We’ve had two excellent three-issue arcs in Dark Patterns so far, with two more to go. I can’t say enough good things about this series; it’s gotten better as it’s progressed.
Issue #7 begins a gripping new story, “Pareidolia.” Before you click over to Google the title, Batman defines it for us on page four: “Pareidolia is the name for how we perceive patterns where there are none.” I’ll confess I forgot that the series had the word “patterns” in the title. Within the first few pages, Batman reminds us that Gotham has a pattern of violence and tragedy, and he’s starting to take it personally. I might do the same if I were icing bloody bruises and covered in bandages every night. But he doesn’t get to complain too long when the sky lights up again. Another fire in Gotham, another murder at the scene of the fire, and another mystery to solve.
This issue has all the ingredients that have made previous issues so great. The art is still a highlight, with Batman looking his best in his dark blue and giant yellow oval. There are a lot more locations in this issue compared to the last arc, which stayed in Bledin Towers. Here we start in Wayne Manor before heading to The Rookery, the central setting for this story. We also pay a return visit to Dr. Sereika’s morgue. Throughout, we get a unique color scheme and panel layout with each location. The panels in The Rookery are arranged to perfectly capture how dangerous and dilapidated it is. There’s also some great Bruce and Alfred moments as they research the details of the newest murder he’s investigating. How convenient would it be to have a book on your shelf called The Old Gangs of Gotham? I’d read it. Anyway, once Bruce realizes which gang might have a connection to the murder, he returns to the Rookery to look for more clues and straight-up offers to help the poor inhabitants if they’ll talk to him. Then we get the only standard panel layout in the issue, a sequence of people shutting their windows and curtains on Batman and his offer of help. Either they’re not interested or they’re too scared of the suspects he’s got in mind. But it tells the reader that there’s at least one thing you can count on in The Rookery: you’re on your own.
I was including sections in each review on what works and what doesn’t work, but there’s no need here. Everything works; this is a great setup with fantastic art and character work, which is what we’ve come to expect from this book. If I need to start including a “what doesn’t work” section, I will, but thankfully, it wasn’t necessary, and I don’t expect it will be.
I said at the beginning of this series that Batman struck me as a bit too cynical. But now I can see where Watters, Sherman, and the creative team are taking him. He’s always taking the detective’s approach, skeptical to a fault, and only willing to believe what can be deduced and proven. Gotham is pushing him emotionally with this series of tragedies, but I think it’s also forcing him to consider possibilities beyond what he’s willing to accept analytically. Maybe there is a “dark pattern” to Gotham that can’t be uncovered with just crime scene clues and a microscope. Maybe the Wound Man, Bledin Towers, and this new case are part of something bigger and more thoroughly evil than he’s willing to admit. Per the title “Pareidolia,” he mentions being skeptical about patterns multiple times in this issue because he doesn’t want to be distracted from the cold, hard truth, whatever it turns out to be. But the title of the whole series hints at a different outcome, and I’m eager to get there. – Trey Jackson