Review: BATMAN VOL. 6: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT

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BATMAN VOL. 6: THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT
Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Marguerite Bennett, Gerry Duggan
Art by Greg Capullo, Andy Kubert, Alex Maleev, various
Published by DC Comics
Release Date: April 29, 2015

Batman trade readers were curious about the whereabouts of a few issues that have occurred in the main series that have yet to be collected – primarily the “Requiem” issue and the arc leading into Zero Year and their questions have finally been answered…they’re part of The Graveyard Shift.

Because this collection dances around several different storylines, time frames and sets up some events, the cohesiveness of the narrative is an issue compared to other collections. This volume doesn’t really make sense when looked at as a whole, but as part of the greater Batman run you can see these are certainly pivotal issues. The #0 issue and the second Batman Annual enhance some of the Zero Year storyline nicely, and issue #28 launches Eternal, but this collection is certainly not unified by anything other than the creative team and the character. None of these issues are poorly crafted in any way, as Scott Snyder has the golden touch with Batman, and his co-writers on many of the issues handle the task very well. Each issue serves a definite purpose, but the lack of flowing narrative hurts the collection as a whole. Looking at the issues as individual pieces, it is an enjoyable read.

If you’ve read the first five volumes of Batman and have a general sense of what Eternal is, you’ll find a lot to like in this collection. If you are a reader looking for a spanning narrative like Zero Year, you’ll find this volume to be far more disjointed and, in the end, probably less satisfying. Having read Batman Eternal and Batman up to this point, I found I enjoyed these issues more as I revisited them in this collection. Small details that foreshadow events to come are littered throughout and I have to applaud Snyder/DC’s long range planning on this series. When those small teases pay off down the line it is a very fun thing to experience.

A whole ton of artists have their hands in this collection but, for the most part, this is still the Greg Capullo show. His artwork outshines the best work in the rest of the collection (and as a whole this is a very well penciled hardcover) because Gotham really is his world now. I do not mean this as a knock on any other art team in this book, but Capullo’s work shines like the Bat Signal. Overall, this is collection is easy on the eyes. DC certainly does not scrimp with bringing in A-list talent on Batman, and it shows here. Capullo is a beast and his work is the tops of this collection, but Andy Clarke, Matteo Scalera, Wes Craig, Alex Maleev and others do not drop the baton at any point. From start to finish, this collection is easy on the eyes. Hell, even the cover is amazing. The tradition set in the previous five volumes of damn good art continues in volume 6.

Batman Volume 6: The Graveyard Shift by Snyder, Capullo et. al is a well written, well penciled volume when looked at as its individual issues. When read as a collection, it is rather disjointed as the time frame of what is occurring is rather all over the place. If you’ve been reading Batman to this point I certainly recommend this collection as it fills in some nice gaps and will set you up nicely should you choose to head down the Eternal tunnel or continue to Volume 7.

The Verdict: 8.0/10

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