Batman #5

The idea of a legend has always intrigued me. When does someone become a legend? How do we distinguish a legend from something very impressive? Who decides what's a legend and what's not? I used to believe that legends are always made after-the-fact. That you can never determine what is and isn't legendary until you've told their story thousands of times. The time frame after-the-fact can shift, sometimes it's the next game, sometimes it's years down the line (for instance, the day after Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in one game, I knew it was a legend, but I didn't realize until years down the line the true legend of Michael Jordan. Sure, we all knew he was great, but it wasn't until after he was gone and we realized no one could measure up, and as each year passes and Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James fail to measure up, MJ's legend grows.

Scott Snyder has challenged that notion for me. After reading Batman #5, I'm certain, we're living through one oft he greatest Batman stories, ever, a legendary one that'll be part of Batman canon forever. Scott Snyder is that good, while I don't enjoy this story as much as I did his previous one, "The Black Mirror," I certainly realize that this current story is a step above, and if it ends as strong as it starts, will be on every legitimate list of top five Batman stories ever.
This issue picks up eight days after issue #4, where Bruce is ambushed by the Court of Owls. We find out that Gotham's heroes have been looking high and low for Bruce, who no one has seen for days (cameo of the first Dick and Damian team-up since Flashpoint!).  This is drawn over a narration by Jim Gordon, commenting on the Bat-signal, and the importance of leaving it on even if Batman doesn't come. This is great, as this whole sequence shows the true unity of the Bat-family.


We then find Bruce passed out, drugged, looking like he had been run over by a truck. He finds himself in some sort of lair of the Court of Owls, an intimidating one to say the least. He's hallucinating, dehydrated, and exhausted. This rivals his lowest points in R.I.P., the Cult, and Knightfall, all which have used this storytelling plot-point to mixed results.

What takes this issue from great to amazing is the storytelling techniques used. Snyder and Capullo arranged the panels to be read in different manners, first from left-to-right liek normal, but as he hallucinates, you have to turn the page to read the story, turn it again as he continues to struggle with his mental well-being until everything in his world is upside-down. What's brilliant is that this empathizes the reader with Bruce, where the first reaction is "well this is odd," then "oh crap, this is weird" and finally on to "wow, my sense of direction is actually hampered, I feel semi-confused." Bravo to Capullo and Snyder for daring to take this storytelling choice.

Also, one can't give enough credit to penciller Greg Capullo in this issue. This art is amazing, some of the best I've seen all year. He's undaunted by Scott's storytelling choices, and dives in head-first. It's his awesome work in this issue that makes this rotational choice work, a lesser artist results in a less-stellar result, and then every critic would be claiming that it was an interesting idea with poor execution on both parts.

What I liked: The art, the monologue, the storytelling choices, the Court of Owls as villains, and a great depiction of Bruce gone mad. We see every edge of his madness, with a cameo of Thomas and Martha Wayne near the end of his hallucination to expose his vulnerability.

What I didn't: A more expanded look at Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, Batwing, and Catwoman trying to find him. Batman's about to add a "back-up" feature to the comic, too bad he couldn't have gotten one for this issue, seeing what everyone else is doing to find Bruce would have made this issue perfect.

Conclusion: Scott Snyder -- a legend of Batman. 9.7/10 (A+).