As Batman’s hunt for the killer in Gotham’s Rookery district verges on obsession, he dives deeper in, learning about the past of an erstwhile ally and leaving him open for the killer’s strike. Batman: Dark Patterns #8 is written by Dan Watters, drawn by Hayden Sherman, colored by Triona Farrell and lettered by Frank Cvetkovic.
Matt Lazorwitz: Happy Superman release day to you, Brother Will.
Will Nevin: Oh, buddy. It is literally killing me inside that you missed the Tuesday Amazon Prime (fuck you, Jeff Bezos) screening. All I’ll say is that it was great. Just some good shit. Totally different but … maybe as good as The Batman in its own way?
Matt: By the time you all are reading this, I should be sitting in my local AMC in the IMAX theater just waiting for the movie to start. I cannot wait.
Will: *vibrates in John Williams*
A Taste of Obsession
Matt: Every time I think this book can’t find a way to impress me more, it does. This issue has some really great thematic, plot and character angles. The fact that we’re in a Year One-era setting means the “Batman is obsessed with solving this one crime” thing, which is a worn out old saw when we’re dealing with a Batman who has been at this for a decade-plus, has a fresh taste. This is him still learning, and not really realizing what he’s doing to himself and to the city. And it’s also Jim Gordon seeing Batman going this way for the first time.
Will: I don’t want this done to death because it would get old quickly, but it’s kinda fun to root against Batman — to see what the other characters see and to hope he stops being an asshole. We probably see this most often in the “he’s pushing the family away again (again)” trope, but we certainly don’t have this here because there ain’t no family to speak of. You really do feel for Gordon, don’t you? How do you reign in Batman, especially when no one else can?
Matt: You really can’t, which is what we get here. Jim tries to talk to him, he just tells him the answers to the other cases Jim is concerned about, and he leaves. Which is a very Batman thing to do. Before we move onto some of the thematic stuff, it looks like we’re about to get some answers about Dr. Sereika, huh? We knew there was something up with him, but now a new character, our reporter Nicky Harris, has given Batman something to look into, something he doesn’t do because of his obsession with the Rookery death.
Will: And I like how that’s not paid off immediately. Not only does Batman not go to confront Sereika, but he also doesn’t give up the secret in narration. Like, that’s just a fun treat for readers. Again, it might get tiresome if overexposed, but it’s great here.
Matt: I loved the style on those first three pages with the newspapers. Hayden Sherman just finds new ways to make a beautiful page.
Will: And how about that little nod to Rupert Thorne? What an interesting little thread that may never come to be. Or could be integral to the next arc. Everything seems possible with this book.
Matt: So damn smart.
And what I think was incredibly smart, what I loved about this issue, was the reveal of our killer at the end. This whole series has been about home, about protecting your home, about dealing with changes to home. That is the pattern. The first story saw people who wouldn’t leave their home even when it was killing them, and someone fighting those who had poisoned his home. The second was about people willing to take up arms to protect their home. And now we have our third, about someone who so desperately doesn’t want to see his home change, he’s willing to hurt it, to instill fear in it, to change it back to how he remembers it, to better times. That is a theme that feels all too real in 2025. It’s all variations on a theme, but each story is distinct in particular ways.
Will: And, to some extent, it’s generational trauma (like everything else in Gotham). It’s this old gangster squeezing out the last bit of his life yet still finding a way to pass on a legacy of violence and intimidation to a new generation. Truly, a tale as old as time in Gotham.
Matt: That last page is incredible. The old man in his wheelchair with his oxygen tank, flanked by two kids who couldn’t be more than 13, standing over Batman’s body. It’s a bleak testament to Gotham as we know it.
I’m so glad that your concern that this might be a retread of what happened in the last arc was incorrect. And the idea that this is a corpse from decades ago is a very Batman thing. Justice, Batman’s justice, doesn’t have a timetable. Whether the person has been dead 20 minutes or 20 years, they still deserve justice. That is a Batman grace note there.
Will: I guess Bats has … two crimes now? Or, I guess the disinterred body is supposed to be what went into the dryer, but that seems a little implausible? I need to ruminate on that a bit more.
Matt: I absolutely read that as what was happening. This guy had his young Hoods dig up the corpse and put it in the dryer to once again inspire fear of the Hoods. It seems odd that the body would still have flesh on it after all that time, but maybe we’ll get an answer to that next issue.
Will: Yeah, feels like there’s some sciencing to be done, but as always, definitely on board for the next Dark Patterns.
Matt: If the one gimme I have to give this series is that a body didn’t decompose enough, that is the smallest of narrative sins to get a high-quality story.
Will: I’m thinking the box will be important. Or the soil. Or both. Watters will have an explanation.
Matt: We’ll just have to wait a month. And I am looking forward to it.
Will: On the one hand, yes. More story, more of this book, more of the disturbing secret (also, how bad does it have to be if it freaks BATMAN out?) of the good doctor. But also, a whole month? BOOOOOOOOO.
Matt: The bigger BOOOOOO is that after that, we’ll be starting the last arc. I figure that is where the story of the doctor and his dark secret will take center stage.
Will: An end to this series? Nah, I refuse to believe that.
Bat-miscellany
- DC’s biggest cinematic release in a long time hits theaters this week, so of course we’re tying in with three more Superman/Batman team-ups.
Buy Batman: Dark Patterns #8 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
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.
