By Andy Diggle & Whilce Portacio (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-619-1
Collecting the first six-part story-arc from the monthly comic book Batman Confidential, this impressive if perhaps overly-glossy high-tech adventure pits an inexperienced Batman against Superman’s arch-nemesis Lex Luthor.
During the first year of the Caped Crusader’s career, a prostitute is murdered in front of her baby, catapulting Batman into a hazy web of corruption and murder involving the US military and the shady world of corporate bidding for government contracts. Somehow at the bottom of it all is the financial monolith of Lexcorp. Can all the subterfuge, death and destruction simply be about money or has the wily billionaire another agenda?
Fast-paced, frenetic and concentrating more on gadgets and technology than mood or mystery, this sharp and shiny thriller from Andy Diggle and Whilce Portacio will perhaps delight the fans of the cinematic more than comic-book Dark Knight, but is an engrossing read for all that.
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