Written by Scott Peterson
Illustrated by Kelley Jones
Published by DC Comics
This is a nicely drawn book with economical and powerful writing that just works extremely well. It does an amazing job of telling a horror story mixed with the surreal. It’s an effective combination that works at an incredibly high level.
I’m enjoying it very much.
The issue opens with the Batman on the couch and The Scarecrow giving him a therapy season. This leads into some surreal imagery that Kelley Jones gamely draws. He puts his all into it too. His artwork has rarely been stronger.
We start to realize that Batman and the Scarecrow are engaged in a battle of the mind and wits. It’s all very psychological. The script by Peterson does a great job of showing this along with the artwork. The two creators work wonderfully together and it shows in every frame.
We then see Commissioner Gordon trying to track down the Scarecrow and figure out where Batman is. His scenes are quite exhilarating. He’s hellbent at accomplishing his goal too.
The fear gas that the Scarecrow hit Batman with is really starting to hit hard by the end of the issue too. The story starts going crazy and the art matches up with it perfectly.
You really can’t get much better than this.
This book has proven itself to me. I was pretty well done with Kelley Jones on Batman as I thought I had my fill. I was wrong. He just needed to be inspired again. And this series certainly has inspiration in spades.
RATING:A
