Batman: Dark Patterns #1 – Dan Watters, Writer; Hayden Sherman, Artist; Triona Farrell, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: DC has been doing quite a few interesting stories set earlier in Batman’s career lately – taking the Caped Crusader back to a simpler time, back when he was more of a lonely warrior against the dark. Few of them have gotten quite as dark as this tense mystery thriller, though, which features some of the most disturbing visuals and concepts I’ve ever seen in a DC book, brought to life by acclaimed horror/mystery writer Dan Watters and the inimitable visuals of Hayden Sherman, who is pulling double-duty with Absolute Wonder Woman. This is set three years into Batman’s career, when the Falcones still rule Gotham, Batman still deals with feral dogs and subway surfers – and a mysterious killer stalks Gotham, torturing his seemingly random targets to death in a shocking method both bloodless and absolutely monstrous. And both Batman and Gordon are convinced there’s a pattern here.
We’re also introduced to a new player, a new coroner in Gotham who transferred here abruptly and displays odd behavior and a fascination with serial killers. He almost seems too obvious to be a villain (but then, Hush), and it would be more entertaining if he wasn’t. Batman’s rabbit holes lead him to the fact that the first victim was a powerful and corrupt lawyer – and the others were men who lost everything and were involved in lawsuits. That allows him to start tracking the next victim, and he finds him – along with a new villain who enters the book like a jump scare and delivers one of the trickiest moral conflicts Batman has ever faced in the process. Dan Watters has written some seriously disturbing Bat-comics before, but here he has a perfect partner in crime in Sherman, and a dark and disturbing take on Gotham that has the potential to become one of the all-time classics. I’m a little surprised this isn’t Black Label.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
