Batman Repitilian #3

Batman: Reptilian #3

DC Comics Black Label 2021

Written by Garth Ennis

Illustrated by Liam Sharp

Lettered by Rob Steen

It got the Riddler. It got the Penguin. It got Deadshot, Hugo Strange, Two-Face, Tweedledee, and Tweedledum. It has left carnage in its wake as it moves through Gotham’s villainous underworld, and Batman finds himself vexed by one very important question: Just what on Earth is it? Now the Dark Knight’s search for clues has him tracking The Joker. But wouldn’t it be funny if the mysterious creature stalking Gotham got to the Clown Prince of Crime first?

I’m still somewhat perplexed why Elseworlds turned into Black Label but that’s for corporate folks to explain, personally I don’t care what the label is called so long as we continue to get stories like this one. This is what I like to refer to as modern horror, it’s as much pure storytelling that leaves so many questions unanswered which builds this immense psychological terror within the characters and by extension the reader. Garth is doing such a prodigious job in writing this story, keeping the reader in the dark and how he’s able to create the overall mood, tone and feel to the story.

I am over the moon ecstatic with the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exquisitely rendered. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does a magnificent job in bringing these characters to life. The exchange between Alfred and Bruce in particular is some of the best examples of characterisation we’ve seen in quite some time. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more of the story we are pulled deeper and deeper in marvellously well.

I greatly appreciate the way we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. The way that we see these layers being explored and how even Batman is at a loss, for now anyway, and this fact alone can leave you gobsmacked. The way all these elements add depth, dimension and complexity to the story is utterly marvellous. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is masterfully done.

Liam’s work on the interiors here is breathtaking. How he manages to create this level & quality of the attention to detail while still managing to paint the interiors and make it all look so bloody effortless shows how truly gifted he is. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a master's eye for storytelling and I have to say just the overall aesthetic of the layouts is brilliantly done. The way backgrounds are utilised to enhance and expand the moments and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring about the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is magnificently rendered. The colour work is equally as brilliant to behold. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work to such success is mindboggling.

​

Aside from the fact that we see Killer Croc’s origin broached, as in they’ve no real idea who or what he is and where he comes from, while trying to search out the real culprit for these grizzly attacks asks new questions that I’d love to see answered in another arc after this one is completed. The way that this story is being told through such mind blowingly brilliant writing and characterisation that is brought to life with such aplomb thanks to the interior artwork, and it is artwork make no mistake about that, is just ruddy brilliant.