Review: Batman Vol. 9- Bloom

February 12, 2018October 11, 2019 ComicBookWire

Pros: The Bruce Wayne portion of the book is great. Bloom continues to be a fantastic and compelling villain. The book’s conclusion is epic and full of excitement. The artwork is all beautiful.

Cons: The Jim Gordon portion of the book is a bit disappointing. Suspension of disbelief is pushed further than ever before.

Overall: Though not the best Batman story of all time, this is still a fun and meaningful adventure through the life of the Dark Knight. Moments of intense action mix with moments of serious reflection to create a book that fits Batman’s character perfectly. This collection starts a new era in Batman’s life and, in doing so, says goodbye to the old era. Fans who have been following along thus far will be pleased and excited to see what the future brings.

Story

Batman Vol. 9: Bloom is a book that stumbles in a few places but ultimately ends up being a worthwhile and exciting conclusion to this era of Batman. Scott Snyder tells a story that digs deep into who Batman is and what his relationship with Bruce Wayne has to be. However, he also finds plenty of ways to fit in all the action and suspense that fans of the Dark Knight crave. There are a few flaws which prevent this collection from being as good as some volumes before it, but otherwise this is a solid volume that any fan can enjoy.

(spoilers start here)

Most of this book is divided into two storylines, one following Jim Gordon and the other following Bruce Wayne. The Gordon storyline is a bit of a disappointment, especially for those who went into this volume expecting Gordon to be just as exciting as he was in Batman Vol. 8: Superheavy (Review). His skills are minimized, his Batsuit is trashed, and his role in the story becomes more minor than before. Gordon’s blossoming career as Batman was cut short just as it was starting to get interesting.

The Bruce Wayne storyline though, is a lot better. Here readers are treated to an in-depth look at the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Batman. Snyder explicitly explains how Bruce Wayne must die in order for Batman to live and does a fantastic job in getting this message out. Flashbacks, dream sequences, and an encounter with an amnesiac Joker all solidify the point and make the final decision even more emotional.

As the collection nears its conclusion, both of these storylines coalesce as Jim Gordon and Batman take on Bloom together. This portion of the story is great and has all of the off-the-walls action and excitement that any Batman fan could ask for. It also has a nice message about why Batman is the hero Gotham needs and why establishing a police force version of the Dark Knight is not the right thing to do. Though not as deep and meaningful as the Endgame (Review) conclusion, this is still a great way to welcome a new era for this series and a nice way to end this current arc.

It is also worth noting that across each of these separate portions of the book, Bloom always manages to be a terrifying and fantastic villain. He is physically intimidating, creepy in terms of design, and brings his own unique message to the fold. Bloom ends up being one of the best parts of this book and will surely go down as one of the more memorable aspects of the story arc.

However, the book is not all positives, as numerous logical jumps are made in order to tell this epic saga. Some of the jumps involve heavy coincidences, like Duke and Julia discovering Batman’s secret identity at just the right moment, while others involve seemingly unbelievable aspects of the story, like how Bloom has nearly every superpower ever or how the police department’s robots were able to change into Gotham’s villains. Every Batman story involves some suspension of disbelief, but this one stretches it a bit further than before and hurts the story a bit in doing so.

(spoilers end here)

Art

As always, Greg Capullo’s work looks fantastic and is one of the best aspects of this collection. In particular, Capullo’s pencils and FCO Plascencia’s colors complement each other perfectly and help deliever the ideal tone for every page in this book. Moments where Bloom is threatening people are dark and serious, while moments where Bruce Wayne is in quiet reflection are quiet and somber. Setting the tone like this makes for a more enjoyable reading experience and significantly helps this collection as a whole.