Until reading this, my only experience of KGBeast was in the appearance of the character (pre-bondage gear) in Arrow. I assume he will become the deadly assassin on that show some day, as no character from the DC universe is wasted in that universe. If I had judged him as a villain based on his name, I would probably have dismissed Anatoli Knyazev outright. However he is in the same mould as Bane, before Bane came into existence.
The story starts on a beach, with several FBI agents being decimated by a single shadowy figure. We then quickly jump to an agent of the KGB warning about a rogue Russian agent who triggered something know as Operation Skywalker. This leads to a race against time as Batman, the FBI, the KGB and the GCPD all struggle to save 10 names on a list of people who are involved in a weapons programme which might eliminate nuclear weaponry.
KGBeast, the assassin, takes out these targets in a variety of bizarre ways. One of which is via a carton of orange juice which disguises a deadly poison gas. There are a couple of excellent fight scenes with Batman, where the pair match wits. Some of these genuinely had me worried for Batman's safety, crazy as that sounds, especially when he struggles to stop his fall from a rooftop.
There is a mystery to the proceedings as well; there is a leak within the investigation team which leads to 7/10 of the names on the list being taken out. This is the most Batman has ever failed to date, from memory.
I also loved the ending, as it showed Batman as a tactician as well as a fighter. He conceded that he doesn't always have to fight every fight.
A fun four issue volume, which introduced a villain who I would be interested in reading more of. But then, in another writers hands he might not be as well written. Jim Starling is another one of those writers who has left his imprint on the Bat, including a couple of famous storylines which are fast approaching.
Next up - The Killing Joke
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