DC; $3.99

The final pages of Batman #55 closed the issue with a pretty big surprise when Nightwing gets shot while on a case with Batman. That issue was split with Batman and Nightwing fighting routine Gotham criminals in one storyline line and a large, intimidating man coming to the city and buying a gun in the other.

This issue similarly runs as two separate threads. Batman is being the world’s best detective who is filled with some quality rage. The mysterious stranger has arrived at an unknown location to visit his father.

Readers get to see what makes Batman, well, Batman as he thwarts critically dangerous situations on his unyielding quest to find who shot Nightwing. The not so warm and cuddly father-son reunion is just a conversation over some drinks, but we learn some important information about the man who shot Dick Grayson.

Tom King delivers a good issue that is a straightforward narrative and doesn’t waste time on soliloquies or unnecessary explanation. The art by Tony S. Daniel, Danny Miki, and Tomeu Morey is descriptive and tense. Batman is the frightening hero while the villains are rendered in closeups and at angles that provide just enough detail to keep them gruff and unknown.

Based on where things end in Batman #56, the next issue could be pretty intense.

-Amanda Sheriff