Batman #703: The Great Escape

The last Bat-comic published until DC starts their month-long Bruce Wayne - The Road Home two issue per week series, Batman #703 sets up the beginning of the new status quo by ironically being mostly a one-shot story. "The Great Escape" features the return of an old villain, the Getaway Genius, but the story mostly deals with Dick and Damian's relationship as "brothers" rather than as master and student. While Dick learns that he was more impulsive as Robin than he thought, and that Damian actually reminds him much of himself, Damian learns that his father is not the dark avenger of the night that he was raised to believe in. In a side story, Vicki Vale has inadvertently gained some proof as to the identities of the Bat-family, but the big question is will she really be able to prove everyone's identities? Knowing the way comics are written, she won't be able to prove a thing, but it's nice to see an actual intelligent woman with no superpowers who isn't dating or married to a superhero in a comic book.

Obviously, the big question is-is the comic good or bad? Well, it's mostly good. Guest-written by Fabian Nicieza, the regular writer for Red Robin, Nicieza tells a pretty damn good story of brotherhood, but the comic is "ruined" by the artwork. Like I complained about Red Robin's cover artwork, there's a lack of consistency in the models of not just Red Robin's costume, but Batman's and Robin's costumes as well. Red Robin's utility belt on the cover looks just like the belts on his chest, but in-comic his belt resembles the belt on the cover of Red Robin #16, which is also off-model. Not only that, but Red Robin's top is actually a jacket that the utility belt covers and feeds down to just above his crotch. Batman & Robin aren't horribly off-model, but they have three fins on their gauntlets instead of the canon two fins. This is particularly glaring because Batman is front and center on the cover and the first page with 2 different designs. While I blamed the editor for Red Robin's inconsistent appearance on the covers of his comic, this time I blame guest-artist Cliff Richards for getting Batman & Robin's gauntlets wrong and the color of Red Robin's belt wrong. The cover featuring the wrong utility belt on Red Robin is clearly the editor's fault for not making sure all appearances of Red Robin look the same.

Is this all just nitpicking? Well, maybe, but Cliff Richards just isn't that great an artist. At times Dick looks like he's balding, Damian looks like a girl, Vicki Vale is drawn to look the same age as Dick, and the coloring is just plain awful all around. I don't know whose bright idea it was to have him draw this comic, but thankfully he's only illustrating this one issue. While I'm no fan of Frazer Irving's art style, I'm practically begging for his art right now because he's consistent and always on-model. Overall, the comic is an enjoyable read, but the art is incredibly sub-par.

Final Score:     3/5