Book Review: Batman: Arkham Knights vol #1

Book: Batman: Arkham Knight volume #1 (issues #1-6) by Peter J. Tomasi with illustrations and color by various artists

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This was better than I hoped it would be. With the Joker dead you would think that Gotham would start to quiet down but then again it is Gotham city and there will always be a good amount of villains up to something.

Now that Arkham City is closed, Bruce, encouraged by Alfred, has decided to create a new program to help rebuild the embattled Gotham city. He is asking some of the most influential residents of Gotham to not only pledge their finances but their time as well to get the city back on track.

Bruce's days are spent trying to help reassess the city while his nights as Batman are filled with nothing but trouble.

Harley's out of prison, well, that's thanks to Batman (long story short he needed to find an antidote for Commissioner Gordon and Harley was the only one who knew where to find it) and now she's working with The Penguin (who is also trying to find The Scarecrow) to try to stop Bruce Wayne's plans to "take over" the city. Meanwhile, there is this masked man (whose mask resembles Batman) going around killing villains but his main agenda is to get rid of Batman. However, a couple of dimwits on the police force seem to think Batman is the one responsible for all the killings.

There is so much chaos throughout the city both day and night that it's probably not the best time for Bruce and Lucius Fox to head to Germany. Bruce is going there under the guise of talking to potential investors for Gotham City but Batman will be there to work with one of best car designers to get a new Batmobile.

This was a fast paced action packed story and the way it's written one doesn't need to have played any of the Batman Arkham games to figure out what's going on. I like that Oracle was included even though it was just her voice, perhaps in the second volume she will actually be shown. Tim Drake got a small cameo but it was still nice to see the character. Alfred Pennyworth and Lucius Fox surprisingly was shown quite a bit.