Publisher's Weekly Review
Eisner Award-winning designer and novelist Kidd teams with veteran Batman artist Taylor for a fantastic period piece about architecture, politics, and murder. Bruce Wayne is preparing for his father's condemned Old Wayne Central Station to be torn down and replaced by a new design. A falling crane signals that there are those opposed to the plan willing to take action. Wayne, as himself and as Batman, must square off against the beautiful and dedicated Cyndia Sil, who wants to see Old Wayne Central Station restored; Exacto , a costumed figure hoping to bring down corrupt union boss Bart Loar; and the Joker. While the story is enjoyable, what really shines is Taylor's art, mostly done in black-and-white, but with flares of pastel color that bring the pages to life. Taylor frequently uses alternate panel sizes to tremendous effect, from dramatic two-page spreads to a tiny eight-panel sequence along the bottom runner of a page. Only some slightly illogical storytelling at the end mars a beautiful effort that is clearly a labor of love for both creators. That aside, it's a solid, stand-alone adventure that Batman readers will love. Reviewed from a black-and-white galley. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Kidd's previous books encompass both graphic design and the graphic history of superheroes. It comes as no surprise then that his first narrative take on Batman is, more than anything, a marvel of incredible design. Credit for this must be shared with Taylor, whose vision of this dazzling Gotham City features realistic, breathtaking skyscrapers, an unobtrusive but wonderfully complex urban aesthetic, and the astonishing architectural set piece of a nightclub with a glass floor hovering dozens of stories over the city streets. This is all most appropriate to a superhero so inseparable from his stomping grounds, and the creators fill out this reimagined 1930s world with retro-modern bat gizmos and other nifty knickknacks while building a cinematic noir world with the subtlest use of color to swath their hero in comfortable darkness. The story itself, concerning Batman's investigation of a Wayne architectural legacy swept up in corruption and an architect's quest for justice (and an inevitable confrontation with the Joker), is absolutely functional, but snatch this one up for its extraordinary visual design.--Karp, Jesse Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
In an art deco-ish 1930s Gotham City, Bruce Wayne is spearheading a project to rebuild the crumbling train station. However, construction site "accidents," a beautiful urban preservationist, a power-hungry union boss, and the bigenerational legacy of the original architect all come down on Wayne's head. Both Batman and a newbie reporter try to investigate the accidents, and then the Joker introduces more chaos. This Batman take is visually gorgeous: Taylor's color-tinged pencils lay out sweeping period details with consummate skill. Well-crafted dialog, inventive gadgetry, and amusingly plausible architectisms like "patri-monumental modernism" lend texture, but famed book designer Kidd's story and characters don't quite gel. The villain's motives sometimes make no sense, the preservationist's beauty seems overly Botoxed (too much like the "sanctimonious snot" Wayne decides she isn't), and it's improbable that editor Osbourne, Wayne, and his valet, Arthur, would all have been ignorant of the long-term union dirty dealing. VERDICT The story succeeds artistically (the creators did considerable homework), and Exacto and the Joker come off brilliantly. But plot disjunctures weaken the overall presentation. For collections where Batman is popular or art overrides story. (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.