Batman: War Games, Act 1: Outbreak

It's hard to review stuff like this without giving away key plot points that make the story is great as it is. There are moments here where I thought ‘oh crap, didn't see that coming!' and I don't know if it's because I'm not as immersed in this era of Batman or if it really was an ‘oh crap, didn't see that coming!' moment for others who read it as well.

I'm not so versed when it comes to Orpheus or Onyx and I didn't even really remember there was ever another Batgirl besides Barbara Gordon so there was a lot of new material for me to digest. There is a lot of drama in this collection and this was one of those collections where I felt like I should have read the issues before these, but that's a lot of backstory and until I can get my hands on all 630 Batman issues before this one I'm probably always going to be behind.

Nonetheless, this was an engaging, gripping series. There were a few times when I was a little lost as to who was speaking, but that was usually cleared up pretty fast. I would surely recommend this one to anyone who was looking to get into the Batman world. It's got some pretty big moments...

Ok, the art is pretty good, but it wasn't consistent. Scarface and The Penguin looked radically different from section to section, which I can respect going from one artist to another, but when it's all in the same book, The Penguin should have the same amount of fingers.

The story line is, as expected, a little frazzled and fractured, but that reflects the content. Would have liked a little more on the “Spoiler” character, but I guess I'll just have to read more.