Comic Book Review: Batman Deathblow After the Fire by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo
Full Disclosure: I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway on the premise that I would review it.
Those of you who’ve been following my reviews for a while will know that I’m a longtime Batman fan. Not so much though as regards Deathblow, one of the many Nineties antiheroes Image pumped out back in the day. He’s an agent of International Operations (I/O) who, well, kills people.
This is not a promising basis for a team-up, and Mr. Azzarello wisely doesn’t try to make it one. Instead, Batman picks up the trail of a pyrokinetic terrorist that the now-deceased Deathblow had encountered a decade before. The story cuts between the two eras, piecing together the murky circumstances through the triple-crossing wires of espionage agencies.
Even with a good writer, Michael Cray, the Deathblow used in this story, never rises above the Nineties cliches he’s mired in. Batman is done pretty well, and Alfred is a delight. Commissioner Gordon makes a cameo to give Batman a clue. The villain has a bit more depth than is evident through most of the story, which leads to a neat little last page twist.
Lee Bermejo’s art is kind of blocky, which makes for some nice covers, but is less effective in the story itself. For this deluxe edition, he presents some sketches and alternative covers, with notes on each.
To be honest, I think this book is only getting the deluxe treatment because the author has gone on to do better work. This is one I recommend checking out at the library if you can.
