Batman #11: A Knock At Your Door

A lot of the previously established plot points are softly reset in Batman #11, moving the metaphorical chess board around. It’s an essential conclusion to the previous story beats and an opening for new storylines beginning with issue #12 in August.

Matt Fraction’s economical use of concise dialogue, befitting the caped crusader and his at times rather aloof son, enhances the tone of Bruce’s and Damian’s respective characterizations in this issue. Every word exchanged between them or between Bruce and other characters either pushes the story forward or develops their relationship on the page.

Lady Ojo, the assassin who attacked Bruce and Annika Zeller back in issue #5, returns in issue #11. Even with her contract revoked, she continues pursuing her target Bruce Wayne and his protector Batman. It gives a lot of texture to her character, changing her motivation from money to an assassin’s professionalism.

All in all, the writing is very sharp in this issue and focuses heavily on the characters themselves and their role in Fraction’s updated version of Gotham. The last page, which I don’t spoil in this review, is also an effective setup for more character work in next month’s Batman #12. In other words, it is literally the “knock at the door” for next issue’s storyline.

Jorge Jiménez makes use of overlaid illustrations to show readers the moment-to-moment action of a single scene, whether it be the Penguin talking to his cronies, Dr. Zeller scrolling through headlines, or Batman’s telescopic visor deactivating. Nearly the entire issue uses this technique and does so extremely well. The most exciting parts are the action scenes where this style of illustration really shines. Every movement, attack, or counter is telegraphed to the reader with clean line art and stunning colors.

Tomeu Morey’s colors provide a glow to the lights of Gotham’s districts and a texture to every bit of cloth or body armor. Billboards in the background shine with a light that makes the characters in the foreground pop off the page like the iconic heroes and villains they are. Matt Fraction’s Batman run has been defined by its modernization of Gotham City, which the colors bring out more than anything else in this issue.

The one detraction I have from this issue is that Jim Gordon continues to sit on the sidelines of Fraction’s run. A brief exchange following an emotional scene references Barbara’s imprisonment in Batman #9 (which was continued in Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1) and Jim’s feeling of being a powerless parent. Those scenes aside, they do more to tease at an eventual Jim Gordon storyline but don’t set anything up in that regard.