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Writing comics must be tough. Writing big name, legacy characters for the Big 2 must be especially taxing.
You’re dealing with multiple generations of dedicated fans and readers who feel real ownership over the stories featuring their favorite characters. Fans and readers who are constantly demanding that you, the faceless, often virtually nameless writer, “go back to” the trademarks that gave those characters their legacies in the first place.
Of course, in going back to those old and trusted formulas, you run the risk of, well, rehashing old and tired formulas. You can fall victim to having to sacrifice what might be the most crucial imperative a writer is tasked with: surprising the reader.
Sometimes it can feel as if comic book readers are destined to only have two types of stories hit the shelves: novelty stories in which our favorite characters are “innovated” beyond all recognition, or cookie cutter installments in the no-stakes monthly adventures of that same character’s formula.
But once in a while, a creative team like Dan Watters and Hayden Sherman come along and strike that most improbable of balances.
This second issue of “Dark Patterns”, a new title of noir-ish, detective-work heavy Gotham City crime stories, is another winner. We continue with the hunt for Wound Man (think Zsasz with a death wish). He is a man obsessed with self-inflicted pain and prowls the streets in search of those he can liberate from life’s essential cycle of pain. Following what he has determined to be a list of future targets, Batman is beginning to uncover a conspiracy web of shady corporate secrets, redacted government chemical research contracts, and a ghost town in Gotham’s suburbs.
Simply put, these first two issues represent the best mystery story DC has put out in all books launched in 2024. I know it’s early, and I know I may be developing something of a MO when it comes to hyping up these noir books, but I stand by that assessment. It’s an early career, pre-JLA Batman, but one that’s already begun to solidify relationships and reputations through his city, be they tentatively positive with Gordon, bitter and trench-coated as always, or opportunistically negative in the form of a reporter who’s happy to smear the name of Gotham’s new shadowy predator, but who’s not above pointing Bats in the right direction on the conspiracy trail if it means stoking the flames of what makes a compelling police blotter.
Last month, I said Hayden Sherman’s art on this book owed a big debt to that of Tim Sale. While I won’t go so far as to say that that assessment was inaccurate, I now think it was unfair. Sherman makes use of noir shadow and imposing facial expression in much the same way that Sale did in his iconic pages, but Sherman is putting his own mark on the iconic image of the Dark Knight. His playful panel structuring and strong sense of environmental differences as Batman is beginning to take a trip outside the city limits makes this an artistically compelling book in its own right.
Dan Watters’s Batman is still learning on the job. He’s still learning how hard it can be to convince a city as big as Gotham that it is worth saving. He’s learning the power of superstitions. This is maybe the greatest advantage of embarking on an early career Batman story without the shackles of having to retell his origin: you don’t have a protagonist who is set in his ways. Some of the best detective stories are redemption stories, and an imperfect Batman might be one still in need of redemption, maybe as much as his city is. This is one of the best stories DC has got on its shelves right now.
Recommend if:
You’re into blending serial killers with conspiracy thrillers
You’re into Batman questioning his code… internally
You’ve been dying to get out of the city
Overall:
This critical second issue is a significant victory for one of DC’s best new recent titles. A lot is at stake already, both for Gotham and for its watchful protector. With striking chiaroscuro art and a well-paced mystery, this is a comic that is not losing sight of the moral drama inherent in all noir.
Score: 8.5/10
“}]] Writing comics must be tough. Writing big name, legacy characters for the Big 2 must be especially taxing. You’re dealing with multiple generations… Read More