Written by Doug Moench
Art by Mike Manley; Bob Wiacek; Adrienne Roy; & Ken Bruzenak
Cover Art by Kelley Jones & Bob LeRose
SUMMARY:
Entitled “Blood Kin,” DC Comics published this grim KnightQuest: The Crusade tale for March 1994. At a grisly Gotham crime scene where a suburban family has been slaughtered, Jean Paul Valley/Batman is haunted by dueling ghosts: that of his father (the previous Azrael) and of St. Dumas, each demanding his allegiance. While the demented culprit feeds off bones at his own family’s crypt, Jean Paul realizes that it’s Arnold Etchison – the Arkham escapee/serial killer known as Abattoir –he’s after. It’s up to the new Dark Knight to intercept Abattoir before he next slays his unsuspecting cousin and a dozen orphaned kids on route to a snowy camping trip.
REVIEW:
Aside from Etchison’s adult cousin somehow missing the shock value news of his relatives being brutally slaughtered the night before, the scripting of Batman # 505 makes the best of Jean Paul’s rookie Batman. Case in point: writer Doug Moench plausibly conveys Jean Paul’s rudimentary detective work (i.e. heavily relying on the Bat-computer) building up towards an inevitable showdown vs. Abattoir.
While details of Abattoir’s sickening crimes are mostly mentioned/inferred (instead of thankfully not depicted on-screen), Moench still does enough to make readers flinch. Simultaneously, unlike plenty of lazy efforts by DC Comics in the mid-90’s, this issue’s art squad is very much on its game re: the visuals (i.e. the intriguing cover image).
The bottom line is that Jean Paul’s limited appeal (in addition to some icky plot details that should have merited a parental advisory label) relegates Batman # 505 among one-and-done reads from that era.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
There’s a two-page “Bat Signals” letters-and-answers column.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 6 Stars
