Title: Handful Of Dust

Writer: Paul Jenkins

Art By: David Finch & Richard Friend

Cover By: David Finch & Richard Friend

Release Date: January 25, 2012

Official DC Synopsis:

When a madman attacks Batman with a new and powerful fear toxin, The Dark Knight visits the coldest and most distant part of his soul. And as his deepest fears resurface, he must rely on old friends to help quell the terrible effects, and to remind him of his true mission as a hero. But what Batman discovers hidden in a moment of courage may change his life forever… for a dark figure from his past has returned – the one adversary The Dark Knight truly fears.

Review By: Tim

This really isn’t saying much, but “The Dark Knight” #5 is the best issue of the series so far. Now before anyone starts getting excited, and starts to think that “The Dark Knight” is on it’s way to becoming a good title, the problems that have hurt the series are still present. There’s still no real advancement to the overall plot, there’s still the same predictable formula of Batman taking on the villain of the month, and Batman’s dialogue still isn’t great. But the thing is, I actually had fun while reading this issue!

“The Dark Knight” #5 is mainly all action, and after the boring read that was issue #4, this was kind of refreshing. I say, if the story is not gonna be good, and the characters aren’t going to be well written, you might as well make up for it with some cool action sequences, and some great art. And that’s exactly what “The Dark Knight” #5 does.

The issue opens up with a cool fight between the Scarecrow and Batman, while Batman is also battling the effects of the Scarecrow’s fear toxin. The Scarecrow has always been my second favorite Batman villain after the Joker, so I may be a little biased as to why I really liked this sequence. But what I really thought was great about it, was the fantastic art by David Finch, which had some cool shots of the Scarecrow, as well as showing us what Batman was seeing while under the fear toxin. There were some really cool splash pages throughout the issue, but I really loved the one that was used for this sequence. This cool splash page showed Batman being surrounded by a good number of his different allies and enemies, all while he’s kneeling by the corpses of his parents. It was an image that was both creepy and cool at the same time.

This issue does get predictable at certain points, as I knew right from the start that Batman would eventually get all bulked up like the other villains once he become exposed to the fear toxin. But what I didn’t expect, was to see who he was actually going to be fighting while all he’s all bulked up. Superman! Again, this follows the same patterns of the previous issues, where it seems like all David Finch and Paul Jenkins are trying to do is cram in every big name into this story, but man, this was a cool fight! We get some more great splash pages, with some cool shots of Superman, and both characters got some cool attacks in. I also liked how the fight, and the overall issue ended. It was a cool moment for Superman, and it ended with a cliff hanger that was actually different from what the previous issues have been doing, which was just showing us who the next big villain Batman would be fighting in the next issue. But this ending actually made me want to see what was gonna happen next.

If had to sum up “The Dark Knight” #5 in just one word, it would be “fun.” I’m not gonna say that the series had turned the corner or anything, but we finally got an issue that was at least enjoyable and entertaining to read through. While I’m still waiting for the overall plot to develop into something interesting, and Batman’s dialogue still seems off to me, I can now say that I actually enjoyed an issue of David Finch and Paul Jenkin’s “The Dark Knight.”

Score: 3/5