BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER #3 Review

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SYNOPSIS: The battle against the imposter poisoning the Batman’s name heats up, while Detective Blair Wong makes a deadly decision! Is there any way back for Bruce Wayne’s war on crime after the damage the copycat has done? Or was that war already lost before it ever began?

THE BATMAN is coming.

We are less than three months away from the first solo/live-action Batman film in a decade, but have been getting a small taste for the past two. This week, we close the book on that appetizer with BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER #3.

Grounded, gritty, mysterious, violent…these words are just a few of many to describe this new universe our hero finds himself in. Writer Mattson Tomlin (who worked on THE BATMAN script with Matt Reeves) and artist Andrea Sorrentino have concocted a moody, dense, and thrilling Batman story that feels like preparation for what we’re going to see on the big screen here soon.

A Batman look-a-like has been murdering people around Gotham, Bruce Wayne has infiltrated GCPD’s information via a detective, and he’s also reporting for therapy to Dr. Leslie Thompkins. Throughout the investigation, he’s had to cross some lines that have put his humanity in question, notably the final scene from the last issue. We pick up right after those moments in this month’s book, but I won’t say anything else.

Tomlin has, yet again, done a masterful job telling such an intriguing story in just three issues. He has found a perfect balance of setup, playout, and payoff. Yes, the story concludes here, but a door is left open for the story to continue in our heads, or (hopefully) to be picked up again from this team. I applaud Tomlin’s story from the first page to the last, and really hope he returns to Gotham soon.

Sorrentino continues to bring to life one of the grittiest Batman stories I’ve ever seen. In any medium. His Gotham is dirty, grungy, depressing, gothic….it’s perfect for The Dark Knight! The layouts have been fascinating, and continue to be so in this final issue. I really enjoy his designs for Batman, and the ways he keeps him somewhat in the shadows nearly throughout the whole story.

I sound like a broken record, but BATMAN: THE IMPOSTER is a tease for what’s coming in March. The mood, the story, the action all complement each other and give a satisfying conclusion to this book.

I hope we get more from this team in the future. I’ll be first in line. – Ryan Lower

GRADE: A