Ricky Church reviews Batman #48…
Mr. Bloom’s seeds have grown into an army that may turn all of Gotham City against its new Batman. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne meets a mysterious stranger who could start a chain of events no one can stop.
SEE ALSO: Preview of Batman #48
Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo bring ‘Superheavy’ to a head in Batman #48 as Mr. Bloom holds Gordon hostage, unleashing his attack upon the city. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne has an interesting conversation with a familiar face, spurring him to make a radical decision in this tense issue.
As with the last couple of issues the focus of this story is more on Bruce Wayne than it is on Jim Gordon, which is both a good and bad thing. On the one hand, its great to see how this amnesiac Bruce is dealing with the knowledge that he was once the scourge of Gotham’s underworld and attempting to both come to grips with and run away from it. The conversation he has with the amnesiac and fully healed Joker is an interesting and rather tense one, as you’re never fully sure throughout their interaction whether or not this non-Joker knows who he and Bruce really were prior to ‘Superheavy’. There’s certainly a lot of development on Bruce’s end here.
On the other hand, Gordon is somewhat sidelined again as he’s literally caught in the grasp of the formidable Mr. Bloom. It’s a shame Gordon spends the entire issue as a prisoner, saying very little and held as a prop for Bloom to use, but while Gordon doesn’t get much time to shine, that space is instead filled by Bloom. Throughout ‘Superheavy’ Bloom has often remained in the shadows, keeping his larger motivations a mystery, but Batman #48 finally gives readers some deeper insight into his character by revealing his loftier goals.
In fact, Bloom’s characterization is one of #48’s strongest points as his motivations are not only relatable, but unfortunately ripped from society’s current headlines. Snyder plays upon society’s seeming lack of empathy from the highest levels of government to the lowliest citizen, thematically tying it back to Batman #44’s great story. He succeeds in making Bloom feel more three-dimensional, giving the new villain far more depth than in previous issues.
Once again Greg Capullo’s artwork and Danny Miki’s colours pop with every panel, especially during Bruce and Joker’s interaction; the facial work in both characters is excellent. With this being one of Capullo’s last issues before his brief hiatus to work with Mark Millar, he’s doing everything he can to give fans some outstanding imagery. With ‘Superheavy’ coming to a close and Bruce Wayne poised to don the cape and cowl once again, this team is putting out all the stops to deliver a memorable Batman story.
Rating: 9/10
Ricky Church
https://youtu.be/vDx6g5ua25E?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published January 20, 2016. Updated March 2, 2020.
