Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure
War Games: Prologue
Writer: Devin Grayson
Pencils: Ramon Bachs
Inks: Raul Fernandez & Rodney Ramos
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: 12 Cents

This review contains spoilers.

While ?The 12 Cent Adventure? is the ?Official? prelude to War Games, many of the events of this issue were set in motion in the Batman family of titles over the last couple of months. But don?t worry. You don?t need to have read what has come before to understand what?s going on. Grayson does a good job of gathering all of the plot points together, streamlining them, and sending the story forward.

The story opens with Spoiler (Stephanie Brown was fired from her brief tenure as Robin for disobeying a direct order from Batman in ?Robin? #130 two weeks ago) surveilling a meeting of Gotham crime figures. It?s small at first, Junior Galante, accompanied by his new bodyguard Zeiss and Orpheus and Onyx from the ?Hill Gang,? but Spoiler knows she?s onto something.

Before long, Spoiler realizes she?s onto something BIG. Penguin and Deadshot arrive, Lew Moxon and Hellhound, The Ventriloquist and Scarface, the Russian Odessa mob, the Yakuza, the Latino Unified Gang, the Escabedo Cartel, Kwan Lin of the Triad and Silver Monkey by the time the arrivals cease, virtually every player in Gotham?s underworld is represented. Spoiler is getting a little worried about being in over her head.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is attending a hospital benefit for a Dr. Grall, who has invented ?A more efficient particle accelerator device for positron emission tomography? and whom survives solely on grant money. The benefit doesn?t stay peaceful for long, though, as Kobra terrorists suddenly repel into the room.

Bruce heads to the basement to switch identities and summons the Batmobile via remote control ? hoping a splashy entrance for Batman will take attention away from a missing Bruce Wayne. He crashes the Batmobile into the lobby and then stealthily tracks the Kobra operatives. When the time is right, he strikes, gassing the hallway and emerging from the smoke swinging.

Batman makes short work of the Kobra soldiers then goes after Dr. Grall. He confronts Grall with the fact that the Kobra?s knew exactly where the radioactive isotopes (which we?ve learned they?re trying to procure for a ?dirty? bomb) were in the hospital. They headed straight for them. Something they could have only done with inside information. ?How much did they pay you for the information?? Batman asks. ?Was it enough to make it worth risking every life in this Hospital?? But Grall is looking a little worse for wear, disintegrating before Batman?s eyes. He tells Batman that Kobra has changed, ?There is a new leader. This is just the beginning,? he says as he dissolves to nothingness.

Back on the rooftop Spoiler watches as tensions mount between the crimelords on the street below. Some of the gathered bosses aren?t too happy to see each other and tempers begin to flare. ?What am I doing here?? Stephanie says to herself. ?Funny, I was just about to ask the same thing,? says a voice from behind her. She turns to find Catwoman, who had been following Gallante. Catwoman tells spoiler that she?s surprised that she got clearance to watch the meeting. Spoler tells her that she didn?t. That she just happened to be there and she?s no longer affiliated with Batman.

As they continue to watch, Catwoman tells Spoiler that she might want to go ahead and call Batman in. ?If one spark goes off in that powder keg?? The words have barely fallen from her lips when one of the mobsters, Crown, starts to draw a firearm. As he draws, everyone else draws and a free for all breaks loose. Orpheus and Onyx quickly flee the scene as bullets fly everywhere. Catwoman tells Spoiler to call Batman before it gets worse and then leaps away, ?I?ve gotta clear outta here before someone decides this is all MY fault.?

But it?s too late. The damage is done. Penguin, Deadshot, Zeiss and Scarface are all visibly alive after the shots cease, but many of the others don?t appear to have fared as well. As Spoiler looks down at the dead and wounded bleeding in the street she realizes she is truly alone. She thinks about how Tim, Robin, could have prevented the massacre. As she stands feeling useless and helpless she takes off her cowl and stands, sad eyed. She takes the list of mobsters she?s been compiling, lights it aflame, and casts it to the wind.

The issue is, for the most part, written as a ?Spoiler?s War Journal? entry in Stephanie?s ?voice.? While she watches and waits, she thinks about losing the Robin job. She starts out angry, defiant, but as the issue progresses more and more self doubt begins to creep in until she finally begins to wonder if she?s worth anything at all. While there?s a lot of action in the book, the narrative also interweaves a lot about what it means to be Robin and what it means to be Batman as well.

I?ve always found characterization to be one of Devin Grayson?s greatest strengths as a writer and she doesn?t disappoint here. Through Stephanie?s journal entry we get a good insight into her thought process as she transitions from being angry about losing the Robin job to understanding exactly why that happened and making the connection that confidence and competence are not the same thing. The artwork by penciller Ramon Bachs and inkers Raul Fernandez & Rodney Ramos fits the story nicely. The layouts are dynamic and manage to cram a lot of visual information into a relatively small amount of space without feeling too cramped. Some of the character detailing occasionally reminded me of the work of Scott McDaniel.

The iconic cover image by Cameron Stewart reminds me a bit of the classic cover image of Batman in the spotlight from Batman #9 (which was so cool they reused it again on Batman #16) but with a modern flair. It?s definitely eye catching and I?m not sure who could resist picking up a copy at the 12 cent cover price.

?Batman: The 12 Cent Adventure? offers a promising start to ?War Games,? but we?ll have to wait and see if the rest of the event delivers on that promise.

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