Review: Batman: Blink

This is my fun read while on Vacation.  Because sometimes Pastors also need a break from heavy reading…

Dwayne McDuffie.  Batman: Blink. New York, NY: DC Comics, February 24th 2015. 168 pp.

4 out of 5

Purchase: Amazon

This volume is a reprint of some older Batman issues (the original work was not in 2015).  This book collecting Legends of the Dark Knight issues 156-158 and Action Comics 847 and presents two story concerning a blind character name Lee Hyland.  Originally I wasn’t going to read this book since it looks like “90s stuff” but it turned out to be better than I anticipated.

Actually the story telling was pretty good.  Mr. Hyland is a blind man with an unusual supernatural gift of being able to see through the eyes of others whom he touched.  You see how the character changes from the beginning of the story to the end.  I liked that.  I wish we saw more of that in comic books.  Lee was originally a grifter and in the beginning of the book he talks to the readers and explain how he does his identity theft by touching others and having the ability to access their sight and therefore eventually over time he sees their check books, bank account numbers, etc.  It happen that one time he bumped into a man that had an usual habit: he didn’t have a job but always had plenty of cash to buy things.  But Lee Hyland soon discover that this was a murderer for hire.  But who would believe a blind man if he went to the police?  Lee goes to the scene himself and stumble upon the corpse and the police arrested him yet they can’t explain how a blind man was able to know about the crime or how a blind man would be able to commit the murder.  Since Lee was taken by the police the criminal elements found out about Lee and now Lee’s own life is in jeopardy.  Fortunately Batman believes Lee’s own testimony that he can see through touching others.  The rest of the first story is Batman protecting Lee and also bringing down the criminal elements.  The first story ended with Lee Hyland taking a new direction of his life of living straight.

The second story is a four part story titled “Don’t Blink” and it involved Batman on the hunt to take down a criminal ring trafficking stolen babies.  He goes out to try to enlist Lee Hyland’s help but discovered that Lee’s taken away and enslaved by a rogue government agency for intelligence purposes.  The rest of the story involves Batman freeing Lee and also working with Lee to bring down the trafficking ring while at the same time dealing with those who would want Lee again.

I love the written inner monologue showing what was going on in Batman’s mind and Lee Hyland’s mind.  I enjoyed seeing their opinion of things; it also add to the drama of the story telling to know their own struggles, acknowledge their own missteps and their worries.  It was nicely illustrated and the storyline was even better.  I recommend this work.