Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Batman #6


By Anthony J. Fredette
September 9, 2016 - 22:19

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Batman #s 1–5 were a whirlwind, dragging the reader through a dramatic and unrelentingly intense sequence of events. The reason for this pace baffles; presumably, Amanda Waller’s attempts to solve the Gotham problem once and for all could have formed the background of a longer series of issues. A cynic might see writer Tom King’s haste as slavish adherence to an all-too-familiar six-issue story arc formula so common in DC comics of late.

We should not let King’s reluctance to reinvent the wheel in terms of structure obscure the genuine strokes of genius in this series, however. The many criticisms of the rushed characterization of Gotham and Gotham Girl fail to recognize the narrative purpose of these characters: they are personifications, in a sense of the word that would be more apt for describing characters in medieval literature than most modern manifestations of this literary technique. We do not need long, ponderous story arcs replete with character study and strategically placed flashbacks in order to understand Gotham and Gotham Girl. As issue 3 should have made abundantly clear, Gotham is the city which his name represents, but he is simultaneously a discrete person living within it and reacting to it. You know half of what you need to know about the character the moment he is introduced, because you already know Gotham City. The main conceit in the “I Am Gotham” arc is one of comparison and contrast with the other hero who can claim to be Gotham in the relevant sense. Like Batman, Gotham and Gotham Girl are Gotham City incarnate, with all of its hope and strength, violence and instability. Unlike Batman, they wield powers beyond those of mortal men, although even they are painfully limited by their mortality, as issue 5 painfully illustrated. Like Batman, they experienced significant psychological trauma. Unlike Batman, they assimilated the worst elements of Gotham City instead of rising above them. We are eventually shown that, while Batman really is Gotham City, he is nevertheless much more than it. He transcends it even as he identifies himself with it, refusing to succumb entirely to its deranged and destructive tendencies.

Fortunately for the reader, Batman #6 is the opposite of its predecessors in terms of pacing. This is a slow issue, delighting in hypnotic repetition and depictions of the everyday (or everynight, in this case) activities of its main character, the understandably traumatized Gotham Girl. If the similarly grieved Gotham was supposed to invite comparisons to Batman throughout the past 5 issues, this epilogue completes and perfects this scarcely disguised parallelism. Having lost the people she cares about most, Gotham Girl decides to make the streets of Gotham City a little bit safer at the expense of her own well-being. She is quite literally giving her life to the city, showing signs of morbid obsession and hints of insanity in the process. If the once-heroic Gotham was an emblem of what happens when, despite one’s best intentions, one is consumed by the city’s evil and begins to exhibit its worst traits, Gotham Girl is more nearly a Batman-type figure. Her ability to do good is enhanced rather than diminished by personal tragedy, but her psyche nevertheless pays the price of having experienced it. A late-issue conversation between Batman and Gotham Girl offers the reader a brief window into one of Batman’s coping mechanisms, and this quintessentially human moment cements the positive comparison between the the two characters. Both will give their lives every night for the city that is a part of them, and both will deal boldly with the psychological consequences of engaging in a never-ending fight.

This issue’s artwork is something of a mixed bag. Character details are excellent, particularly in the faces. Even wrinkles around the mouth and eyes manage to be emotionally expressive. Ivan Reis’s quirky depictions of Gotham Girl are particularly effective in this regard, as her now-jubilant, now-broken facial expressions and her now-confident, now-fragile posture mirror her tenuous psychological state. The backgrounds are a different story. In spite of a word bubble extolling the beauty of Gotham City, the city itself looks blurry and indistinct whenever it appears, even when it is the only artwork on the page.
From the first issue of the series, the overarching question posed by this story arc has been the following: does Gotham City need Batman? The answer given by this epilogue is a resounding “yes.” Gotham City, like its two super-powered personifications, needs Batman to save it from itself. Batman does not have the powers of Superman, but he does have physical and psychological perseverance and an indomitable strength of character, two qualities that he possesses not in spite of his humanity but because of it. And if Batman can impart these qualities to Gotham Girl, saving her in the process, then perhaps he can one day save Gotham City as well.


Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

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