Batman #32

By Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, Danny Mikki, & Fco Plascencia

Halfway through this issue, there’s a sense of elation, followed by shame. “Of course! That’s what Snyder has been doing all along! How could I be so stupid as to not see it the whole time?” Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.

The past few issues have brought a few plot points full circle, creating a beautiful Bat-tapestry that goes back to the beginning of Zero Year. One of the problems with Zero Year has been the handling of Riddler. To say the least, it’s been a little disappointing. Issue 32 puts all of that to rest. The entire time, Snyder has been keeping Riddler subtle, only to unleash him and present a glorious and legit threat worthy of the great Batman rogues gallery.

There’s a brilliant scene where Batman is scaling an elevator shaft, only to be attacked by machine gun-mounted robots with monitors to show Riddler’s face attached to them. The scene shows how dangerous Riddler can be. His intelligence provides him with countless ways to dispose of enemies, making him unstoppable to everybody but The Dark Knight himself. However, Bats’ current situation is anything but good.

Greg Capullo is extraordinary and we’ve been worshipping him for a while. We’ll just say that issue 32 is more greatness and leave it at that. Let’s talk about Mikki and Plascencia. There are 2 pages depicting a discussion between Batman and Lucius Fox. At first, it looks like the inks and colors look blotchy, but then you notice that it’s showing the shadows of the leaves on the trees. It’s truly beautiful and literally a scene that needs to be shared with everyone.

Issue 32 has it all. It has solid character work, stunning art, and Batman. Batman is always a great thing to have in your comic. Who’s pumped for the Zero Year finale?