You might not be aware of this but each week, DC is releasing its most adventurous, fun, and enjoyable book on the stands—digitally speaking—in Batman ’66. Although writer Jeff Parker concludes his brief Red Hood arc rather predictably in this eighth issue, his handle on the characters of this era in Bat-history is uncanny and lends to making this book just flat-out enjoyable to swipe through each week.
Having previously released The Joker from Arkham in hopes to lure out the elusive Red Hood, Batman and Robin are now searching for their arch-nemesis, who has—surprise, surprise—gone missing mysteriously. It’s not exactly a big surprise as to what is going on, and thankfully Parker is well-aware of this as he unravels the truth behind the Red Hood surprisingly soon into the issue. After that, Batman ’66 #8 becomes what we’ve all been waiting for: Batusi dance number! Kidding, kidding. No, Batman and Robin punch the bad guys.
In these infamous “Bonk! Pow!” fight sequences, Quinones art just radiates the vive of the entire book. His renderings of Batman and the Boy Wonder punching and kicking their way to enacting justice are just as marvelous as they sound. His little details are not to be ignored either. Whether it’s spelunking lamps with the logos of each hero on them or just a cardboard box in Joker’s lair with the word “WEAPONS” written on it as though it was scrawled by a child with a purple crayon, Quinones minor touches elevate the book that much further.
In scripting this book, it’s obvious that Parker has an admiration for these characters in this time period, and with every line like, “Keep calibrating the Bat-locator old chum!” this series gets better and better because of it. If you have the means to read comics digitally (and if you’re reading this review chances are you, old chum), then you owe it to yourself to pluck down the $.99 each week and just smile at what Batman ’66 brings to the digital landscape of DC comics.
NOTE: Each month, three issues of the digital series are collected in one print comic. If you’re frightened of the digital future or just want to hold this book tightly to your chest, go pick up Batman ’66 #2 (collecting digital versions #4-6) today!
RATING: 8/10
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Greetings true believers! John is the Comics Director of GNN and when he isn't reading books with pictures and made up words, he can be seen on twitter @thisjohnd or on Facebook. To contact him the old fashioned way, his email address is john.dubrawa@gnnaz.com.
