Immortal Legend Batman #2: Elseworlds Goes Off-World

If you’re going to pick two writers to turn the beloved Dark Knight into a Power Ranger-style hero, you can’t go wrong with Kyle Higgins (Radiant Black) and Mat Groom (Mighty Morphin). Higgins brings the modern and colorful sci-fi tone from his Massive-Verse, while Groom brings the Tokusatsu (a style of Japanese superhero media) action elements from his Mighty Morphin run to Immortal Legend Batman.

While the first issue back in August set up the lore for the titular Immortal Legends, the second issue brings more stylistic action but not much else. Elseworlds comics have always been tied to rich thematic storytelling, such as Gotham by Gaslight (1989), which focused on fear and paranoia in society, or Batman & Dracula: Red Rain (1991), which focused on themes of addiction and temptation.

Sadly, so far Immortal Legend Batman has yet to show a clear through-line for the story and characters. As we were told back in the first issue, each of the Immortal Legends has inherited their mantle from a previous legend. While we get a single mention of Roger Elliot, we’ve yet to see what effect his legacy has had on this version of the Caped Crusader.

Stylistically, the series uses a sci-fi outer space meets Wild West aesthetic that, while visually interesting, seems slightly hollow and a little bland compared to the depth and intricacy of the Victorian Gotham in Gotham by Gaslight or the pure Gothic horror of Red Rain’s Gotham brought to life by the atmospheric artwork of Kelley Jones.

Immortal Legend Batman brings together the art of two great comic artists, Dan Mora (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest) and Erica D’Urso (Inferno Girl Red). Both of whom bring their specific talents together to create the stylish art mentioned above. The colors by Igor Monti (Mighty Morphin) and Tamra Bonvillain (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur) continue to provide great texture, especially in action scenes.