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August 14, 2008
Rob Read: Batman City of Crime
I've been a fan of Dave Lapham going back to Stray Bullets, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite books. I make a point to pick up anything he does, and that led me to this book.
Taking the writing reins and, I think, layout duty, Lapham with artist Ramon Bachs delivers a great Batman story rooted in the best of film noir. The title of the story, City of Crime, evokes the classic film The Naked City, and the storytelling follows in that great film's footsteps as well, showing several stories from the underside of Gotham City and how they all tie into Batman's investigation of a missing pregnant teenager. The case brings in classic Batman villains The Penguin, Mr Freeze, and The Ventriloquist, as well as introducing the ominous new threat of The Body while keeping its focus on the citizens of Gotham and how they become affected, and in some cases infected, by the brutal nature of the city.
This is a dense story and it demands you give it your full attention. Lots of little details become full-blown story points as it unfolds and Bachs' lush art contains lots of buried treasures as well. I found this very rewarding as a complete story. My only real gripe is that no motivation for The Body was given that I was able to pick up on, other than the implication that the 'Head' for The Body was Gotham itself, which I found to be satisfying enough for me.
Posted by Schamberger at August 14, 2008 09:08 AM