Overall: This annual could easily be called, “The Batman goes to France” because that's the gist of it. Well there's a bit more I guess... So Bruce Wayne heads to France and tells the head of the Paris police force that he wants to open a branch of Batman Incorporated in the City of Lights, which the cop is not very receptive to. Bruce reveals that he's aware of some bizarre assassinations taking place in Paris, and he wants to help. Still dubious, the cop shows Bruce a letter giving clues to the next murder, and Bruce deducts that a Muslim diplomat was the target of the assassin. He sends out Dick Grayson(Batman #2 I guess?)to stop the murder, but Bats 2 arrives on the scene too late. Bruce has a dinner with the French president and convinces the politician to allow Batman Incorporated one month to operate in France, promising that his organization would catch the killer and halt the assassinations before that time. From there Bruce and Dick do some sleuthing and discover that the next target is some street performer. The two Batmen catch who they suspected was the chosen assassin of the street performer, but discover that the suspected assassin was just a concerned citizen who was looking out for the performer from the rooftops. We end this one with the Batmen hoping they can find the real assassin before it was too late.
I've said it numerous times before, but I see I have to say it again... Meh. There was also some story about a cult that was apparently responsible for brainwashing and sending out these assassins to kill people, but that part of the story really hadn't developed, so I skipped it in the above review. I'm sure the cult's role in this will be expanded in the second part of this story(which will be in the upcoming Batman annual). As it was, this was a middling story that really didn't leave much of an impact on me one way or the other. Here's hoping part two kicks things up a few notches.
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.
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So wait, why the heck would Batman ask some Parisian cop what he can do? Especially since this is a COMPANY we're talking about, not a subdivision of the police department or the French government. Why do they spend so much time on this, anyway...do you think they're trying to set up this guy as a French version of Gordon or something?
ReplyDeleteBruce didn't want to operate in France as a vigilante or something, so he was looking for the approval of the French commish, or the French President before he was going to allow Dick(or himself)to run around the streets of Paris. Ultimately he was given permission to(lawfully)do whatever he needed to do in France, which was what I guess he wanted all along.
ReplyDeleteI think they were trying to show that Bruce doesn't want to run around in the shadows anymore, but instead wants governmental approval for his actions as Batman, kind of like when the Avengers were UN sanctioned. As for that French cop, I kind of doubt it. I could see this story ending with Bruce catching the killer, shutting down the cult, and leaving with the blessings of the French.