Written by Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins
Illustrated by Trevor McCarthyWhen a mystery as old as Gotham City itself surfaces, Batman assembles a team of his greatest detectives — including Red Robin, Owlman, I-Ching and others — to investigate this startling new enigma. As clues are discovered and the mystery deepens, Batman’s team soon finds itself on a journey that explores different eras in Gotham’s history and touches upon notable Gotham families including the Waynes, Kanes, and Elliotts.
This miniseries spins out of recent events in the Batman titles and sets the stage for several exciting storylines in 2011. Additionally, this limited series touches upon mysterious story elements introduced in Grant Morrison’s RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE. Featuring many exciting Batman Family guest stars!
I’ve been a devoted fan of Scott Snyder’s Detective Comics, praising the run for Snyder’s mastery of characterization and tone. Apparently I’m not the only one who has been loving his work, as DC’s latest Batman miniseries is co-written by him and Kyle Higgins, and deals with Gotham City’s mysterious past. It’s certainly on a larger scale than Snyder’s more street-level Detective, but does that harm the book? Find out after the cut.
I try to keep this on the down-low, but I came into comics as a massive Batman fanboy. As such, I’ve read a lot of Batman comics in my day. A lot. So, when I heard that Snyder and Higgins would be co-writing a mini that explores Gotham’s past, I was incredibly excited. Writers such as Doug Moench and Grant Morrison (everything from Moe to Mor!) have helped flesh out Gotham’s illustrious history, but Snyder and Higgins want to do more than that. The first four families. The gates of Gotham. Gotham’s first super villain. How are they all tied together? It’s an exciting premise, and with the creative team attached to it I would have purchased all five issues at once if I could have.
That being said, there wasn’t much time spent in Gotham’s past this issue (which is what I was most excited to see). That’s okay, though: the intro, set before the construction of Gotham City’s three great bridges, conveys enough information to get readers interested and inform them of the significance of what happens next, and hints at enough things going on behind the scenes to keep the readers hooked. The jump ahead to the present day only entices further: suddenly, we’re in the middle of a whole bunch of excitement, and that excitement seems to have something to do with what we were reading earlier (well, more than seems, it absolutely does). Already, the reader can see that there’s a conspiracy at work, and the fact that the characters involved cannot see what we can only pushes us on – especially since we don’t know the whole story. Dramatic irony in action.
Story-wise, there isn’t much more to be said. It’s nice to see some of the core Bat-family – minus Bruce – interacting again, but this issue alone isn’t a brilliant example of cross-time planning and clever plotting. Rather, it’s an exciting read that is devoted more to setting up and getting the reader excited enough to pick up the next issue than it is in wowing anybody. And you know what? I expect nothing more from a first issue, and it fulfills those duties excellently.
Sometimes, the problem with exposition-heavy issue #1s is that I feel I can’t give accurate reviews for them. For the past few weeks, the mantra that has made its way into my reviews has been “the second issue is the deciding point.” Not so with this issue. The reason why this is the typical case is because so many comics now are just about the story. Of course, I love a good story, but a story is near impossible to judge by its exposition. When a comic depends entirely on its story, an exciting premise can always be poorly executed, without any saving graces such as – for a small example – solid character work, even pacing, and good dialogue. This comic, however, has a good amount of the first two qualities, and has the last one in spades. Higgins, in fact, kills two birds with one stone with his dialogue: not only does it carry the reader smoothly through the story, it also reveals a lot about those characters. His Penguin, in particular, is almost flawless, and his Dick and Tim have a great sense of youth mixed with professionalism from having been in this “job” for a while.
Continued belowAnd, yes, I guess I did just call Dick and Tim yuppies.
Artist Trevor McCarthy gives this series a great look. His unique style is a great fit for a Batman book that doesn’t just stick to the alleys, and is absolutely full of energy and motion. My only complaint is that the defining lines that he uses for faces can sometimes be too ridged, particular in conversational scenes. This can make those scenes seem even less lively than they usually seem in the motion-heavy world of sequential art. Still, it’s only a problem in a few panels, and the fact that he draws Cobblepot just as well as Higgins writes is enough to redeem him (yeah, the Penguin is one of my favorite Gotham villains, so?). Guy Major’s palette ties everything together, retaining the dark look that Gotham needs to truly be Gotham, while still keeping each page colorful – in a enjoyably dreary way, of course.
Gates of Gotham is off to a great start, and I can only imagine that it is going to get better now that the exposition is out of the way. I’m going to go ahead and call it and say that years from now, this is going to be the mini that defines Batman’s relationship with Gotham, and what truly sets the character (whether it’s Dick or Bruce) apart from the rest of DC’s costumed vigilantes. I could be wrong, but in this case? I doubt it.
Final Verdict: 7.9 – Buy it!
