“The Good People Of Gotham” – Part Two
Artists: Riccardo Federici, Mike Perkins and Stefano Raffaele
Color Artists: Brad Anderson, Mike Spicer, and Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #2 is a smashing surprise when it comes to event fatigue. This issue actually takes what’s going on in other stories and adds to them.
Let’s imagine our way in…
What are you afraid of?
I mentioned in my last review that I had no idea if this story was a nightmare if it was set in the real world, or in some Hellish dreamscape. Was all this Jim Gordon’s fear, or someone else’s? The answer to all of those questions is…
Yes.
Confused? Good, so was I, but once you read this issue all will become clear. The already spooky art that has us unsettled is complemented wonderfully by the writing. I won’t lie to you, my loyal bat nerds, after the first part of this story I wasn’t riveted, but after reading this I want to be the leader of the fan club. This issue will branch off into multiple threads going forward across a few titles, so you need to read it and remember all that was told.
This issue featured much less terrified Jim Gordon crumbling to pieces, and a lot more exposition, which is exactly what I wanted. We find out who “The Good People of Gotham” really are, and learn about something that may very well shake the foundations of the DC universe… not just Gotham. I can’t stress this enough; this issue plants some seeds that will grow into a rainforest of stories going forward.
Perchance to Dream
The art in this issue has grown on me massively since the last chapter. I don’t know what it is about it, but I really enjoyed it this time around. It showed all of these characters in two lights, one being that this was all a nightmare and all of these demonic terrifying images were spawned from someone’s tormented dreams and the other, that this may be the real world and these monsters are somehow in it, real and out for chaos. A wonderful balance.
The writing was also a highlight of the whole “Knight Terrors” event for me. I mentioned in another review that Knight Terrors: Green Lantern #2 was the best issue of the event, now this issue was a close second. Well done, creative team! There’s nothing like a bit of post-event consequence to keep us engaged!
Conclusion
Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #2 is a great issue that will have lasting repercussions, and I, for one, can’t wait to see how they play out.