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BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS #31
Recommended (8/10)
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DC Comics
"Clean"
Writer: Devin Grayson
Pencils: Roger Robinson
Inks: John Floyd
Colors: Gloria Vasquez & Wildstorm FX
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Lysa Hawkins
Black & White: "Hands"
Writer: Scott Peterson
Artist: Daniel Zezlj
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Mark Chiarello
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Clean: A recurring theme in a number of Batman stories in recent years has been perception. How would the average joe on the streets of Gotham City react to the notion of a caped avenger of the night? Criminals? Cops? It's made for some interesting stories. Here, Grayson looks at the notion of the Batman through the eyes of a government black-ops agent, and with some effective narration, she brings two chilling and extreme personalities come to life.
A government cleaner who's been active in Gotham City realizes that his superiors have cut him loose. There's likely someone on his way to "clean" him. He's being pursued by a man in a mask and a cape. It can't be the Batnan -- there is no Batman; that's just a figment of a CIA admininstrator's imagination, a cover story for black-ops activity on U.S. soil.
Grayson brings two unfathomable personalities to life in this script. Somehow, she manages to humanize a professional killer, and at the same time, she spotlights the Dark Knight's single-minded determination. She ties it all into the "Bruce Wayne: Fugitive" storyline. Though it's not an entirely inaccessible chapter of the crossover, I find the story stands up better on its own without the connection.
Robinson and Floyd continue to impress with their dark super-hero artwork. They capture the intensity of the title character with seeming ease, and Vazquez's colors reinforce the mature, dark atmosphere of the art and story.
Black & White: It never fails to amaze me, what the industry's top writers and artists are able to do with just a few pages and the removal of color elements. "Hands" is yet another fascinating crime story that asks a complex and heart-wrenching question to which there is no easy answer.
While chasing after a typical Gotham lowlife, something catches the Batman's attention, drawing him into a new case. It's a case involving death, but the Batman finds evidence of no crime. Instead, he discovers only an answer, a resolution, and he sets out to give a family some small measure of closure.
Zezelj's thick lines and penchant to bring out the more grisly side of human experience suits the world of the Batman quite well. His vision of the Batman is an appropriately imposing figure, and Peterson's narration, though reflecting the title character's methodical side, also humanizes him. Once again, one can find the best of the new Batman stories in this brief backup feature in Gotham Knights.
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