Batman #4-5: "I Am Gotham," Part Four & Five

[superboyprime]

"He's not a quipper. He doesn't make silly jokes. And if he does, it's because he wants to distract you. Every word and action Batman does have a goal to it. In that sense, Batman is an easy character to dialogue. But I think that can be a trap too. You can get it stuck too dark and dank. You have to be aware of your subject and be aware that Batman is smart enough to realize that although he is driven all of the time, being driven all of the time is not productive." - Tom King

Comments

[beeyo]

The fact that Alfred is wearing Capullo's old costume is a nice touch.

The dialogue in issue 5 was so damned weird, everyone talked like they were delivering an inner monologue on-stage. And that ending...was it implying that Gotham Girl eventually kills Batman, or was she talking about her brother?

[onsokumaru]

"the damn Batman"
You wasted a nice opportunity, King.

[stubbleupdate]

That Alfred scene reminds me a lot of Ellis's President Goblin monologue

[bizarrohulk]

I realise I'm probably in the minority here, but I hate it when writers have Batman pull off seemingly superhuman feats with no explanation beyond "he's Batman". Aside from the blatant character shilling, it's lazy and paradoxically makes his actual feats (when he's *shown* applying his training and intelligence in creative ways) look less impressive.

[kalanyr]

For me it depends on context. Stealth and Infiltration and having access to weirdly appropriate information or equipment or improbably correct deduction, I tend to give passes, if they aren't plot critical because they are things that are generally within Batman's remit and would waste undue space getting explained every time (you don't need to explain Supermans superstrength every issue).

Things like subduing Solomon Grundy or fighting Gotham need more immediate explanations because they don't have obvious implied explanations. So do elaborate plans that resolve arcs or obtaining information that isn't 'merely' protected by things like classification and state of the art computer systems because in these cases the how is the real 'fight' scene.

[zapbiffpow]

I have no problem with that, actually. I see it as Bruce's personal Dad joke: annoying as hell, but in no way intended to detract from everything else about him. It's just a novelty kick, the same way you can have Squirrel Girl beat a lot of heavy-hitters for those exact same reasons you outlined.

[locuatico]

In this context, i don't mind, since it's mostly for comedic effect. I even get the feeling Waller wanted to talk to Batman anyways and she was mostly letting Lane have his fun.

[bradygirl_12]

Did they steal this idea from the '66 TV show? Alfred as Batman, complete with mustache? :)

Also, I always wondered why the Waynes were in Crime Alley, of all places, with Martha and her expensive pearls and obviously looking like a very well-off family. Alfred seems a tad put out by Thomas' decision that night.

[kalanyr]

I don't believe it was Crime Alley in the original telling, it was just the alley that was the side exit from the Theatre , where they'd seen Zorro. Even in latter retellings its often the death of the Wayne's that marks the point where it becomes Crime Alley.

It's still probably not the best idea to walk down a dark alley while looking super rich though but less legendarily moronic.

[icon_uk]

It's not actually CALLED Crime Alley you know, that's not how it appears in the street atlas of Gotham. :)

[kalanyr]

Yeah, I know, that Crime Alley was basically the Gotham "street name" not its real name , just meant that it didn't even have Crime Alley as a "street name" at the time, the murder happened.

[icon_uk]

IIRC It was the street between the cinema and where they'd parked and they had no real reason NOT to use it, aside from it not being terribly well lit.

The implication that it happened because she was wearing her pearls in an otherwise perfectly respectable street is tending towards the "Victim blaming" side of things I feel.

[kalanyr]

I'm not blaming it on the choice to wear peatls but it does seem unwise to walk into poorly lit, isolated places announcing wealth (even just being the Wayne's likely qualifies) . That doesn't make being robbed justified in any sense (poor decisions do not invite or justify criminal behaviour) but does make it a somewhat odd choice.

Especially given this probably took place in the mid-90s now timeline wise when the fear of being attacked in urban environments was probably at its peak.

[bradygirl_12]

Aww, Nightwing the Lamplighter! :)

[icon_uk]

This does seem to be amateur hour Waller here. She put an, in her own words, god-level, emotional manipulator and a manipulative psychologist together, without the oversight of someone who would actually be immune to Psycho-Pirate's powers and/or second guess Strange if he betrayed them?

Making Batman say "Please" is also VERY petty and beneath her. It was her plan and her players that have caused all this, not Batman's, and she would be owning that failure, not trying to score points.

[mrstatham]

I thought exactly the same thing regarding Waller.

I'm also rather bemused by the seeming emphasis on the two saying twenty-seven/eight people are dead, which I can only take to be a reference... Albeit an odd one.

[laughing_tree]

Batman's realizing that if Waller thinks 28 died while he's only aware of 27, it means there's one guy unaccounted for: the one who turned out to have survived and who killed Gotham's folks.

[thatnickguy]

Am I the only one who thinks Batman has breasts on the cover? I don't just mean a hearty chest. I mean full-on Boob City.

[icon_uk]

Well NOW I do....

[thanekos]

The Sam Lane Experience getting palmed into a wall- so good.

[glprime]

Mmmf. I was just thinking, "If I could throw anybody in this new verse face first into a wall" and then Batman goes and does it. Good on ya, Bats.

[jeremyp]

This whole plot line seems extremely predictable. Of course, any new, powerful hero that shows up in Gotham (and isn't on Batman's team) is going to crash and burn, because ultimately, it's the status quo.

[kalanyr]

These guys were on Batman's team, though the setup of that was far too brief, like an issue and a half. This is one of those stories that really needed to be spread out over a year, with some business as usual stuff in between to not feel a bit hamfisted.

[jeremyp]

Maybe it's because of the Injustice series, but this whole plot line seems both inevitable and reiterative.