Redemption is a tricky thing, the desire to overcome your past and be the best version of yourself you can be. There’s something admirable in trying to be better, but sometimes there are difficult roadblocks to achieving this. Usually, it’s a fixation on something unachievable, but some degree of pride forces you to want to hit that lofty goal. Redemption is possible, but it’s easy to fall into old patterns. Many of the characters in “Detective Comics” by James Tynion IV have some level of redemption they’re hoping for, but many too have that unachievable goal. Ultimately, ‘Fall of the Batmen’ is an excellent look into a team plagued by hubris and miscommunication, and the consequences of those shortcomings.
“Detective Comics” #969-974Cover by Guillem March and Tomeu Morey
Written by James Tynion IV
Illustrated by Joe Bennett, Miguel Mendonca, and Jesus Merino
Inked by Salvador Regla, Ricardo Jaime, Marcio Loerzer, and Diana Eger
Colored by Jason Wright
Lettered by Sal Cipriano
After Red Robin’s return, things have been going well for the Knights. Stephanie has rejoined the team and crime has been lower than ever in Gotham. James Tynion IV begins ‘Fall of the Batmen’ with a successful sting operation against Killer Moth, as he attempts to build a team of villains to help protect each other from the Knights. The villains of the city are getting desperate, which shows that Tim’s system works. It’s smart to start the arc with a successful mission. It shows how much the team has grown and how well they work together. It also reminds us of what will be lost as problems begin to impact them. Gotham’s public is beginning to turn on the team because of leaked pictures of the Knights. There are concerns about Gotham having a private strike force, especially one with a team member who is a wanted criminal. The growing unrest is beginning to put the team at odds with the mayor and GCPD, but it’s nothing compared to the little things chipping away at the trust of the team.
‘Fall of the Batmen’ is a story of hubris and miscommunication. The biggest problem being Tim. After confronting his older self in ‘A Lonely Place of Living,’ Tim has found a new drive to make his system as strong as possible hopefully changing the timeline and not become the man he faced. The problem, though, is that in all of his maneuverings, he doesn’t realize that he’s falling into the same pitfalls of his future self. By dropping out of college and lying to Steph, he drives a wedge into their relationship. By working on expanding the team to include factions like The Colony, he is going above Batman and Batwoman’s heads and creating mistrust in the team. Tim’s obsession with making his future better seems to be having the opposite effect, even making him paranoid of those close to him. Joe Bennett’s art makes good use of closeups to convey the emotions of the characters, which is especially with Stephanie. In a conversation Bennett has her go from loving, to playful, to genuine concern. It’s especially interesting how Bennett draws Tim. There are moments where you get a real sense of him not understanding where the problem is coming from, a fit of confused anger from being confronted by his friends who simply don’t understand his vision. Tim’s drive to save the team is driving them apart. But there are other forces at play as well.
‘Fall of the Batmen’ features the return of the Villains Syndicate, now working with Anarky, to destroy the team. The mysterious First Victim has been making moves inside of Arkham, growing their forces both inside and outside of the Asylum. They were responsible for leaking information about the Gotham Knights to the public. Bennett’s interpretation of the First Victim is slightly more emotive than in ‘The Victims Syndicate,’ but in any case, the character is still a chilling mask of death. They are thrilled by the chaos they are creating in Gotham, overjoyed by the city turning against their hero. It’s even more interesting when your contrast their emotive costume with Anarky’s more rigid mask. As the arc continues, it’s clear that Anarky is beginning to doubt his resolve in helping The First Victim as he sees the promise of a better world was just a ruse to cause chaos and hurt more people. It was interesting to see the Villains Syndicate come back in such a major way, considering that most of the previous arcs seemed to indicate that Ra’s Au Ghul was making power plays, but it began to make sense why they were the major return in ‘Fall of the Batmen.’ They could manipulate an important member of the team.
While the Syndicate couldn’t convince Steph to join their crusade, they had another plan to dismantle the Gotham Knights, Clayface. Clayface has been a consistently interesting character during Tynion’s run in “Detective Comics,” a person hoping for some level of rehabilitation from the monster he has become. ‘Fall of the Batman,’ focuses on Basil as he discovers that Dr. October has potentially found a cure, which causes him concerns. What will his life be like when he can’t fight crime anymore? What if removing the external monster doesn’t remove the internal monster? Both October and Cassandra try to help him but his major shortcoming is that he seems to only want the approval of one person, Glory. This is all part of the Syndicates plan. In an exceptionally sad moment, Glory tells Clayface that she was only pretending to be his friend to remind him of what a monster he’s become, and then captures him and tortures him to unleash the beast. It was initially pretty shocking to see the way that Bennett chose to draw Clayface in ‘Fall of the Batmen,’ with soft round features and human eyes, a long way away from the glowing orange of other arcs. But that ultimately made it all the more tragic when Glory and the syndicate break him, transforming him into a true monster. When Miguel Mendonca takes over the art, he takes full advantage of Clayface’s power, creating a truly horrifying visage for Clayface. It’s a tragic story, made even more tragic when Cass tries to save them. Tynion takes advantage of all the hard work he did establishing their friendship to deliver a truly tragic finale. After Cass gives Basil the antidote, it’s not enough. He can no longer control his powers and Cassandra has to watch as one of her closest friends is shot by another ally. It’s a tragic ending and one that shows even the mightiest teams can fall.
‘Fall of the Batmen,’ is a difficult arc. It’s never fun to see a team fail, but even more difficult when a character trying so hard to be better ultimately is the source of the fall of the team. It’ll be interesting to see when Tynion goes from here, but it seems certain that despite Tim’s best efforts, it seems that a future he tried so hard to prevent is seemingly coming to pass.
