Batman: The Dark Knight 23.1
Special “Villains Month” Title: Ventriloquist 1
Gail Simone, Derlis Santacruz
Forever Evil Crossover
Spoiler alert! You have been warned!
Contrary to what the cover says, this is not a Batman: The Dark Knight issue. No, unfortunately it’s a really terrible Gail Simone Batgirl tie-in. Apparently I would have known this had I not dropped Batgirl a few months ago, but for some strange reason, when I drop a book, I literally stop thinking about it entirely. It’s almost as if it stops existing and the creator who caused me to drop said book has been fired. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
The story is crap. The art is okay, but it was an uphill battle as soon as I saw Simone’s name credited. The story is simple, and a better writer (which wouldn’t take much) could have executed this should-be creepy one-and-done tale of terror. The new Ventriloquist (what was wrong with the old one again?) lures a bunch of starving and scared Gothamites to her theater where she performs her act, which is actually pretty damn creepy, but it should be the beginning, not two-thirds through the book after I’ve already lost interest. Before she does so, she recounts her origin story, which is a total yawnfest and completely ruins the magic behind the original character. Was Arnold Wesker crazy? Or was Scarface really alive? Doesn’t matter, because the new Ventriloquist is apparently a telekinetic serial killer and her doll is in fact very much alive. She then kills everyone in the audience. And that’s it. The end.
Gail, Gail, Gail. Just ruining characters left and right, reminding me why I hate the fact that loudmouths like her are allowed to continue being obnoxious online while under-performing and being outsold by every other capable person in the industry. This issue was certainly not worth the extra dollar, so I guess if you’re a Simone fan (someone obviously is, otherwise she wouldn’t still be promoting illiteracy by continuing to write the crap she writes), get the regular cover. Or, you know, just save yourself entirely and send DC the message that Simone needs to go. Literally the only good thing about this issue is the Derlis Santacruz art. And even that’s not enough to save me from the embarrassment of having read (and wasted my time reviewing) what passes for writing in the magical world of man-hating, crybaby, “don’t fire me even though I suck” Gail Simone. I will say that it is better than the last issue I read by her though. Mostly because it didn’t actually ruin any characters that weren’t her own. I just don’t care enough to see what happens to them next.
My Rating: 1/5
