Batman: Urban Legends #1
DC Comics
Written by: Chip Zdarsky, Stephanie Phillips, Brandon Thomas, Matthew Rosenberg
Art by: Eddy Barrows & Eber Ferreira, Marcus To, Laura Braga, Max Dunbar, Ryan Benjamin
Colors: Adriano Lucas, Ivan Plascencia, Luis Guerrero, Antonio Fabela
Letters by: Becca Carey, Deron Bennett, Steve Wands, Saida Temofonte
Anyone who knows anything about today’s comic book landscape knows Chip Zdarsky has been setting the world on fire with his run on Daredevil. Of course, it’s not his first bit of success. But, his Marvel run only confirms his stuff is must-read material.
And did he ever double down on that notion with the first chapter of his Red Hood-Batman story, “Cheer.”
For the first time in a long time, it felt like readers got the real Red Hood back. Not only was that the result of Zdarsky’s writing, but also the artwork from Eddy Barrows and Ebner Ferreria, along with Adriano Lucas’ colors.
If you’re a Zdarsky fan that’s unfamiliar with Red Hood, you’ll still want to give Batman: Urban Legends a chance. If you’re a Red Hood fan, you’ll figure out pretty quickly this is a series that’ll be worth your time.
Batman: Urban Legends #1 also features a Harley Quinn-Poison Ivy story. If you plan to read Harley Quinn and Batman, you’ll want to read that. It appears this is more of an intro to that story than anything else.
Brandon Thomas is rightfully getting an opportunity to work more with Black Lighting and Katana. If you liked what he did with the characters throughout Future State, you’ll enjoy this — although, this Outsides story is only 10 pages long. Need at least a couple more pages of Marcus To’s high-powered action scenes.
Last, but certainly not least, Matthew Rosenberg is back at it with Grifter. The start of his five-chapter story, “The Long Con,” was a bit frustrating — but in the right way. Cole Cash is something else; this story was a great way to end the first issue of this anthology.