Batman investigates an underground auction house specializing in mementos of famous Gotham villains; meanwhile, James and Barbara Gordon deal with the unexpected return of the Commissioner's son, who both had thought was gone forever.
This is dark, scary, and personal--all the things I love in a good Batman story. This is another volume set during the Batman, Inc. era, so Dick Grayson is filling out the cape and cowl in Gotham while Bruce oversees the franchise. Meanwhile Commissioner Gordon's son returns to Gotham, claiming to have gotten psychological help for the dark impulses that plagued his childhood. Jim wants to see the good in his boy, but both Gordons are hesitant to trust him, especially as details about his past come to light. Lots of family drama, but also a REALLY good mystery storyline, involving a new villain as well as some old favorites.
I have to make one complaint, though: Dick Grayson is TERRIBLE at keeping his identity secret. Joker figures it out ("You're not my bat. You smell of feathers, little bird."), and the last few pages seem to indicate that Gordon knows his identity too (though I was fuzzy on how much Gordon knows about Barbara's role in the Bat-family--I suppose if he knew about Oracle, it would be less of leap to peg Dick as Batman). I think it's about time that someone let Gordon in on the secret, but the idea of Joker knowing Batman's identity scares me a whole lot. I'll be interested to see where this goes.
All these batman reviews. Have you tried the Batwoman run that happened recently. J.H Williams the third was the artist and it had some GREAT examples of panneling.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was paging back through old posts recently, and I realized that I might have a problem....
ReplyDeleteI keep meaning to get to Batwoman. Will bump that up on my list. Thanks!