it?

Definitely something I should have waited to get. I see this one heading to the quarter bins soon enough.

Grades
Words: 5/10
Pictures: 4/10
General Feeling After Reading: That was some wasted time.
Buy Next Issue: Of the main books? Yep. Of more annuals like this? Nope.