Rating: ***

This months issue of “Batman: Confidential” is a continuation of the first appearance in comic book form of the 60s television show Bat-Villain King Tut.  As I mentioned in my post on part one of this storyline, this King Tut is different in appearance than the one on television show.  Which is fine, since today’s Batman doesn’t really need to fight a big fat guy.  He’s got the Penguin for that.

To recap, employees of the Gotham City museum are being targeted by Tut. He’s speaking in riddles as he commits the crimes, which results in the Riddler wanting to take him down just as much as Batman.  So much so that the Riddler escapes from Arkham to take Tut out .

The artwork provided for this storyline is done by veteran artist Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez.  I wasn’t reading DC back when Garcia-Lopez was at his peak, but it’s nice to see him get some work at his age (He’s 60).  It’s too bad veterans like Jose aren’t getting more work.  His work reminds me of when I first started reading Batman when Jim Aparo was the main Bat-artist. 

The story is very good and has some great moments - particularly between Batman and the Riddler. A good battle of wits between the two. In one scene Batman and the Riddler are investigating the King Tut case at Gotham Central and they are talking about Egyptian history and the Riddler is firing off all of this information and then Batman chimes in with some information of his own and he looks at the Riddler and says that he doesn’t just hit people - meaning he also has a brain under all that brawn. Great scene.

This version of King Tut is similar to his TV counterpart in one respect in that both characters end up “becoming” King Tut after hitting their head. We find out that the museum didn’t want to bring a King Tut exhibit to Gotham because of the high crime rate - especially since the Riddler has stolen from the museum numerous times in the past. King Tut aka Dr. Victor Goodman was arguing with the museum board over their decision to not bring the King Tut exhibit to the museum.  He gets into a physical fight with one of them and ends up bumping his head.  He immediately begins thinking he’s Tut.  Not the most scientific and believeable origin by today’s standards, but it is a comic book.

The ending is a typical comic book ending and to that of an old serial from back in the 30s where are heroes are trapped by the villain, an explosion happens, and it appears that they have died. I think it’s safe to say Batman found a way to save him and the Riddler.

Looking forward to conclusion of this story and I’m absolutely loving the “Batman: Confidential” title right now. I was happy to see that the team of Andrew Kreisberg and Scott McDaniel are returning to do a sequel to their Joker storyline. This one focuses on the cop whose wife killed herself thanks to the Joker. I’m looking forward to that as well. Great job DC!  Keep it coming!