The Gotham City-related books have been largely responsible for keeping this whole New 52 thing looking so good for DC Comics, but “Batman: The Dark Knight” seems to be the oft-forgotten Bat-book that plays in the corner while everyone else dukes it out with the owls and the Talons and whatnot. Early on, David Finch’s Bat-book didn’t even feel like it was in the same continuity as everything else. After some creative shuffling, writer Gregg Hurwitz is getting his chance to leave a mark on the world of Gotham and he just may prove to be the right choice for righting the ship.
Written by Gregg Hurwitz
Illustrated by David Finch– BATMAN has been captured by THE SCARECROW, who wants THE DARK KNIGHT to be his guinea pig for the ULTIMATE fear toxin. Don’t miss revelations about THE SCARECROW’s past!
Hurwitz was most previously responsible for the New 52 miniseries “Penguin: Pain and Prejudice”, which proved to be a harrowing sympathetic tale for one of Batman’s most well-known and misunderstood villains. In the series, he showed a knack for making a ridiculous villain equal parts wildly cold and deeply tragic. He seems to be bringing a similar touch to this series, where he has been putting the focus squarely on Jonathan Crane, The Scarecrow.
Crane has Batman strung up on his wall, subjecting him to multiple doses of his trademark fear toxin while goading him into revisiting the painful past of Bruce Wayne. This is well-tread ground for the Batman mythos, and I’m afraid that Hurwitz can bring nothing new to it at this point. Hurwitz focuses on the role that fear played in Bruce’s childhood both before and after the murder of his parents, but none of it is very revelatory. With nothing new to say about Bruce Wayne, these sequences serve as little more than opportunities for David Finch to redraw classic Batman motifs in his own style. One wishes that a creative team like this would take some more chances and try to create a few iconic moments of their own.
Where Hurwitz does find some new ground to explore is in the character of Jonathan Crane. In response to his torture, Batman questions Crane about his own past, and we are treated to multiple sequences that take us through his life. Hurwitz has a way of writing characters who are decidedly villains, but who have clearly been damaged and misunderstood on their road to becoming the monsters that they are today. Not a single flashback is wasted in showing how Crane became obsessed with fear, thanks to things he was subjected to throughout his youth. Most importantly though, Hurwitz is careful not to lose sight of the fact that the Scarecrow has done, and continues to do, horrific things in the name of mad psycho-science. This is where David Finch proves to be a real asset to the book.
When he wants to, Finch can create impressive imagery with a technical ability that is among the top of the cape and cowl artist jet set. The key phrase being “when he wants to.” Before I shower praise on him for some of the great panels he comes up with in this issue, there are a handful of panels where his art is a little weird. It’s clear that Finch spent time getting the “money panels” right, but he let some of the other artwork fall a bit. The opening spread of Batman tied to the Scarecrow’s table with his huge chest spread across the page even made me giggle a little. Batman’s proportions just look off and it takes the focus away from the triumphant Scarecrow posing at center stage. That certainly wasn’t the intended effect.
That said and a few weird drawings aside, Finch is nailing the big moments in the issue. In his new design, the Scarecrow sports actual thread sewn through his lips to keep his mouth shut. As he speaks, the thread pulls at his lips and blood drips and splashes. It’s absolutely repellent in all the right ways. In Bruce’s flashback sequences, Finch seems to elevate his work to recreate familiar scenes and iconic moments; his perspective is a highlight here, as he uses close-ups and shadow to create a specific sense of cinematic motion to the events. In Crane’s flashbacks, he dials up the gruesome horror for a backstory befitting of a man who has sewn his own face shut. Nothing is held back as far as violence or audacity goes and it goes a long way toward helping you forget that the art is sometimes uneven.
For an issue that seems solely focused on pitting Batman and his fears vs. Scarecrow and his mastery thereof, we got something relatively satisfying. Finch does most of the work in selling the big moments, but Hurwitz’s subtle and dark touch is much appreciated on a book that felt out of place among its peers. As a series that is trying to find an identity for itself outside of the shadow of Snyder and Capullo’s series, it has some work to do. Hurwitz has such a keen eye for making legitimate threats out of oddball villains that it would serve the book well to get away from Bruce’s past and carve new territory. At least it’s become a Batman book worth keeping an eye on, which is more than could be said of it a few months ago.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Flip through it and see what you think, but this is definitely one to watch.
