Batman: Dark Patterns #5 – Dan Watters, Writer; Hayden Sherman, Artist; Triona Farrell, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: The first arc of this unique early-Batman anthology was a full-on horror story, featuring a horrifically scarred villain out for revenge against worse targets. This second arc is more of a subtle thriller, but with one of the best settings for a freakshow I’ve seen in a long time. A condemned building and its residents seem to have fallen under the thrall of Scarface, the puppet of the Ventriloquist. His voice echoes through the towers, the residents wear wooden masks to reflect their loyalty, and everyone in the tower seems to be under his control in one way or another. A policeman has been murdered, another has been taken hostage, and the halls are filled with gunmen targeting Batman as he tries to fight his way through the mobs. It’s easily one of the best visual action segments I’ve seen in a while, as Batman tries to slowly make his way from floor to floor.
This is one of my favorite kinds of superhero stories, as a C-list or Z-list villain finds a way to elevate their threat in a big way and terrorize the hero and his city. The story has a haunted-house vibe to it, as Scarface seems to have almost taken on a supernatural ability. As Batman makes his way up and keeps in contact with Commissioner Gordon, his obvious suspicion is that Wesker is hiding out in the tower and controlling Scarface’s voice from afar. But that turns out not to be the truth at all, with a truly disturbing reveal about the Ventriloquist towards the end of the issue (albeit one that doesn’t fit with continuity exactly). But the last few pages of the issue take the tension up in a big way, as it’s revealed who might be Wesker’s chief agent in the tower – and it’s definitely not what I expected. The creative team of Watters and Sherman is doing a fantastic job of ramping up tension.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
