Anne's Reviews > Batman: The Dark Knight, Volume 4: Clay

My good old Pappy Jeff is always going on and on about respecting the opinions of my elders. Or maybe he's saying he's hungry, and wants some Spam? I'm not really sure. He's old, so I sort of tune him out a lot...
Anyway, he was rambling on (as the elderly do) about how this was pretty good.
And wouldn't you know it? The old fart was right!

So, Clay is a pretty obvious reference Clayface.
The Batman villain with the malleable skin and lumpy appearance?
You know, sort of looked like a dog turd with a mouth?
Yep. That's him!
Ok, in the past, his powers haven't exactly given Batman a run for his money.



Clayface would rob a bank, take some lovely damsel hostage, or break into a museum to steal...something old like Jeff or priceless like me!, and Batman would show up with a (Bat-themed) garden hose and wash him down into the sewer system.
At that point, he'd just hole up with Killer Croc till the heat died down.
This time around, Clayface is a bit more of a challenge.
And I've got to admit, I liked it!
How do you stop an enemy who can become anyone?



No! Whacking him in the head DID NOT work. Try again, loser!
I'll give you a hint:
It involves a giant bug jar made of rainbows and pseudo-science.
Regardless, it was a decent re-imagining of this character's origin.

There's also an issue without dialogue about human trafficking, that has a powerful message.
Don't try to skimp on legality when immigrating to another country. Unless you sneak into Gotham. Then it'll be ok, because Batman will kick the shit out of the dickhole abusing you (and hundreds of others), and you'll be reunited with your sick child. And given a job at Wayne Enterprises.

Alrighty.
Man-Bat gets a makeover in this one!



He's still a Langstrom, just not the one we're used to. He's evil.
Like corporate pharmaceuticals evil.
*shudder*
Again, it's a decent story.

So, other than the usual 'didn't like the scratchy art' complaint, I liked this volume. It didn't change my world, but I have no problem with anything.
Recommended!