CREDITS: Written by Scott Peterson; art by Tim Levins and Terry Beatty.
REVIEW: This mystery is a little hard to follow because there are so many different factions involved and you're always sort of trying to catch up (whereas Batman knows his turf quite well), but I do applaud Peterson's focus on detective work in the ±real world more than action pieces with colorful supervillains, AND this one has a neat twist, after all.
The idea is that there's really no good reason why Sven Svenson (so he's a Jr., essentially) would have been marked for a frame-up when, in a mobster's death, there's plenty of actual suspects who could fit the bill. His plight sends Batman to the star witness in the case, then to various criminals, and back, and finally, Batman comes to the conclusion that Svenson DID do it, but arranged to be cleared by the Bat by seeding reasonable doubt (for him) in his mind. After he is caught and more years are added to his sentence, it's quite amusing to hear the other inmates tease him about trying to outsmart the Batman. Like, don't. Just don't.
As usual, periodic silent sequences offer a little action in between interrogations and deductions - nice bit with Batgirl fighting in the background of one of those - and there's a nice shtick about Batman using the shadows inside the prison to effectively disappear. His intimidation skills are delightfully on point.
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