“Gargoyle of Gotham” – Book Three
Color Artist: Matheus Lopes and Valentina Napolitano
Letterer: John Workman
Review by Eric Lee
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #3 is an insane and disturbing take on Batman that keeps introducing fresh new ideas and characters, sometimes to a fault.
It is official, this might be one of the most-delayed Batman comics in recent memory. I had to double check the DKN reviews archives, but issue two came out literally one year ago!
Batman is Emotionally Disturbed
With that being said, the plot is actually really interesting. Writer and artist Rafael Grampa does deliver his definitive version of the Dark Knight for better or worse. Everyone is disturbed and creepy- especially Batman. Like I have said in previous reviews, the book was originally marketed as “What if Batman drops Bruce Wayne?” At this point in the series, I don’t think Gampa is interested in exploring that since we’ve only briefly touched on the idea once so far.
It appears that while writing, Grampa’s story might have evolved into something else. Now, the premise feels like “What if Batman is an actual emotionally disturbed individual?” This really opens up the series to a whole new level of exploration. And it is riveting. Here, we see Batman is much more susceptible to villains’ influences and machinations. We are also slowly seeing the consequences of Bruce’s lack of mental health upkeep.
His mental health is a literal liability. What is worse, Batman crosses some lines in this issue that other versions would not. While the idea of Batman crossing lines is not new, Grampa keeps it fresh. This is bolstered by his idiosyncratic art style. It is detailed, but Grampa visually expresses things on the page make it feel disturbing. His cartoony faces of Commissioner Gordon or other side characters are juxtaposed with creepy and unsettling looks of Batman and his villains. It is visually discordant, which gives the comic an uneasy feeling as if something is wrong all of the time.
New Threats
Speaking of villains, this comic introduces so many different new characters and concepts that it never feels like a retread. We are not seeing Batman versus the Joker round 1000. These new threats make everything so unpredictable and shocking. Of course, Grampa actually has a slight problem of overstuffing this book with too many ideas. There is so much exposition and critical information is being delivered to the readers at such a breakneck speed that it is easy to lose track. The delays for the comic also make the problem worse too.
Conclusion
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #3 is one of the fresher takes on the Dark Knight in a long time. Nothing feels like a retread here. The only issue is that there are a bit too many new ideas and characters that it might confuse readers. Overall, this book is well-worth the long waits. Hopefully the next issue will not take another year to come out.
All images are courtesy of DC Entertainment.