You know what… I’m not sure I’ve seen a better inker on Newton than Alfredo Alcala. The art this issue is exceptional. It’s so wonderful, it makes up for Conway’s leap off the judgement bridge.

The story itself isn’t bad. Batman is putting together all the clues about Rupert Thorne, as Thorne hires Dr. Thirteen to ghost-bust Hugo Strange. Then Batman has to just Deadshot out of prison, which I guess provides the issue’s action sequence.

For whatever reason, Conway writes it in second person, the narration describing each character’s thoughts to him (Vicki Vale doesn’t get that treatment). It’s absolutely horrendous. I think Conway’s doing it to get the tension up, since his lengthy arc is about to end… but it utterly fails.

Thank goodness for the art.

The Catwoman backup is genial. It’s got nice Gil Kane art and Rozakis’s script is fine. While filler, it’s got potential.