: (5 of 5 cowls)

Brian Boland. I've yet to have this man disappoint me. He somehow manages to make a very realistic image in spite of black ink comic book outlines. I myself can do decent realism if I fully digitally paint something, but the moment I ink the lines all realism seems to go out the window. How does he do it? Great composition and use of shapes. The circle on the floor tile is reflected in the bucket and the cups and lids, and the blood stain on the floor. The straight line is mimicked in the mop handle, the cigarette butts, and Alfred's pin stripes. The perspective and "shot angle" are unique, slightly above the scene looking down, giving depth. The drapery of the cape and cowl is masterful. And the simple details, like the leftover garbage on the floor from the police investigation, make this a complete image. The muted colors, the purplish shade of the cowl reflected in the title banner, and the complimentary rusty red of the blood and pizza box writing, is perfect.

Story: (3 of 5 cowls)

There was a lot going on in this issue, and I think the frequent scene shiftings hurt it just a little. Devin Grayson does a good job of showing us the views and divisiveness in the Batclan over Bruce Wayne's guilt or innocence in Vesper's murder case. However, there is one issue I have with Nightwing's complete belief in Bruce's innocence though, and that is history to the contrary. Within just the last year, Dick was of the belief that the Bat was going to kill the Ventriloquist, holed up with Scarface in the theater Bruce went to see Zorro in with his parents, after the gangster had the real Matches Malone murdered. Only Dick's message inside the matchbook stopped him from doing just that, so Dick knows full well that Bruce has been both half crazed, and murderous recently. I really enjoyed Tim's more realistic assessment of Bruce, because it was a testament to choice versus blind faith. Tim wears the Robin uniform, and does what he does, not because of Bruce, but IN SPITE OF HIM! I enjoyed watching Alfred and Leslie together, I've always had a sweet spot for both, and to hear Leslie be Alfred's conscience in this case was refreshing. She, like Tim, doesn't have the blind faith in Bruce that Dick does, or the desperate hope and fatherly responsibility for him Alfred does. I also liked the continuation of Bruce's distanced silence. Though we know now its likely to keep those who love him from being hurt by this. Pretty good, though I have to dock it a few for the scattershot storytelling and the egregious turn around in Dick's personality due to a possible lack of keeping up on the other Bat titles by Grayson.

Artwork: (2 of 5 cowls)

Well…ugh. This must have been a bad month for Robinson. He's usually more consistent than this. But I think most of the problem here lies with the inker. The extremely heavy handed inks overpower the art and drag it down into a mire. I'm a little confused by the myriad representations of Leslie Thompkins in the various Bat books. But I've always pictured her as a slightly plump lady with kindly and motherly features. Robinson puts a heavily lined face on what appears to be a supermodel's body and it threw me. Come on…don't comics get enough of a rap for making women too perfect? The last thing I need is a sexy fashion-plate version of the Doc. I think maybe the artist just has difficulty in drawing older women. There are only two parts of this issue that the excessive darkness worked well. That's the scene of Alfred talking to the case of Batman uniforms, and again in Bruce's face during Leslie's visit. This excessive darkness seems to be plaguing all the Bat Comics, and it only rarely works…can we stop it?

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