As Batman #6 hits stands today, I took a look at Tom King's first full arc on DC's Batman, a series that garnered huge critical and commercial success under Scott Snyder's hand over the past five years. Now, King has the opportunity to apply his unique brand of narrative aesthetic to the Dark Knight of Gotham City.
Tom King is a superstar and he’s only seriously been in the
game for 26 months. Grayson, The Omega
Men, The Vision, and Sheriff of
Babylon all led to DC’s confidence in the man they gave Batman. King’s operatic style lends
itself to the Dark Knight, ironically juxtaposed to Scott Snyder’s more
visceral run during the ‘New 52’. King’s Batman
and Batman both bear a subtler tone emphasizing ethical dilemma and conflicting
morality. In this first arc, “I Am Gotham”, Batman wants so badly to believe
new superhumans Gotham and Gotham Girl represent everything he can’t be, everything he wishes he could be that he missteps and
makes crucial mistakes. These siblings are a symbol of what Bruce hopes the future
can become, and he doesn’t really know what to do.
Batman’s perfectionism works as a mentoring tool when
recipients already possesses confidence in themselves; Superman knows where he
stands and thus applies Batman’s logic to his own circumstance without going
full-on Dark Man of Steel of the Night. Similarly, Batman’s various allies
survive Bruce’s nigh-impossible training regimen because they’ve dedicated
themselves to the cause and have the drive to maintain their own selves through
the process. Hank and Claire Clover are fledgling heroes still discovering
themselves and their powers while trying to earn Batman’s trust and protect their city; cognitive
dissonance is real and only exacerbated by the presence of superpowers and
stranger-than-fiction happenstance. It’s no wonder Gotham goes insane.
And this is the entire conceit of “I Am Gotham”, insight on
the relationship between good and evil and what it means to be part of
something bigger than yourself. To Batman, that means sacrificing desire, emotion,
and sympathy to become better. To Gotham Girl, that means following her big
brother who she knows is benevolent and well-meaning because they made a pact.
For Gotham, it means sacrificing his soul to fix what it broken because there’s
no other way.
Batman #3 brings
this theme to the forefront with the origin of Gotham that bears a striking
resemblance to Batman’s own – and he knows it. As Matches Malone (a fantastic
return of Bruce’s scummy alter-ego), Bruce interviews the Mr. and Mrs. Clover
and learns about their children’s commitment to doing good and helping those
less fortunate, and as much as they don’t know how, they do know their kids are superheroes now. Henry Clover’s
description of Gotham City finds hope in the darkness and sees light between
shadowy dealings, not unlike Bruce’s own father. It’s this sympathy that
compels Batman to want to believe in
Gotham and Gotham Girl because he sees in them what could have been and lets
his emotions guide his actions.
In the first few chapters, David Finch’s hyper-detailed DC
house style feels at-odds with King’s more elegant and nuanced script, but as
the story continues it becomes clear that Finch was purposely chosen for his
style to accentuate the corrosion of good. Hank’s purpose-driven life is to see
Gotham City lifted up from the putrid darkness and rise to glory. When he
discovers that even with seemingly unlimited power he cannot be the savior
Gotham City needs, Hank’s world shatters and no one can pick up the pieces.
Batman inspired a young Hank to be a better person, but he also inspired
tunnel-vision dedication to an impossible task that breaks a young man’s mind.
And a god proven wrong can be disastrous.
Claire wasn’t there when Hank and their parents were mugged,
so her connection to the mission is tangential; she can see the cracks forming
in her brother’s psyche, but she doesn’t really know any other way besides her
faith in Hank. Trauma inspired Hank which inspired Claire, yet when Gotham’s
existential dread becomes overwhelming, she can’t empathize, confused by her
brother’s erratic actions. Hank’s own breakdown indirectly breaks his sister,
and the whole thing falls apart.
Batman doesn’t really overwhelm or over-burden these young
heroes; he simply presents them with the reality of their cause, the truth of
their dedication to a city that will not be tamed or made calm. In recent
years, Gotham City has been slowly molded into a sort-of tertiary character in
the DC universe in the way the European countryside and ruined cityscapes
becomes integral to World War II films. Hank and Claire spent so much time
looking for the good in their city they failed to expose themselves to the bad,
and when it becomes clear the darkness has no end, Hank loses his faith.True evil is often committed by those who believe they are right and altruistic, by individuals jaded enough by the world to believe the ends justify their horrific means. “I Am Gotham” extrapolates this classic trope to give Hank Clover more clarity as a character: this isn’t just another looney, brightly-themed villain, but rather a set of distinct and unwavering ethics distilled into a relatable hero who falls from grace. Gotham is all of us because the weight of our own lives is sometimes too much, so how could we ever hope to carry an entire city? Even in a fantastical, mystical, hyper-advanced world of heroes and villains and aliens and monsters, nihilism is one hell of a drug.
