This issue is fine. It's not Layman's most scintillating arc, but he wraps it up nicely here, as he usually does. Batman plays off Scarecrow's script long enough to discover his master plan and a way to undo it. I will say that I was somewhat skeptical that Batman's gambit would work; he presumably had less of the antidote than Scarecrow had of the toxin, making me wonder how it would not only manage not to be diluted by the toxin but be so powerful as to overcome it completely. I'm tempted to give the issue only two stars for that, but it would undersell the fact that it was still a decent issue. We're denied the fight with the Bat-family that we were led to believe would happen here, but Batman being forced to play nicely with Scarecrow to save them is actually more believable. In the end, it's Batman's lie to Catwoman -- that he didn't see a Gotham that not only was safe but where she was his crime-fighting and romantic partner -- that makes the issue, reminding us of the sacrifices that Bruce tells himself that he has to make.
I'm remarkably sad to see Layman go. Although he doesn't get the attention of Snyder, he, to my mind, has told the most consistently solid Batman stories of the New 52! He's the only one who's made any effort to tie in the events of other series into his own series, making this issue required reading for any Bat-fan, since it was the only one that conveyed the complex grandeur of Batman's world. I hope he turns up somewhere soon.
*** (three of five stars)
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