Forever Evil: Arkham War
DC
Written by Peter J. Tomasi, Art by Graham Nolan, Jaime Mendoza, and Scott Eaton
Dec 18, 2014 Web Exclusive
During the events of Forever Evil, DC’s most recent major event, villains take over in the absence of the Justice League. In Gotham, war breaks out between the prisoners of Blackgate Prison and the deranged inmates of Arkham Asylum. Bane returns to Gotham to lead the Blackgate army against the Arkhamites, unified temporarily and precariously under Scarecrow. Without Batman to maintain order, Gotham itself becomes a battlefield, with Gordon’s cops and innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
Forever Evil: Arkham War reads like an amalgam of far superior Batman arcs, No Man’s Land and Knightfall (both of which it actually references), with hints of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises thrown in. The Arkham escapees carve the city up into various fiefdoms (No Man’s Land), which they war over. Some of the players are new to the epic sagas that periodically befall Gotham (Professor Pyg wasn’t around for the No Man’s Land earthquake and aftermath), but the sentiment is the same.
Bane’s return to Gotham and attempt to wrest control from all the other members of Batman’s rogues gallery has been done before. Writer Peter J. Tomasi attempts an interesting turn of events, wherein Bane winds up assuming a bit of a protector role for Gothamites, but the psychology behind his motives is superficially scratched at best, and the rest is just rehashing of old (and more successful) storylines.
The events of the Arkham War story arc aren’t likely to impact the DC Universe monumentally, and even if they do, a short re-cap is all that’s necessary to feel caught up. Fans of sagas featuring multiple members of Batman’s rogues gallery will enjoy spotting villains in the pages (including surprise, albeit brief, appearances from minor characters such as Cavalier and Tally Man), but Forever Evil: Arkham War is nowhere near as enthralling as past ensemble Gotham stories. (www.dccomics.com/graphic-novels/forever-evil-arkham-war)
Author rating: 4.5/10
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