“Here We Go Round the Sickly Fear”
Writer: Dennis McNicholas
Artists: Anthony Marques, J. Bone
Color Artist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Ferran Delgado
Review by Eric Lee
Batman: The Audio Adventures #5 has an engaging main story that sadly keeps on getting side-tracked by the various sub-plots.
Killer Croc is Weird
This critique is the same for issue #5 as for the previous chapters: the subplots feels so disparate and unconnected that they makes the book feel aimless. Why are we spending so much time with Killer Croc? Why is it necessary to see an extended flashback sequence. Without getting into spoilers, the flashback is completely ludicrous and over-the-top. One might even say that it’s so over-the-top that it is intentionally comedic.
However, since Killer Croc hasn’t been treated as a comic relief character so far, it makes for a confusing tone. Not to mention the flashback sequence is really funny, then gets extremely dark in a span of a panel. That’s some serious tonal whiplash. Are readers supposed to laugh or feel sympathetic about what happens in the flashback?
This seems to be a recurring problem with the Killer Croc arc in the comic, it’s difficult to know what to make of it. Unfortunately, so much storytelling space is dedicated to the character that it takes away from the more interesting narratives.
Show Not Tell
In fact, the more-intriguing Batman versus the Demon Brood conflict suffers here, as it skips over some fairly important storytelling beats from the last issue. Instead Batman has to literally explain what happened, while also laying out the plan to stop the villain. This is an example of telling, not showing. Once we past that exposition-heavy scene, the storyline becomes fun and engaging again, but those first couple of pages are a bit of a slog.
It’s hard to continually find new ways to praise the art team of Anthony Marques and J. Bone. Their work really is a standout from the more traditional Batman books. The bright colors and cartoony designs make this series much more fun than the writing shows. I wish the scripts matched the colorful, bouncy style of the art more.
Conclusion
Batman: The Audio Adventures #5 is a bit of a mish-mash. It has some truly excellent art, enthralling action scenes, and a decent cliffhanger ending, but is weighed down by the ridiculous Killer Croc storyline that really detracts from the central narrative. Hopefully, future installments will clarify Croc’s role in the story more, but until then it feels like a real drag.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment
