Batman #41 Review

Batman #41

Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mikel Janin
Colorist: June Chung
Letterist: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics

Review by Cory Webber

Batman #41 is part one of “Everyone Loves Ivy.” That’s right! Tom King is writing Posion Ivy! Pamela Isley’s influence can spread as far as vegetation will allow, putting the world at her fingertips, and she is going to give Batman fits.

Normally, you don’t want to see the same old villains all the time; however, you can’t ignore the touch King has put on any of the Bats’ established rogues gallery. Hell, he even made Kite Man a memorable and sympathetic character. So, to see that he is taking on Poison Ivy is exciting. In Batman #41, King displays the extent of Ivy’s powers and sets her up to be maybe his most formidable opponent yet.

Minor spolier alert…this story picks up on a thread first sewn in All-Star Batman #7, which saw Ivy give Batman an antidote to a disease spread by Mr. Freeze.

This issue is impressive considering it is mostly a monologue by Posion Ivy. Even more impressive is how tight the narrative is from beginning to end; there is not a wasted word, no filler at all. There is a montage displaying a sampling of who Ivy’s power can affect, and there might be what is the first appearance of President Trump, at least according to this article. Also, I found a sight gag involving the Flash to be clever and quite funny.

Batman #41 sees the return of Mikel Janin on art, last seen on duty for issue 32, the finale of The War of Jokes and Riddles. His art is just stunning here, in particular a splash page that is a closeup on Ivy’s face framed by her flowing, red hair. It is just gorgeous. There are some shots of Ivy setting up her lair that look amazing. It made me want to see Janin on a Swamp Thing Book, stat!

Now, go ahead and add June Chung on to that new Swamp Thing Book, because her colors are perfect. Again, the scenes involving Ivy are very pleasing to look at. Seriously. Swamp Thing. Now. And while we’re at it, include Clayton Cowles. His lettering is top notch. Not only were the word balloon placements and fonts just right, but the way the balloons were split up really aided in pacing the story at the right speed.

Verdict: Buy it!

This creative team behind Batman #41 is firing on all cylinders. This story arc shows promise of being King’s best yet. I mean, anytime you hear Bruce Wayne say, “I don’t know,” and believe it, you know you’ll be glued to each and every upcoming issue.