Tuesday, July 5

Batman #711 (8/11)

“Pieces, Part Two: The Long Way Back”

Two Face claws his way out of a shallow grave, refusing to believe that Gilda is really alive and working with Mario Falcone. He is captured by the Riddler but they end up in an alliance because Riddler tells him that Gilda is being held by Falcone against her will. Harvey needs his coin. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson Batman is on their trail – but finds that Catgirl didn't get out of the Gotham vigilante game and is indeed right in the middle of things.

A few things: 1) One thing that I don't really like that Tony Daniel is doing is reverting Riddler back into a criminal. I really liked him better as he was for the past several years, skirting the line between law and outlaw, setting himself up as a consulting detective and a bit of a foil for Batman. When played right, that has been pretty entertaining. I've always found the Riddler to be no more than a ho-hum villain. 2) The addition of this putative daughter Enigma is not really helping things either. Catgirl kind of grew on me, but the exponentiation of numbers of costumes in Gotham sometimes gets a bit ridiculous. 3) Although I'll surprisingly miss Dick Grayson's tenure as Batman (who would have thought? - sounded like a dumb idea when first floated a couple of years ago), I will not miss always having to identify whether this Batman is Bruce or Dick. 
4) On the other hand, you've got to give it to a hero who punches the bad guy in the gut so hard he instantly projectile barfs last week's lunch! You don't mess with Batman, whether he is Bruce or Dick!

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