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DC Editor Joey Cavalieri asked me the question every freelance writer dreams of hearing: “So, do you have any Batman stories you’d like to write?” My response was this three-part tale (issues 197-199) of revenge wherein an unknown criminal spends what’s left of his money and his life to pay Batman back for knocking him out with a Batarang years earlier. It’s a pretty good story, if I do say so myself, but what really elevates this one is the jaw-dropping art by Chris Weston. He’s drawn everything from Judge Dredd to The Authority to The Filth, and he really knocked himself out on this one, delivering an incredible level of detail that never becomes cluttered and always serves the story. I mean, just look at this single panel from the first issue:
The entire series is like that, beautifully rendered and expertly designed. (Plus, Chris is a great guy — when we were working on this, he called me, from the UK, on his dime, and we chattered for more than an hour.)
Footnote: Tony Isabella included this three-issue story in his 2009 book, “1000 Comic Books You Must Read,” describing it as …
“A suspenseful story about a criminal who served his entire sentence without escaping from prison and who now seeks revenge on Batman. What makes it more than just another vengeance tale is that they guy isn’t even on Batman’s radar.”