Writer: Peter J. Tomasi (Main & Back-Up story), Pencillers: Sumit Kumar (Main), Eduardo Risso (Back-Up) Colour Artists: Romulo Fajardo, Jr. (Main), Risso (Back-Up) Letterer: Tom Napolitano (Main & Back-Up) / DC Comics
5th February 2020
*The following article contains spoilers for both Tom King's run on Batman (in particular the final ten issues) and for the current run of Batman. If you are planning to read these story-lines, please do so before reading the article below and remain unspoiled.
The Pitch: With new storm clouds brewing on the horizon, does Bruce Wayne have what it takes to honor his dearest friend's memory?
The death of a main character in comics, though often undone swiftly, can be a tipping point for many readers. It will make some jump-off the book. Others will find themselves re-energised and re-engaged with book, because they just can't believed the writing, art and editorial teams had the audacity to kill one of their favourites. Most of all, what a good comic-book death does is this: It makes us feel like anything could happen next. Roll that around in your head for a bit. The feeling that anything could happen next. It's the best drug in the pharmacy and the one least often prescribed in modern, big-two comics. The Batman books have been quite good and keeping their characters dead for significant periods of time. Once his dial-a-death was (ahem) executed, we didn't see Jason Todd again for seventeen years. Given the volume of batman stories told in that period (1988 – 2005), this is no small feat. I imagine the the temptation to use Todd again must have been overwhelming for writers.
IT’S GREAT TO SEE ALF IN HIS HEYDAY, RUNNING AOUND ON HER MAJESTY’S (TOP SECRET) SERVICE
Now we have another Bat-family death. Alfred, probably the series' most significant character outside of Batman, has met his end in Tom King's run on the main Batman title. I have to be honest. It didn't impact me as much as I thought it would. Partly because, at the time, I just didn't believe it. I was waiting for the fake-out. I still am in a lot of ways. It was only in Batman #86, during an emotional moment brought on by an exchange between Lucius Fox and Batman that I realised... this is probably it. Alfred is gone. So it's an interesting choice to have him back up and running in this well-told Annual, At least in flashback form. Once we get past the amazing cover by Steve Rude, we're in the Ukraine, back in the fifties, with Pennyworth on a secret mission for the British government. It's always a thrill to see Alf in his heyday, running around on Her Majesty's (top-secret) service. I've got a crush on this book on part because, well I'm just a jealous guy. I would kill or at least maim to write an Alfred series where his time as spy, saboteur and bounder is the focus. Alf is one of those characters whose past-life is in some ways more fascinating than his term as the Gentleman's gentleman to the world's richest Chiropteric fetishist.
It's only been touched on briefly in the 40-plus years I've been reading Batman comics, so it's great to see Tomasi and Kumar tackle this period. Tomasi creates a deceptively simple story, of Alfred's past exploits bleeding into Bruce's present. It also presents an interesting new character in the form of Marigold Sinclair, whom I'm hoping will become a regular occurrence in the pages of the regular book. The disintegration of Bruce's personal state, is nicely sketched, too (An untidy Batcave and a note from Damian being the nicest of those touches). Kumar's art has a nice, angular style and his faces are wonderfully expressive with some nice lighting courtesy of Fajardo, Jr's colours. Also worth the time is the back-up, showcasing Risso's beautifully squirming art, something I don't think we've seen on Batman since Wednesday Comics back in the Summer of 2009. This early-days tale incorporates Golden-Age Batman elements which are always interesting to see. And Risso's colours are tip-top, whilst offering a complete contrast to everything else in the issue visually. All in all, this is what single-issue books should be, great story, well-told, contained and yet offering the opportunity to build on the groundwork laid in it's pages. I probably won't ever get to write my Pennyworth series, no matter what damage I offer to do. But I won't mind if Tomasi and Kumar get there first.