Batman: Gates of Gotham #4 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Dustin Nguyen & Derec Donovan (artists), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Dammit Tim, I’m a detective, not a historian!

The Review: With DC’s top creators on blistering track to launch their new lineup come fall and maintain a steady release pace afterward, it’s little wonder the current titles all have a rushed, cobbled-together quality about them.  You must have noticed the record number of fill-in writers and artists on everything, even on the three-issue Flashpoint tie-ins.  While some of these fill-in jobs have been acceptable, even praiseworthy, quite a lot more have been anything but.

For a while, Higgins as the executor of Snyder’s story worked out very well.  After it came out that Higgins would work on the upcoming Nightwing, Parrott came in as his backup. Gates of Gotham remained seemingly unaffected; last issue seemed on track for a great conclusion.  But, as in Supergirl #62, the grim effects of the lead creators taking less responsibility for the title sneak up on you, and here you get ambushed by any number of writing missteps.

For one, several principal characters experience dramatic personality changes.  While Nicholas Gates going into a very Gothamesque, homicidal bent makes some sense in light of his brother’s death, Alan Wayne revealing a sinister condescension feels inexplicable and forced, almost laughable.  Too bad his mustache isn’t a bit longer, because he might as well be twirling it as he haughtily tells Nick, “…secrets are influence…and influence is power.  But I don’t expect you to understand that.  After all, you aren’t one of us—and you never will be.”

Batman: Gates of Gotham #3 – Review

By: Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Ryan Parrott (writers), Trevor McCarthy (artist), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: We’ll cross that bridge when we get there—providing it doesn’t collapse first.

The Review: Business is a dirty field; even with the best intentions, it’s pretty difficult to wade into it and come out as clean as you started.  Traditionally, DC has portrayed the Waynes as an almost saintly exception (perhaps a consequence of the somewhat martyred circumstances of Thomas and Martha’s deaths), but recent writers have started digging the dirt on the illustrious Gotham family, revealing their history hasn’t all been as honest as previously believed.

This issue suggests hopes for a better Gotham may not be the sole motivator of Alan Wayne’s investments.  After all, is it really a coincidence he’d like to change the partner location for the newest city-building bridge to land he owns?  Possibly.  After all, other than Cameron Kane’s avarice and Edward Elliot’s suspicion, you have no evidence of Alan’s duplicity.  But then again, how could you?  He’s a businessman, after all.

But loyalty, not business, encourages Nicholas Gates to choose Wayne’s land, not Kane’s, as the end site for the new bridge, a choice spun from his eagerness to accept Alan’s declaration they are now family.  The raging bitterness he later levies against his employers thus seems sudden and somewhat unjust.  It’d make more sense to blame the tragic events on Kane, but you also have to remember Nick himself admits the Wayne land is less ideal for the bridge’s construction.

These intriguing questions and more make the past sequences the strongest parts of the issue, partly because the Bat-family’s investigation in the present stalls a little.  It offers no major revelations, nor even much in the way of enlightening facts.  Instead, it’s mostly a reactionary interlude from last issue’s explosive events, allowing each character to deal with their failures in their own way, sparking some fun exchanges (Red Robin: “You don’t trust anyone…”  Damian: “And your eagerness to trust makes you weak.”).

Red Robin #25 – Review

By: Fabian Nicieza (writer), Marcus To (penciller), Ray McCarthy (inker), Guy Major (colorist)

The Story: Anyone who says a figurative backstabbing is worse than a literal one talks crazy.

The Review: Most of us have at one time or another had a moment where we wondered how everyone else could be oblivious to what seems to be such an obvious conclusion.  Now imagine being in that position day-in, day-out, a constant bombardment of possible scenarios you see so clearly and no one else does.  It’s consuming, I imagine.  But what do I know?  The only hypothetical that consistently plagues my mind is what sort of sandwich I should get next.

For Tim Drake, his ever-ticking mind is a terrific asset, but as we see in this issue, it also poses a fairly gnarly risk.  Sure, the instant assessment of situational variables and the determination of the most logical response are handy virtues for a nerd who decides to take up vigilantism.  But give into that mindset a little too far and you, like Tim, will begin to weigh everything according to quantifiable values, a means-end philosophy that reduces humans to mere x’s and y’s.

Sure, when it comes outsmarting the ladies out to kill (and get preggers by) you, or gaining entrance to an ancient cabal of assassins that requires you die first—one heck of Catch-22, if you don’t mind me saying so—a Machiavellian mind can get the job done in stylish fashion.  And nothing ices that cake more than a slick, just ever-so-cocky explanation: “Collapsible katana blade.  Blood pack on my harness.  A pint of my blood mixed with glycerin water.”