Gotham Nocturne: Act Three – “An Elegy of Sand” – Part Two, and “Gotham Forget Me Not” – Part Two, and “His Name Was Dr. Hurt” – Part Two
Artists: Riccardo Federici, Stefano Raffaele and Christopher Mitten
Color Artists: Lee Loughridge and Triona Farrell
Letterers: Evan Cagle and Steve Wands
Review by James Attias
Detective Comics #1082 is about mental torture, pain, and anguish. Will the villains finally break the spirits of all who stand up for good?
The Hurt Business
Can Batman save Gotham? Or should it be Bruce Wayne who saves the city, in a way that would make Batman superfluous? These are the questions being asked by Dr. Hurt, who’s currently plaguing Batman’s mind. Does that mean Bruce himself is asking the questions? I’m asking a lot of those myself, which is unusual as I’ve read the book, and you, my dear readers, want answers. Well… you can’t handle the truth.
This is a very cerebral issue, with Batman wrestling his inner demons… again, except this time I enjoyed it. Although I hope that next issue we can have some action in the real world, and outside of the Dark Knight’s noggin. Also, why not throw in a bunch more Grant Morrison references and characters… that seems to be all DC has these days.
We do have some action in the real mean streets of Gotham, though, with the Question, who’s still pursuing the case of the murdered cop… which I think happened a million issues ago and feels like it should have wrapped up a bit quicker.
It’s fun seeing some detective work in Detective Comics, but what can she really do in this scenario? The killer even outwits Batman and enslaves half of Gotham’s minds. What will Renee do, punch her? I’m both curious and running out of interest for this story, so let’s see where it takes us next.
His Name Was Dr. Hurt – Part Two
I really enjoyed the first part of this story; we have a real gritty villain, performing evil villainous acts. It’s not often you see a character do this these days, outside of The Joker of course, so I was eager for the second part. It went as well as anyone would expect for the characters, but the final page stinger… this is either a wonderful twist OR the worst thing I’ve read all year. I’ll be first in line to read the next issue if not to just find that out. #NoSpoilers #ItWouldBlowYourMind
Conclusion
Detective Comics #1082 delivers a painful blow to Batman as he’s clawing his way back to life. Will one of his greatest foes help him, or is he just a part of the poison? Let’s meet here next month and find out.
Images Courtesy of DC Entertainment