Gotham by Midnight #05
Writer: Ray Fawkes
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: DC
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… this is a job too big for Batman. Within the first few pages of the issue, it becomes painfully aware the exact scale of divine judgment we’re working with here, as The Spectre encounters Ikkondrid the Corpse in the dead center of Gotham. Note that I say “encounter” and not “proceeds to beat the crap out of”, because Ikkondrid and his (its?) brood didn’t manifest in order to square off with the Spectre – they came to plead for Gotham’s deliverance. To that end a lot of the impetus behind the cases and oddities we’ve witnessed is explained, or at least ambiguously alluded to. Let me step aside and say this much about this issue: yes, there is a huge upset, but the damn solicitations ruined it, so as long as you’ve kept your head down, you’re in for a real treat. Otherwise, this issue loses a lot of force, but is still a great read nonetheless.
I don’t know really how to say too much about this issue this time around, just that we get to see (almost) everything play out. The whole team’s gathered, and Gordon withstanding we even get to see Batman enter the fray – although it’s times like this we remember why the Midnight Shift was formed, and even then the sheer scale of everything going down shows you the playing field that they’ve elected to enter, on a divine/mythical level. Things get straight up Biblical, and I think it’s kind of critical to remember that as the spirituality of Gotham as a “lost city” is a key motif of the series thus far, more so than (most) other Batman related books. Evil is viewed as an actual sickness and disease here, and it just so happens that the Spectre approved cure is a “Gotham-ectomy”. I know that was bad.
With bat-missiles soaring, righteous lightning bolts flying left and right, and a battle of (literally) titanic proportions for the heart of Gotham, this is 5 issues worth of build-up done proper, and without teasing too much. Fawkes and Templesmith haven’t just coordinated well to deliver and intriguing and tantalizing “bat-title,” they’ve built an intense mythos granting an actual tangibility to the evil and corruption that seems ever present in Gotham, and have done so with fully-fleshed out cast of characters and cases to match. Heck, with all the comic IPs getting snatched up for TV/film adaptations, I wouldn’t mind seeing a short form series spin out of this just for the sake of seeing how they translate the horror vibe/aesthetic.
Artist: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: DC
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… this is a job too big for Batman. Within the first few pages of the issue, it becomes painfully aware the exact scale of divine judgment we’re working with here, as The Spectre encounters Ikkondrid the Corpse in the dead center of Gotham. Note that I say “encounter” and not “proceeds to beat the crap out of”, because Ikkondrid and his (its?) brood didn’t manifest in order to square off with the Spectre – they came to plead for Gotham’s deliverance. To that end a lot of the impetus behind the cases and oddities we’ve witnessed is explained, or at least ambiguously alluded to. Let me step aside and say this much about this issue: yes, there is a huge upset, but the damn solicitations ruined it, so as long as you’ve kept your head down, you’re in for a real treat. Otherwise, this issue loses a lot of force, but is still a great read nonetheless.
I don’t know really how to say too much about this issue this time around, just that we get to see (almost) everything play out. The whole team’s gathered, and Gordon withstanding we even get to see Batman enter the fray – although it’s times like this we remember why the Midnight Shift was formed, and even then the sheer scale of everything going down shows you the playing field that they’ve elected to enter, on a divine/mythical level. Things get straight up Biblical, and I think it’s kind of critical to remember that as the spirituality of Gotham as a “lost city” is a key motif of the series thus far, more so than (most) other Batman related books. Evil is viewed as an actual sickness and disease here, and it just so happens that the Spectre approved cure is a “Gotham-ectomy”. I know that was bad.
With bat-missiles soaring, righteous lightning bolts flying left and right, and a battle of (literally) titanic proportions for the heart of Gotham, this is 5 issues worth of build-up done proper, and without teasing too much. Fawkes and Templesmith haven’t just coordinated well to deliver and intriguing and tantalizing “bat-title,” they’ve built an intense mythos granting an actual tangibility to the evil and corruption that seems ever present in Gotham, and have done so with fully-fleshed out cast of characters and cases to match. Heck, with all the comic IPs getting snatched up for TV/film adaptations, I wouldn’t mind seeing a short form series spin out of this just for the sake of seeing how they translate the horror vibe/aesthetic.
A Look Inside
