WRITER: SCOTT SNYDER | ARTIST: GREG CAPULLO | PUBLISHER: DC BLACK LABEL | FORMAT: HARDCOVER | RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Twenty years in the future a young Bruce Wayne awakes in Arkham Asylum. Batman does not, nor has he ever existed, and Bruce is responsible for the death of his parents. So begins Batman: The Last Knight on Earth, writer Scott Snyder’s and artist Greg Capullo’s Dark Knight swan song. Snyder’s and Capullo’s near-decade run chronicling Batman’s adventures have undeniably proved to be immensely popular, but readers who aren’t familiar with this duo’s Bat oeuvre need not worry. Being a DC Black Label tale this falls outside of the main line’s continuity and is very much standalone. However, established fans will find pleasing references to what has come before, and to what is currently occurring in the Justice League comic book.
Snyder has created DC’s version of A Boy and His Dog. Whereas Harlan Ellison’s tales featured Blood, a telepathic dog, accompanying Vic through a post-apocalyptic wasteland, Snyder gives us Joker’s decapitated head as Batman’s companion. He also serves as the story’s narrator on Batman’s quest to piece together the mystery of his past through a devastated world, and what a surreal tale it is, as Batman encounters futuristic versions of old friends, comrades, and enemies, travels the River of the Dead in Limbo, battles mindless Superman clones, and narrowly escapes the Speed Force Storm. It’s a shame that after all the inventiveness, the fantastically bizarre shenanigans, the final chapter is really quite generic.
However, Capullo’s art has lost none of its edge. A decomposing body found in an alley is genuinely creepy, having a black and white horror film aesthetic thanks to the expert colouring of FCO Plascencia, and inking of Jonathan Glapion. The River of the Dead is also eerily striking with it being a nebulous grey, punctuated by the colourful costumes of the heroes that have died in battle.
For their final Batman story together Snyder and Capullo have done a more that admirable job. It’s unfortunate that, just as with most of DC’s films, the ending is somewhat lacklustre.
