This is one of those books that require some context to be fully understood. From the start we follow two story lines - main one with Bruce Wayne waking up in asylum for criminally insane and finding his world shattered, and second one with Batman trying to solve a mysterious case of markings popping out all over Gotham City (set before the main story line). That being said I think that second story line (mysterious markings) hits the wall very soon, and while there was quite a discovery at the end of it I do not see it playing any role in the main story line (except as the yet another downer for the Batman).

As story progresses (dont want to ruin anything to anyone) we are shown events that somebody who reads DC universe will identify and link, while for me these side-elements look like somebody crosses the x's and dotting the i's on a superhero/location checklist. They are nice to see (art is very good) but play no role.

Story itself is rather dark one (this seems to be the thing now) and a little bit all over the place. Some parts are much better than others (episodes in Arkham Asylum and with Luthor were the best in my opinion) but in overall this was interesting book for me.

Art is very good and consistent throughout the book and this was an additional point for the book.

Recommended if you are interested in DC and Batman in general but keep in mind that some foreknowledge is required. ( )

Read in serialized form.
Wow. This was a mindfuck. I don't exactly buy the premise, and there is a bit of a disconnect on just why the world ended up the way it did in such a short amount of time, but handwavium comic book logic. But damn, was this something I could not put down. ( )

The back cover blurb calls this tale “a sprawling quest.” I’d call it a sprawling mess. This reads like Scott Snyder was reaching into a grab bag of unused Batman plot ideas to squeeze out one last “New 52” era Batman story, which is a real shame as he’d previously produced some outstanding Batman story arcs. I think the worst part is that this take just provoked frustration after frustration as none of the ideas presented are fully explored. ( )

A bloated mess of a book that serves up a dumb Batman/Joker road trip mixed with clones, a post-apocalypse dystopia, and Jack Kirby's Fourth World crap.

Why does this exist? ( )