This issue is a great example of how the need to tell multiple stories in one issue can unnecessarily weigh down the interesting stories. We learn that Rex Calabrese is Selina Kyle's father in this issue as he pleads with her to take up her position as the head of the Calabrese family to win the gang war tearing apart Gotham. This revelation merited a full issue to explore it properly, but Snyder and Tynion are forced to share the issue with Batman's fight with the Architect. As a result, we're left wanting more from both stories. Why does Calabrese care if innocents die in the gang war? Are we really supposed to believe, as he told Commissioner Gordon in a previous issue, that he's a man seeking redemption for his crimes? How exactly would Selina be able to take over the Calabrese family? Who's running it now? Also, aren't we supposed to believe that Carmine Falcone is her father? In terms of the Architect, was his goal in destroying the Beacon really only based on professional rivalry with its architect? What role did it play in Hush's plan? Since Hush seemed prepared for Batman to arrive the last time that we saw him, does it mean that he expected Batman to save the Beacon and unknowingly set off the earthquake in the surrounding area? If not, what was his original plan? Snyder and Tynion complicate matters further by implying that these events are connected to the Arkham haunting and the Narrows virus, but, again, it's wedged into the last page, in a conversation where Bard tries to get the Mayor to declare martial law. Too many questions, too little time.
** (two of five stars)
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