Batman #34

   In the wake of the successful (and long) "Year Zero" series, you might expect Batman to take a bit of a break with this issue - but you'd be wrong.

   It brings us back to the modern day and sets the Dark Knight against a monstrous killer who buries his victims in an already-filled graveyard.

   And other than attempting to provide us with a grim-and-gritty story of mass murder, this issue doesn't have much to offer.

   The art by Matteo Scalera is unique and interesting, but suffers by comparison to Greg Capullo's recent work on the title. There are some stunning splash pages, but is that really Gotham City that Batman is swinging over in that double-page splash? Looks awfully clean-cut and blocky to me.

   I tend to like issues when Batman gets to exercise his detective side, but we don't really see that here - he's trying to catch an unpredictable monster, but his solution is, frankly, silly.

   I guess I just don't understand this turn to dark, morbid stories that DC is pursuing. A few years ago this would have been a Vertigo title (page one shows a pet cat that has been drowned, for example).

   I'll pass.

Grade: C

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