Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 (of 5) Review

DC Comics
Batman: Gates of Gotham #2 (of 5) Review
By Dan Horn
June 22, 2011 - 15:11

DC Comics
Writer(s): Scott Snyder and Kyle Higgins
Penciller(s): Trevor McCarthy
Inker(s): Trevor McCarthy
Colourist(s): Guy Major
Letterer(s): Jared K. Fletcher
Cover Artist(s): Trevor McCarthy
$2.99 US

Three Gotham City bridges named after three once-prominent Gotham ancestors have been destroyed by an enigmatic terrorist targeting "the families at the gates of Gotham." What does it all mean? I'm sure Kyle Higgins and Scott Snyder are glad you asked, because they've got a meandering answer for you, complete with retroactive Gotham history!

Gates of Gotham #2 opens with a brief history of Gotham's urbanization, the industrial age birthing impossible spires out from the demure Victorian relics that once comprised the city. The architects responsible for the transformation were contracted by the Waynes, the Cobblepots, and the Elliots, the families the attacked bridges had been named for.

Present day Gotham: the responsible party, The Architect, has inexplicably broken into Arkham, liberating Thomas Elliot (aka Hush), and a mad dash to head off the bomber before he strikes again ensues. Next on the villain's list? Wayne Tower and Penguin's Lounge!

Honestly, I'm a bit surprised this is a story thought up with the help of Scott Snyder. Perhaps my standards have been raised quite a bit by the aforementioned author, but this story is pretty bland given Snyder's stellar work on Detective Comics. Then again, it isn't really Snyder writing this. It's more so his intellectual property with Kyle Higgins slaving away on the scripts, and between this title's debut, replete with Batman's trademark menacing interrogations and a tired bridge-bombing premise, and this follow-up, well-stocked with similarly exhausted bomb-de-fusing situations, it's clear Higgins is in the market of recycling any Dark Knight tropes he can think of to get his and Snyder's story told. It's a solid tale, and it truly shines when filling in some of Gotham's back story, yet it already feels out-moded, just with a shiny, new veneer brushed over it.

I think Higgins does capture the essence of many of his characters capably. His Damian is impetuous until the very end. His Tim is the brainy, snarky tech-guru. Out of the entire cast, the supporting players feel the most rounded, except for Cassandra Cain, whose about as two-dimensional as a drawing on paper can get. I'm honestly not even sure why it's necessary to have her in this series. Higgins' portrayals of Penguin and Hush are also astute, each maniacal in their own way.

At the very least, Gates of Gotham poses an interesting question, a mystery surrounding the very architecture of the urban epicenter. By the end of the issue I felt like I was looking at an ad for Warren Ellis' Ignition City, but I'm curious as to how this will all play out. It seems fairly obvious, but there's room for some twists in the next three chapters, so we will see.

Some of McCarthy's designs in Gates of Gotham show off an interestingly neo-Victorian side of the eponymous city and of the new villain, but is it simply pandering to the steam punk scene? At one point Red Robin even says something to the effect of "Looks steam punk-ish." It all seems a bit insincere and a cash-in on growing steam punk mania. McCarthy's artwork is sleek and stylized, landing him somewhere on the spectrum between Scott McDaniel and Dustin Nguyen. His covers are gorgeous, but his interiors aren't under par for the course. We've seen this all before.

This is unfortunately shaping up to be a series that could easily be a pass for most recession-strapped comic fiends. Unless you are a steam punk who enjoys being brownnosed by literary tourists dabbling in your neck of the woods, this isn't an essential read.

Rating: 6.5/10