The hills are alive with the sound of backs breaking.
Batman #9 kicked off the "I Am Suicide" story arc in fine form, with the series taking on a more surreal tone and offering a brief but tantalizing glimpse of psychologically fragile Bane. Unfortunately, issue #10 struggles to keep that trend moving. This issue is tonally bizarre and occasionally even struggles to tell a coherent story.
Having recruited bu own Suicide Squad last issue, Batman now begins his assault on the island nation of Santa Prisca and its master. Tom King opens this issue with a warning from Batman that Bane either hand over Psycho Pirate or have his back broken. Thus begins this issue's bizarre fascination with broken backs. Batman repeats that warning so many times it becomes a sort of mantra. It actually leaves the reader to wonder if Batman is either strung out on some sort of drug, hallucinating or possibly some sort of malfunctioning robot. The character just feels very off in this issue.
King's script is far more effective in terms of Catwoman's role. While she barely appears in the flesh, Selina essentially narrates the issue in the form of a letter to Bruce explaining why she landed herself on Death Row. It serves as a poignant exploration of the relationship between the two characters and the divergent paths their lives took. It's pretty clear that this arc needs to devote less attention to Batman himself and more to his new team and their opponent.
Mikel Janin's art continues to shine, opening with an epic aerial battle and transitioning into the dark, surreal depths of Bane's prison fortress. His page layouts are exciting to behold, and June Chung's use of color and lighting really heightens the mood as Bane and Batman meet face-to-face. Letterer Clayton Cowles does a great job of contrasting the word balloons with the flowing script of Catwoman's letter.
Janin's storytelling does falter during one key sequence, however. There's a point in the story were Batman is injured and trapped, but the art does a poor job of conveying exactly how badly injured he is and whether he's trying to escape or magically fix his injury a la The Dark Knight Rises. It's a weird moment that only highlights how bizarre Batman's portrayal is in this issue.
The Verdict
It's disappointing to see this series follow up one of its best issues with its worst. The bizarre depiction of Batman in this issue dragged down what could have been a great reunion between the dark Knight and Bane. Still, the issue looks great (weird prison chamber scene aside), and there's no reason to believe things won't pick up again in issue #11.
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