A new creative team takes over in Detective Comics #1,062 as “Gotham Nocturne” begins. Batman encounters a new supernatural threat and begins to feel something happening to him, and something dark rising. The lead story is written by Ram V, drawn by Rafael Albuquerque, colored by Dave Stewart and lettered by Ariana Maher. In the backup, Jim Gordon is hearing music all his own as he investigates a missing child in the ruins of Arkham Asylum. Written by Si Spurrier, drawn by Dani, colored by Stewart and lettered by Steve Wands
The story of the faux-Bane is finally revealed, as Mr. Bloom continues to play everyone against each other. Task Force Z #10 is written by Matthew Rosenberg, penciled by Eddy Barrows, inked by Eber Ferreira, colored by Adriano Lucas and lettered by Rob Leigh.
Batman’s night crossing a blacked out Gotham is nearly over, but he must rescue EMP from the sewers, and still face what is waiting for him on the bridge to Blackgate. Batman: One Dark Knight #3 is written, drawn and colored by Jock and lettered by Clem Robins.
Matt Lazorwitz: Freakin’ A, I wish we could go one week without paying tribute to someone Bat related in this section. This week, let’s raise a glass to actor David Warner, a tremendous talent who crosses over with two of our passions: Star Trek and Batman. He was Ambassador Gorkon in Undiscovered Country and the Cardassian Interrogator in the classic Next Gen episode “Chain of Command,” and was, of course, Ra’s al Ghul in the DCAU.
Will Nevin: “Chain of Command pt. 2” is an all-time classic, thanks in part to Warner’s performance. And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention his role in Time After Time, a film that — as we have discussed — both our dads like (and one that I need to rewatch as an adult).
Overture
Matt: Here we have the second of the big creative shifts on a major Bat title this month, and it’s a much bigger tonal swerve. The past couple Tamaki arcs leaned into the detective thing pretty deeply; even with the Psycho-Pirate stuff, “Shadows of the Bat,” was still pretty grounded in the mystery of Arkham Tower, and then we had the Riddler arc. Ram V is embracing some serious supernatural mystery here, plus some hints of Gotham’s secret history. I’m down for it; I trust Ram’s writing, but I was caught off guard, as I avoided knowing anything about this run until I picked up this issue.
Will: Same here — I passed on reading all the reviews (since I generally don’t read solicits) until I could sit down with it. But from what I could gather from the tone of the social media chatter, I think I’m maybe a little softer on this than everyone else online? It’s an intriguing start, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t feel revolutionary. But to be fair, that’s a high expectation for anyone starting out on Detective Comics.
Matt: Then I’m probably more in line with the general conversation. I really enjoyed this. It is a lot of setup, but it’s called “Overture” for a reason. I don’t think it’s revolutionary yet, but it’s a solid setup, and it is leaving readers with a lot of questions, which is important. If you don’t have a mystery at the heart of Detective Comics, you’re missing the point.
And Rafael Albuquerque kills this issue. The designs, the feeling of dread, the action? It’s phenomenal.
Will: The art is absolutely amazing, you bet. And thematically, I always like the idea of Bruce feeling like he’s too old or not in the shape he wants to be in to do the job — because we know how well he makes decisions when he’s in that spot. But now this is when I go for a soft spot: How did you feel when he referred to himself as “Bruce” in the narration?
Matt: I noticed that too, and while I don’t expressly mind it, I do prefer him thinking of himself as Batman, as we have discussed in relation to Batman Beyond. But that’s an interpretive choice, and it might not have even jumped out at me if I hadn’t just been watching and reading so much Beyond.
I was a little surprised that we’re getting hints of Barbatos again. Between Morrison and Snyder, I thought that well had run dry. But as stated above, I trust Ram V to find a new angle.
Will: If Barbatos is going to have a place anywhere, let it be this one. Maybe Bruce makes some Faustian pact? That would be a fun read.
Matt: We shall see!
We also get the first Jim Gordon story after the end of The Joker. I’m glad to see the art by Dani, but I’m not sure how I feel about the story. Jim ended that series at peace with himself for the first time in ages. Do you think boredom for a couple of weeks would really get the best of him to this point?
Will: You know Gordon can’t resist doing the right thing when no one else will. I loved everything about the backup — the tone, the writing, the lettering. That shit was my jam.
Matt: I just wanted more of a reason for Jim to be drinking that hard. I have no problem with Jim doing what he does here; that’s very in character. I just don’t see Jim going full on drunk after a couple weeks of feeling at ends. But aside from that motivational quibble, this is a solid backup.
Will: You make a fair point there with the drinking. But “solid”? That hurts me, Matt.
Matt: Give me next month without that quibble, and it can definitely graduate to top notch.
Interlude
Matt: So, at this point, Gotham has appeared more as a zombie than he has as a character, between this and the Tom King/Joshua Williamson Batman/Flash crossover, “The Button.”
Will: Someone other than King wanted to use Gotham! It’s a minor miracle.
Matt: Well, let’s be fair: Rosenberg needed a buff guy to buff up further who he could Kenny from South Park over and over again. Gotham seems to fit that bill pretty well because, well, no one cares otherwise.
Will: With that and Bloom, it feels like we’re getting the deep cuts of the last 10 years. Is it too late to get Abyss into the book?
Matt: Alas, we’re down to two issues, so probably. Still, we have plenty to work with. We get the story of how and why Task Force Z built faux-Bane, and more and more of Amanda Waller knowing this whole thing is rotten. And after we watched some Batman Beyond for the Patreon bonus podcast this week, do you have more of an appreciation for why everyone who watched that show knew Geri Powers was not to be trusted?
Will: Give me a little credit, Matt. I knew Geri was not to be trusted because I read “Superheavy.”
Matt: Ah, yes.
Is it just me, or does Mr. Bloom try too hard to be funny? Kieron Gillen does the wry mad scientist thing so well with his take on Mr. Sinister in Immortal X-Men (as did Jonathan Hickman and Zeb Wells in their books), that Bloom feels like a pale imitation. Especially when there is real humor to be found in some spots. Grundy’s “Don’t worry, Grundy is okay,” said quietly after he got hit by a van while Jason watches Bloom escape? Funny stuff.
Will: Bloom’s best moment in this issue is when he pulls a scalpel on Kirk Langstrom and says, “Don’t ever tell me there are limits to science.” There’s a certain … irony … there, but it’s not a laugh line. We know almost nothing about Bloom, but I think it’s fair to say he shouldn’t be Science Deadpool.
Matt: Yeah, I think he would be played better along that line. He should be cold, analytical and aloof. Everything is an experiment. Could you imagine all the Bloom minds in the different villains’ bodies in this issue just listing off pressure points or discussing the science of what is going on? It would be creepy.
Will: Bloom Fake Bane describing how Venom reacts with decomposing tissue would be … disturbing.
Crescendo
Matt: Well, One Dark Knight has wrapped after four months between issues #2 and 3 (and three between #1 and 2). I wish I had reread the earlier issues before I read this one, just to get some more of the details straight, but I think it still read pretty well on its own, if you knew the basic premise.
Will: It’s amazing how well the back cover ad copy serves as a recap page — albeit stripped of most of the important plot details, like the head of Gotham’s prisons being crooked and on a mission of revenge. But we didn’t start reading this for the story did we? Nah, we picked this up to see some cool-ass action and some great fuckin’ art. And on those terms, this final issue delivered.
Matt: Completely. I mean, the story is simple: Batman meets The Warriors. And here we not only get the various gangs we’ve seen, and the crooked cops, but we get Jock drawing a Cult of Croc and one of the biggest, most monstrous Killer Crocs I have ever seen. I usually prefer Croc to be a guy with a skin disease, rather than a monster, but this is out of continuity, and Jock draws such an incredible monster Croc, I am down with it.
Will: Hey, now, don’t forget the Samuel L. Jackson/Colin Farrell S.W.A.T. strain that’s also in the story with Batman trying to get a prisoner from Point A to Point B without getting blowed up in the process. When the story focused on that, it was fun. When we got bogged down with the father/son relationship stuff … it was much less fun. But if we read this in trade, those things would probably resonate more. Or at least, they wouldn’t be any more boring.
Matt: Absolutely. Due to the delays, the emotional arc felt stunted, both the father-son one and Warden Vasquez’s quest for revenge. Maybe if we had read that all together, she would have felt less mustache twirling in this issue, but without that, it almost feels like her dead family was an excuse to take this guy out and prove how tough she is. And no mention of the fact she left Montoya to die! I felt like that should have come back as well.
Will: Her plan resulted in the outright murder of a cop. Doesn’t seem like the sort of thing an audience is inclined to root for.
Matt: Nope, she’s a flat-out villain, and I kind of wish that was how she had just been played, with this being a power trip more than a vengeance one.
Will: “I am done wasting energy and money and lives on these superpowered scumbags. It’s time we started doing things differently here in Gotham.” There ya go.
Matt: I do have to hand it to Jock. He handled not just pencil and ink art on this, but colors, too, and the colors really pop. So much of this book was so dark (and logically; it’s a blackout), that this issue, with the fire from the explosions and EMP’s power surges, really stands out. These Prestige-Plus sized Black Label books, with their higher quality paper, are made for vibrant colors, so it was nice seeing that used to its maximum effect.
Will: Batman’s use of the phosphorus in the sewer fight was one of those moments in this issue — simply a great use of color and light … even if we did have a few too many panels here that were simply black nothingness.
Matt: Yeah, those three pages could have been used for more.
My only other quibble is that, while I like the end, with Batman’s narration playing up his relationship with Alfred, and drawing a connection between that and Brody and Oscar, that was thin, at least in this issue. Again, it might feel more natural and earned if read together. I’m looking forward to reading this as a whole for the podcast now.
Will: This and Joker. Although one is going up much higher on the Big Board than the other.
Bat-miscellany
- This week on the BatChat podcast, we’re joined by Rob Secundus to talk about three times Batman crossed paths with religion or creatures inspired by Judeo-Christian lore.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
