Broken Frontier

A well-spun transition piece from the Court of Owls saga to Snyder & Capullo’s next big Bat-arc.

“Ghost in the Machine” takes a break from the year-long excitement of the Court of Owls saga and introduces us to Harper Row and her younger brother Cullen, who have it tough living in the Narrows neighborhood of Gotham City, which billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne hopes to clean up by one means or another. After an encounter with the Batman, however, Harper becomes obsessed with him, intent on paying him back for saving her and Cullen from a dangerous run-in with some local hoods, and after discovering how Batman “ghosts” himself using the old electrical grid of Gotham City, she may inadvertently do more harm to the Dark Knight than good in the midst of his battle with the Court of Owls.

Of course, I have nothing but great things to say about Scott Snyder’s story in Batman #12. As usual, it’s wonderfully written, leads us in one direction, then twists us into a new and unexpected one more subtly than in prior issues and develops the character of Harper Row magnificently. (Kudos, of course, to James Tynion IV for his co-writing on pages 22 – 28.) My only pet peeve is in the artistry, mainly that two artists illustrate Batman #12. It took me a moment to get over the fact that I wasn’t going to find Greg Capullo’s iconic Gotham City here, but the two artists –– Becky Cloonan and Andy Clarke –– have such different styles that it threw me off by the time I got to page 22, where Cloonan ends and Clarke begins. Don’t get me wrong, though: Both artists are exceptional at their craft, but the varying styles made “Ghost in the Machine” read as two separate stories as opposed to a single stimulating tale of the Batman.