“The Moons of Gethsemane”
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Doug Mahnke, Jaime Mendoza
Color Artist: David Baron
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Review By Eric Lee
Minor Spoilers Ahead!
Batman: Off-World #5 is barreling towards an ending where Batman finally confronts the two main villains of the series in an increasingly uneven adventure.
Love it or hate it, Off-World is a peak Jason Aaron book. While Aaron definitely has skills in the emotional aspects of a character, that does not really seem to be his main focus. He is most interested in making the most over-the-top concepts and characters ever depicted on the page. That includes any new characters that he created for the story, as well as someone like Batman. In this latest issue, Batman seems even more larger-than-life, to the point of becoming the cartoonish stereotype of a tough guy.
Questionable Dialogue
The dialogue narration seems to reflect the hyperbolic, over-dramatic nature. With lines, like: “In Gotham, the vermin are crawling from their holes. Holes I put them in” or “Somewhere out there is an orb of orphans. Focus on that” they are so insane and unmourned from what a normal person would say or think. They honestly read like a parody of mid-90’s Frank Miller dialogue.
Reading this issue, it is hard to recall that this Batman is supposed to be a green vigilante that is early in his career. There is a sense of him being overwhelmed about midway through the issue. And it is a legitimately good scene where the Caped Crusader finally does some self-reflection. This is a long time coming, because so far, Batman in this series feels hyper-competent and not at all like a rookie crime-fighter. I’ve said it before but, what is the point of setting this story in Batman’s early years if you are not going to take advantage of his early personality?
The Blakksuns
This wildly exaggerated tone also applies to all other characters in the comic too. None more crazy than the villains the Blakksuns. While I appreciate Aaron going for the weird aspects of space, the Blakksuns are just so cartoonishly powerful and grotesquely evil that it makes me somewhat check out. Like, one of the Blakksuns literally kills billions of beings by whispering. How can any real stakes be established if they are so unrealistically heightened?
The issue is once again saved by some spectacular art by Doug Mahnke. The art team really leans into the weirdest looking alien designs. He also seems to be utilizing some more graphically striking imagery to make the battle sequences the most exciting ever.
Conclusion
Batman: Off-World #5 has a more focused plot and some decent character beats. It is unfortunate that it is hard to get invested in the story because the villains and Batman are written more like caricatures than actual characters.
All images are courtesy of DC Entertainment.