Gotham Underground #4

DC Comics

Writer: Frank Tieri

Penciller: J. Calafiore

Inker: Jack Purcell

so every villain in Gotham lives in the same apartment building?

I had a college professor who once paraphrased the nihilistic view of history: one freakin’ thing after another. I never thought a lousy Batman spin-off would recall the vicissitudes of existential historiography. In English, that means a lot of stupid things happen in this comic.

In Gotham Underground #4, a bunch of people die, Bruce Wayne attempts to break out of a hospital, and mob boss Tobias Whale orders a hit on Scarface’s gang of b-list villains. Robin, Oracle and Wildcat try to unmask the imposter Spoiler who attacked them last issue, but the would-be assassin goes invisible and escapes. I weep quietly over the fact I paid $3.14 for this catalogue of generic crime comic stock plots.

Writer Frank Tieri seems determined to load each issue with as much gore as he can. Admittedly, Gotham Underground is about a gang war-- but there’s no real reason the reader needs to see a psychopath hack some call girl’s ear off, Van Gogh style. Unnecessary violence aside, Tieri knows how and when to insert surprises that keep the story from collapsing on itself. These surprises are too far apart and far between, however, to make Gotham Underground worthwhile.

Penciller J. Calafiore’s angular style suits the tone Calafiore creates. Jack Purcell’s heavy inks also help. Calafiore also manages to enliven the proceedings with a few clever layouts, but a boring story ultimately can’t be helped by any artist (save, perhaps, Jim Lee).

Worth the money? No.