The Batman’s Grave #6: “It’s a war, Master Bruce”

Reaching the midpoint of the story, Ellis and Hitch continue to overdeliver with this dream project. Slowly but surely, the various cases Bruce has been solving through these first half-dozen issues are beginning to coalesce into a larger picture. But more interesting, perhaps, is the picture of Ellis’ understanding of his version of Batman that is beginning to come into focus. There seems to be a particular fascination with Batman’s “no kill” code that Ellis is exploring, notably through the characters of Gordon and Alfred that has the feel of the true purpose behind the project. Bruce’s two closest confidants (with no other Bat-Family present in the series) advocate for the use of lethal force when appropriate, while Bruce’s code is unyielding and possibly the shortest path the series namesake. Being a seemingly out-of-continuity tale, it will be interesting to see how far Ellis takes this experiment.

Hitch continues to be at the top of his game leaving me with very little to say that I haven’t already said. From layouts to linework, the narrative flows first through the artwork and secondarily through the text. While obviously drastically different styles, there is something reminiscent here to Jack Kirby in the sense of dynamic artwork pressing the story forward rather than text that feels often lost in this era of comics.