ALL-STAR BATMAN, VOLUME 2: ENDS OF THE EARTH (DC Comics) Writer: Scott Snyder. Artists: Jock, Tula Lotay, Giuseppe Camnuncoli. Artist on Cursed Wheel story: Francesco Francavilla.
from the summary on the Goodreads website . . . . .
New York Times best-selling writer Scott Snyder, author of such instant-classic BATMAN graphic novels as THE COURT OF OWLS, DEATH OF THE FAMILY and ENDGAME, joins forces with an all-star lineup of comics’ top artists to bring the madness and menace of some of the Dark Knight’s greatest villains into the modern era with ALL-STAR BATMAN VOL. 2: ENDS OF THE EARTH.
Join Snyder and his frequent collaborator Jock (BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR) as they plunge into the icy heart of darkness with Mr. Freeze. Eat the forbidden fruit offered by the sinister and seductive Poison Ivy in a tale illustrated by Tula Lotay (BODIES). Take a journey to the far side of sanity with the Mad Hatter through art by comics superstar Giuseppe Camuncoli (BATMAN: EUROPA). Then, finally, the demonic mind behind these master criminals’ apocalyptic ambitions is revealed...
He is Gotham City’s guardian. He is the Justice League’s Dark Knight. He is Batman, one of the most iconic characters in history. But without his equally classic foes, his legend would be incomplete.
ALL-STAR BATMAN VOL. 2: ENDS OF THE EARTH (Rebirth) is Batman at his best—and his villains at their worst! Collects issues #6-9 of the ongoing series, including the conclusion to “The Cursed Wheel” drawn by Francesco Francavilla (BATMAN: THE BLACK MIRROR).
my Goodreads website review . . . . . .
I read this in the individual issues, with the back-up story featuring The Signal.
The best of the several artists employed on this adventure was Jock, who illustrated Issue #6 and #9, the bookends of the story arc. His best work is in Issue #9, really dynamic with some great looking battle scenes.
The story gets a bit confusing as Batman seems to be facing a new threat each issue without resolving the previous one, until Snyder redeems himself with the wrap-up in the last issue. He ties it all together in the finale and throws in a few twists which give the entire story a unique spin.
Interspersed throughout the issues are many evocative panels focused mainly on the impressionist art with a few lines of suitable poetry or verse in the caption boxes. It's a nice change from the standard modes of conveying a superhero story and was better than I expected it to be. Although I will admit while reading it there were moments of confusion and impatience, which is why I didn't rate this Volume higher than a 3 out of 5. The scenes with the Mad Hatter were especially frustrating, until the final issue reveals exactly what was going on.
This Volume also concludes the back-up Cursed Wheel story from Volume 1. I did admire Snyder's method of telling a story here but the switching back and forth made it difficult to realize what was occurring in real time and what was occurring as part of a training simulation for The Signal. I feel this story would have a better impact if it was released as a separate volume rather than chopped up across the 9 issues that comprise Volume 1 and Volume 2.
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