Batman Universe

Batman: Universe by Brian Michael Bendis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When a Faberge Egg is stolen from the Gotham City museum, Batman is on the case, a case that will take him across time, space, death, and reality...

I'm not normally a modern Batman guy and I'm not a Bendis fan either but the premise of this one sounded interesting and Nick Derington's art is great so I gave it a shot. There will be a couple spoilers so read at your own risk.

The story itself feels like a bunch of Bob Haney Brave and the Bold issues strung together. Batman teams up with a variety of guest stars on the trail of the McGuffin, in this case, whatever is inside that damn Faberge Egg once owned by Jonah Hex. Things escalate to a ridiculous level and everything is kosher again by the end of the story. It's really hard not spoiling great whacks of this.

Bendis weaves a surprisingly fast paced tale here. It does not feel like three issues of story fed through a taffy puller like Infamous Iron Man did to me. This one was balls to the wall all the time. It was also extremely accessible. I didn't feel the burden of decades of continuity on my back as I read it and was able to enjoy myself quite a bit.

And now we come to the turd in the punch bowl. Bendis cannot get out of his own way with the quips. I get that his writing is rooted in detective fiction but the constant back and forth banter cuts the legs out from under any sense of urgency or jeopardy the book may have had. SPOILER should not be making jokes with Batman while trying to kill him! And nothing deflates an impending nerd boner like making a quip right after the most majestic part of the book!

I was somewhat familiar with Nick Derington's art before this but this is where I became a Derington fan. His art has that minimalist yet modern feel I can't get enough of, like Alex Toth's modern equivalent. He attempts some daring things with his page designs and is able to stick the landing on most of them. Top notch art.

Despite it's flaws, Batman Universe is a fast-paced, fun Batman outing. I'd read another Bendis-Derington Batman book. Four out of five Faberge Eggs.

View all my reviews