Batman shows up in a Knight Terrors tie-in and guess what — much like his own tie-in’s conclusion, KNIGHT TERRORS: BLACK ADAM #2 is a dud as well.

Written and drawn by Jeremy Huan, the issue picks up with Black Adam confronting Batman, who turns out to be just the body of Batman possessed by Deadman. He explains that Black Adam is existing in an “in-between” world and he’s able to bleed through worlds. It’s an interesting concept that is quickly disregarded when Deadman is pulled away and doesn’t get brought up again the entire issue. Unless this gets explained in Knights End (the issue ends by saying it’ll be concluded in the finale), it’s a really puzzling plot device for Huan to introduce at this point in the story.

Huan tries to build complexity and force an historically egotistical Black Adam to confront the visions of his loved ones being tortured but it never really pays off. He ends up being more worried about his inability to control his powers and the need to regain a sense of strength. I never got the sense his struggle was for the purpose of others, even if the dialogue was trying to convince me it was. Emotional vulnerability is hard to express in characters whose entire gimmick is invulnerability and Huan didn’t achieved it here.

I was slightly more impressed with Huan’s artwork, though I wouldn’t go so far to say anything stood out for me. The heavy ink approach leads to some awkward facial expressions, but the depiction of Anubis sacrificing Black Adam’s was disturbingly intriguing.

Troy Peteri has a lot to work with on lettering given the number of characters who receive special text bubbles and the frequency of sound effects used. For me, Peteri’s work is the highlight of the issue though the overabundance of Black Adam shouting “SHAZAM!” so frequently, dilutes the impact of seeing it on the page.

As mentioned above, I’ll be interested to see how/if they try to tie this into the event’s finale. I don’t think this story can be saved or elevated for me, but if they don’t revisit the inclusion of Deadman in this issue it will make this story seem even less necessary.

Rating: 3/10