While the world of the New 52 is pretty cool across the board, it is still nice to see something outside that realm of reality show up from time to time. What better creative team than Bruce Jones and Sam Keith to bring just that sort of project to life with Batman: Through The Looking Glass.
The story follows Batman as he meets the Mad Hatter for the first time and being sucked into the world of Wonderland like nothing he has ever seen. Is this place real or is it all just a hallucination from the crazed mind of the Hatter himself? To say this book is not your normal Batman story is an understatement. The story is a bit all over the place and hard to follow, but at the same time works in a strange way. The biggest issue with this book as a whole is the art. You have to love Sam Keith’s unique style to really understand and appreciate what they have delivered. Sam Keith is known for one of the most unique styles in the industry and rarely works with mainstream titles unless the story stepped outside of the realm of reality and here it does that in spades. His art looks as good as ever and is worth checking out for any fans of his stuff, but the story while it fits with his style perfectly just isn’t structured all that well. Every time it seems to finally be heading in some cohesive direction it takes a turn into confusion. Some of this is intentional for the bizarre nature of the story, but others just felt like they may not have been fleshed out as well as they could have been.
If you’re looking for something a bit different than your average Batman story and love any of Sam Keith’s previous art then you should give this book a try. If you’ve ever read any of Keith’s MAXX books then you know what you are in for and will most likely be able to dive head first into the bizarre twisted world of the looking glass, just don’t look for your average Batman because it is far gone from this book.
Comments