Batman is one of the most popular superheroes, so it’s no wonder that a lot of interesting comics with his participation are created. Will the second volume of the series based on Marika Tamaki’s script be successful?
Arkham Tower is going up
In The New Neighborhood, I liked the character of Roland Worth, a crazy father who wanted to kill Bruce Wayne and Batman because he blamed them for the death of his daughter. In addition, I was also interested in Bruce’s problematic situation. He eventually had to move out of the mansion, which also meant that instead of the batcave, Batman was holed up in the sewers. In fact, I hoped that these two elements would be properly exposed in the second volume, but it is quite the opposite. Roland Worth appears only for a moment, and his plot is neglected and resolved too quickly. It was expected that Mariko Tamaki would focus primarily on Vile and his parasite. But this theme was also extremely disappointing. I thought this idea would be expanded upon. I also expected dramatic plot twists and difficult decisions. After all, in the first volume, Huntress was infected! And well, from the second chapter we know that she is now healthy and back in action, although there was one minor complication, but somehow everything works out too easily. Vile as a villain also failed because his actions should have had a greater impact on Gotham, but the threat quickly passed. There was even a place for a horror scene, somewhat reminiscent of Lovecraft’s work, and on the following pages one character “snapped his finger” and the problem was solved. I really didn’t have high expectations for the second volume, but I’m still disappointed. It’s not tragic, because the comic is a quick and pleasant read, a lot happens and that’s all I can say. In my opinion, the author wasted the potential for an interesting story filled with horror elements.
Nasty red parasites
I liked the shots depicting parasites the most. These creatures looked great, especially in a larger group, although it’s a pity that nothing interesting came out of this idea in terms of plot. A psychopath with wings made of bones also looks great. The artist did his best to show how much work and time it must have taken for this psycho to create such an intricate structure from tiny chicken bones!
State of Fear was published in a softcover with flaps. At the end there is an afterword by the illustrator, as well as covers and sketches. As is usually the case with Egmont , this is a decent release.
Is it worth waiting for Arkham Towers?
What can I say, I didn’t expect much, but I got even less than I expected. I can’t complain about the lack of action, but I feel like everything was cut up. Most plots end too quickly, and the main villain turns out to be bland and quickly leaves the scene. For a moment, Mariko Tamaki suggested that it wasn’t over yet. And I almost believed that Vile still had an ace up his sleeve, but instead it was the nine of hearts. In my opinion, the biggest flaw of this volume is the terrible way the whole story is told. This could have been defended, but Mariko Tamaki probably wanted to move too quickly to the topic of Arkham Tower, which will be the focus of the third volume.