Batman: Black and White #5

Five more stories of Batman in black and white are presented in Batman: Black and White #5. The most interesting of the issue is the Choose Your Own Adventure style tale from writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie which pits Batman against both the Riddler and Killer Croc allowing the user to choose Batman's actions and jump forward to another panel further in the issue to discover the results. While the concept works better in print than digital, it's still a fun exercise (especially for those of us who grew up with Choose Your Own Adventure novels).

"A Father and Son Outing" offers a glimpse at Bruce Wayne's struggle to teach patience and the craft of making Batman larger than life to criminals. "The Man Who Flies" gives us a look at the city through the eyes of Nightwing, whose upbringing as a circus acrobat still colors his personality flying through the air with the greatest of ease. "Blue" offers a tale from the perspective of Harvey Dent's wife Gilda, examining her life both before and after the tragedy which created Two-Face. In "Signals" Commissioner Gordon chooses to act on a case personally rather than turning on the Bat-Signal and asking for assistance.

[DC, 5.99]

• Title: Batman: Black and White #5
• Comic Vine: link
• Writers: Jorge Jiménez, Lee Weeks, Mariko Tamaki, Kieron Gillen, Jamal Campbell
• Artists: Jorge Jiménez, Lee Weeks, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jamie McKelvie, Jamal Campbell