Bruce Jones made quite a splash a few years ago when he returned to comics and transformed the Incredible Hulk series into a dark conspiracy-theory story, but he hasn't really grabbed people's attention in the same way since. He's had some flops, and the height of his work since the Hulk hoopla was his recent Vigilante series from DC, which was somewhat diverting but ultimately didn't resonate strongly with comics fans. I didn't know what to expect from him on this new limited series, but I can say this: I was entertained. Though he tells a typical Man-Bat story here, the plot isn't what's engrossing. Instead, it's all about the mood, and the writer is aided a great deal by the efforts of artists Mike Huddleston and Lee Loughridge.
When two teens are slaughtered in a remote cave in Gotham County, the media is abuzz with speculation about the possible emergence of a serial killer. When two police officers are also killed while monitoring the crime scene, speculation grows. When a creature emerges from the night to attack a family at a farmhouse, fears of some kind of inhuman, monstrous killing machine surges through the community. And when human and bat DNA are linked to the attacks, it attracts the attention of certain masked men in Gotham City. And Francine Langstrom worries that her husband, Dr. Kirk Langstrom, is transforming once again into the hybrid creature known as Man-Bat.
Huddleston has proven he handles dark, gothic fare with seeming ease. His work here, as strong as it's been before on projects such as The Coffin, reminds me of the styles of Shawn (The Creeper) Martinbrough, Cully (Blue Beetle) Hamner and Phil (Nightwing) Hester. The art -- at the direction of the script, I would imagine -- does an excellent job of reinforcing the tense, mysterious atmosphere of the book by obfuscating what the reader gets to see. There are brief moments of visual horror, but for the most part, Huddleston allows the reader to fill in the truly gruesome bits (a la Blair Witch Project). Lee Loughridge was the perfect colorist for this project. He brings eerie colors to bear that add an unnatural feeling to the story.
I love the air of mystery and menace that permeates this book. The question of whether or not Kirk Langstrom has transformed back into the Man-Bat is a typical opening to any story featuring the character, so there's no fresh new perspective on the character so far. But Jones amps up the typical Man-Bat story by turning up the violence volume. the reader becomes involved in the story because there are real consequences to the creature's return, even if it is just for peripheral, throwaway characters.
I was surprised to find more traditional super-hero elements in this story. I hadn't thought this story would be quite so ingrained in the Batman's world, but it seems it is. I like how Jones portrays the Dark Knight and one of his newer nemeses as opposite numbers, as being equals. I was quite surprised to see a villain who's not in the Batman rogues gallery turn up at the end of the issue. Jones may have introduced a number of super-hero elements to this dark story, but he maintains a solid balance between that mode and the edgier, horror-movie aspect of the story. 7/10
