A Reverie of Comics! Batman Annual #2

Annuals and I have a…shaky relationship to say the least. I'm not completely for the side books that cost 5 dollars. Oh sure, some annuals have been great such as the Swamp Thing Annual and the Justice League International Annual (R.I.P.). But most of the time it's hit or miss with other Annuals. So what's the good and what's the bad with the new Batman Annual?

I'll get the formalities out of the way. I didn't enjoy this annual too much. If you're looking for a standalone Batman story to read then this isn't a bad choice but I would spend more money on a better story like Batman Hush.

What's the story though? Batman enters Arkham Asylum as an inmate. He's testing their new security system. While this is going on a new orderly shows up for his first day. He's a bright eyed and bushy tailed little guy who wants to turn the asylum back into a respectable place once again. And while that's going on the oldest patient in the asylum is plotting something.

That's really the problem with the story, too much going on at once. Snyder only worked on the story for this book and it was written by Marguerite Bennett. She has tried to stuff in three stories into a 30ish page book and it's bursting at the seams. Along with all that this book is setting up stuff for the current Zero Year story arc (though thankfully it's nothing intrusive to the main stories). This book could have really been cut down in my opinion and I bet Snyder wouldn't budge on all of these stories being in the book. I'm not going to say Marguerite is a bad writer but this isn't a good representation of her work.

Despite that…I did enjoy the book. I was never bored with the story. The problem is that I walked away with nothing new or interesting floating around in my head. The art wasn't bad but it had FIVE inkers! Some pages looked great while others were just standard. None of the art was bad which is amazing on a book with five different inkers.

My final score on my rating system.
7/10 which is a "GOOD" book but nothing that special.


SPOILERS BELOW



The Zero Year connection that's being touted on the cover is completely negligible. There is one scene that takes place in the Zero Year…and it makes Batman look like a criminal. He's going through peoples personal files in Arkham Asylum which is illegal and really wrong. And he's not even looking for anyone specific so he can justify it. He's looking for anyone that would be drawn into the Red Hood Gang. I think this was a huge misstep just to say this book ties into the Zero Year.

Be honest, are we ever going to see these characters ever again? And that's the most disappointing thing. We learn nothing for this issue. In most Annuals, it tries to be its own story while trying to present something that helps to build the main story or continue it. This annual had very little of that other than the new Arkham security system which will probably come into play later (though it didn't help when Jonah Hex broke out in All-Star Western which you totally should be reading). And really, that's all I can say. I'm disappointed in this issue but I enjoyed it enough while reading it that I'm not bitter. It will be quickly forgotten by me.

Last thought though, I'm glad Snyder remembered that he gave Bruce Wayne a brother. That took balls and it takes even more balls to reference it again. You got balls Snyder.