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    DC

    REVIEW: Batman #12

    Stephen SchleicherBy Stephen SchleicherAugust 12, 20126 Comments6 Mins Read

    In Batman #7, a girl named Harper saved Batman’s life. Now, five issues later, Scott Snyder gives us the backstory on Harper Row. Major Spoilers sat down to dig into the issue, and has a review waiting for you, after the jump!

    BATMAN #12
    Writer: Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV
    Aritsts: Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke
    Inkers: Sandu Florea
    Colorist: FCO Plascencia
    Letterers: Richard Starkings and Comiccraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
    Editor: Mike Marts
    Publisher: DC Comics
    Cover Price: $3.99

    Previously in Batman: Having sifted through the lies, the mazes, and the accounts of the Court of Owls, Batman has come to the conclusion that there is no way Lincoln March could have been Bruce Wayne’s long lost brother. With the Court of Owls arc at a close, there is only one thing left unanswered.

    HARPER ROW

    In issue #7, Batman is brought back to life by a young girl with a van full of gear and doodads. Batman recognized her, and told her again to stop it. Stomping off into the night, readers were left wondering, “Who is this girl, and how does she know Batman?” The answer comes out in this issue as Scott Snyder spins the tale of a young girl who does everything she can to protect her brother from homophobic gang members, and an absentee father, who does more damage than good when he’s around. Harper Row, when not in high school, works for the city electric company, repairing and maintaining the city’s electrical grid. Her understanding of what makes the system work, and her ability to repair anything, comes in handy as she tries to fix her problems at home.

    When the New 52 started, Bruce Wayne announced plans to improve Gotham, by rebuilding the Narrows and giving new life to those that live there. Harper’s apartment is one that will be torn down, and she won a ticket to the gala event to kick off the redevelopment. That tie-in gives Mr. Snyder a chance to connect Harper to the greater storyline, and this issue turns out to be a nice afterward to the tale, rather than an important chapter in story arc. Harper attempts to pay Batman back for saving her and her brother from gang members by tweaking his ghost system installed on top of the electrical grid, and helping during Batman’s encounter with Tiger Shark.  Beyond that, there really isn’t much that ties into the greater Court of Owls storyline. Sure it is interesting, and sure it would be great if we see more of Harper in the series going forward – she might even make a great replacement for Harold in some way – but for those wondering if they have to buy this issue, I would say grab it if you want an origin story.  Remember, people downplayed Bane’s origin story issue, and when he emerged to break Batman’s back, everyone scrambled to find that issue.

    There are a couple of things going on in this story that don’t really line up right for me, and left me scratching my head. The first is having James Tynion IV come in for the final seven pages of the story as the co-writer. There doesn’t seem to be a real reason to have the two writers team here. Snyder appears to have had a great grasp on where he wanted to go with the issue, so I’m a bit perplexed. In previous (and future issues) Mr. Tynion and Mr. Snyder do work together on the backup story, but there isn’t one here, so again I have to wonder why.

    The other thing that was odd from the story telling perspective was the final seven page sequence featuring Batman fighting the Tiger Shark. The scene isn’t the weird part, but the fact that editor Mike Marts threw in an Editor’s Note (something I love) informing readers that this happened in issue #3, when in fact, this scene doesn’t happen in issue #3 at all. Instead, that issue has Batman fighting the five gangs of the subway system, and no mention is made to Batman heading to the sewers looking for answers. Instead of confusing readers, the better call out would have been to state that this scene happened during the events of issue #3. One could say that is splitting hairs and being a bit too harsh, and that is fine, but it did stand out as odd from my point of view.

    FIVE MORE PAGES, ONE MORE ARTIST

    Becky Cloonan dos an excellent job on the art in this issue. I’m not overly familiar with her work as she has done interiors on titles I normally don’t read, but her work does stand out, and I would very much like to see her work on more mainstream DC titles in the future. There may be some that complain that Greg Capullo is absent from the issue, but considering we are viewing the events from a different perspective, the art shift works well.

    Again, I don’t know if there is a contractual reason for doing so, but instead of a backup story done by another artist, the reader turns the page and are presented with seven pages of art by Andy Clarke. Mr. Clarke’s style is very different from Ms. Cloonan’s, and the jump (though spared by a double page ad) is very jarring. I don’t like sudden jumps in art if it isn’t done for a reason (flashback, change in perspective, backup story, and so on), so this really comes off as either A) there is a contractual reason for Clarke needing to do these pages, or B) Ms. Cloonan wasn’t able to keep up with the schedule. I really hope it isn’t B, because that doesn’t bode well for Ms. Cloonan to do work on other books, and I really want to see more of her art in mainstream DC books.

    BOTTOM LINE: GIVE IT A CHANCE

    There is a really good story being told by Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV in this issue. The introduction of Harper Row has a lot of heartbreaking and depressing moments, and some really cool moments where the reader can see Harper becoming a more important character in the greater Batman story. Becky Cloonan’s art is refreshing, and the pages Andy Clarke work on make the book feel big. I personally don’t like the sudden jump from one artist to the other, but that is a peeve of mine, that may not affect the general reader. Batman #12 is a book worth picking up, earning 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

    Rating: ★★★½☆

    andy clarke Batman Becky Cloonan dc comics james tynion IV Review sandu florea scott snyder
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    Stephen Schleicher
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    Stephen Schleicher began his career writing for the Digital Media Online community of sites, including Digital Producer and Creative Mac covering all aspects of the digital content creation industry. He then moved on to consumer technology, and began the Coolness Roundup podcast. A writing fool, Stephen has freelanced for Sci-Fi Channel's Technology Blog, and Gizmodo. Still longing for the good ol' days, Stephen launched Major Spoilers in July 2006, because he is a glutton for punishment. You can follow him on Twitter @MajorSpoilers and tell him your darkest secrets...

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    6 Comments

    1. johnny on August 12, 2012 7:41 pm

      is harper going to become the new “oracle” for the new 52 perhaps?

      Reply
    2. websnap on August 13, 2012 8:21 am

      I think you nailed it with the the “new Harold” bit…

      Apparently, Harper row’s character was created due to Snyder’s inability to use Cass Cain. WHile I would have loved to see Black Bat in the New 52, Haper seems like a great character and I completely dugg this story. It was a nice break from the constant assult that was the last 11 issues.

      All around a fitting cap to the first year of Batman.

      Reply
    3. TaZ on August 13, 2012 1:32 pm

      The art was way too “manga” for me. Interesting little side character, though.

      Reply
    4. Kareem on August 13, 2012 2:08 pm

      I actually get the impression that she’s being groomed to become the next Robin, once Damian inevitably perishes in Grant Morrison’s Big Bat Conclusion next year. I ended the issue really wanting to see more of her, but I refuse to get invested in another female Bat character when we all know that she is going to either be wiped from existence or benched inexplicably when DC puts us through another line-wide event.

      Reply
      • ~wyntermute~ on August 14, 2012 12:20 am

        This. This right here sums up why I don’t give a @#$% about any “new character” these days… Unless it’s the pet-project of Somebody Important, they’ll be dead/moved-away/vanished/forgotten/whatevered about when sales do whatever sales are prone to doing. If they go “up” then we’ll get sick of said pet-project because s/he will be jammed down our collective throat. If sales go “down”, then the ‘interesting & new’ will be jettisoned in order for the title to ‘get back to what worked’. I know I sound cynical, but Editorial Decisions have broken my comic-book-heart one too many times.

        Reply
    5. Phillip on August 13, 2012 11:08 pm

      “The sensation you are feeling is the quickening….”

      Reply

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