The Outhouse - The Greatest Comic Book Forum

[Punchy]

Although the entirety of this issue was set underground, it was probably the ASW that was most reliant on being set in Gotham City and the reader having a knowledge of Batman history so far. Hex and Arkham come across (and kill) a bunch of those weird Bat-worshipping Native Americans from Grant Morrison’s run. It’s a cool use of continuity, but to people unfamiliar with G-Moz’s stuff, it could seem to have come out of nowhere. And then at the end Hex faces off against a giant bat. Is this that evil demon? Barbatos? Probably not, it’s just a big-ass bat. I wonder if in the course of this series Hex will come across the Court Of Owls? That would be great. Apart from the Bat-tribe, this issue was great in it’s depiction of the horror that Arkham felt at being trapped deep below the earth, the scene where Hex threatens to just leave him was so creepy, and Moritat’s scratchy, earthy art was perfect. The Barbary Ghost back-up was good too, and I’m very glad that the character was revealed to not actually be supernatural. It was also surprising in it’s violence, the way the kid who attempted to avenge his father died was shocking. It’s great to have a story in a Western comic focus on the Chinese, I feel their role in the story of the West is sometimes overlooked in fiction. We need more people like Mister Wu from Deadwood. WU! SWEDGIN! COCKSUCKER!

[Amoebas]

Agreed - a great issue and the Barbary Ghost is not only a great character name, but a great little series!

[Stephen Day]

Although the entirety of this issue was set underground, it was probably the ASW that was most reliant on being set in Gotham City and the reader having a knowledge of Batman history so far. Hex and Arkham come across (and kill) a bunch of those weird Bat-worshipping Native Americans from Grant Morrison’s run. It’s a cool use of continuity, but to people unfamiliar with G-Moz’s stuff, it could seem to have come out of nowhere. And then at the end Hex faces off against a giant bat. Is this that evil demon? Barbatos? Probably not, it’s just a big-ass bat. I wonder if in the course of this series Hex will come across the Court Of Owls? That would be great. Apart from the Bat-tribe, this issue was great in it’s depiction of the horror that Arkham felt at being trapped deep below the earth, the scene where Hex threatens to just leave him was so creepy, and Moritat’s scratchy, earthy art was perfect. The Barbary Ghost back-up was good too, and I’m very glad that the character was revealed to not actually be supernatural. It was also surprising in it’s violence, the way the kid who attempted to avenge his father died was shocking. It’s great to have a story in a Western comic focus on the Chinese, I feel their role in the story of the West is sometimes overlooked in fiction. We need more people like Mister Wu from Deadwood. WU! SWEDGIN! COCKSUCKER!

I wasn't aware that they had appeared before and I didn't think they came out of nowhere. It makes sense that some people may have used the cave before Batman.