Batman’s Not So New Odyssey

During his time as an artist and writer, Neal Adams has worked on numerous series, including Green Lantern, Brave and the Bold and X-Men. However, he’s known best for his Batman covers. This makes his return to the character, this time in his very own series, “Batman Odyssey,” that much more notable.

However, while the first three issues of the series take you on a retro-ride with fantastic art, the story itself is a bit bland.

It starts off strong, with Bruce Wayne telling Dick Grayson the story of his first night as the Batman, gun in hand and a utility belt with not nearly enough goodies. This is easily the most enjoyable part of the first three issues and is reverted back to often through each. This spices things up a bit and creates a nice smooth pace. The only problem is that away from this flashback, Batman is way too chatty. Gruff and rude to everyone while under the cowl, he even calls Robin the boy blunder and kid. His nasty tone to the people he’s saving as well feels very different from the silent treatment or quick one-liners we’re used to hearing from him.

This element hurts the first three issues substantially, as the Caped Crusader doesn’t quite feel right. On the other hand, seeing him discuss his beginnings with Grayson has a cool “’80s sitcom montage episode” feel to it at times and ends up working. Through this, we see another side of the character that not many other writers would ever attempt to get close to. One scene in particular is a prime example of this, as Wayne, getting bandaged up by Alfred after his first night out, is complaining about how it went. Rather than rub his belly, Alfred is honest and lets him know he has to man up and ask more of himself. If Adams can find a way to convey this type of emotion while Wayne is under the cowl, the last ten issues of this series will be a blast. If not, it will end up being remembered more for its artwork than anything else.

At 69-years-old, Adams has seen a lot happen during his time in the industry and while his writing isn’t quite up to the same level as some of the younger writers in the business, his penciling is still fantastic and extremely fresh. Looking like he’s taken a page out of Todd McFarlane’s and combined it with his own, Adams’ work here is top notch. The fighting scenes are bloody and visceral, while the conversations between characters and shots of Gotham City are dark and grim, yet full of vibrant color. Again, while the writing feels like it’s from a book from 20 years ago, Adams proves here that he’s still got the goods.

As a result, “Batman Odyssey” may not go down as a great mini-series in comic book history, but it should serve as a notice to DC comics. Get Adams back on a series full-time if possible and let him draw until his hands get tired. With a unique look and plenty of pizazz, this series is one of the best looking out right now and despite the weak writing, can still be fixed.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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