SYNOPSIS: “As bells ring out across Gotham City, blood runs in its streets. Doctor Geist’s plan has come to fruition, and his legion of loyal followers unleash the evil inside their rotting hearts upon friends, neighbors, and strangers alike. But there’s an evil lurking deep in Batman’s heart as well, one that Doctor Geist himself discovered long ago—and the only way to save Gotham might be to set it free once and for all…”
Let’s start by addressing the elephant in the room. It’s been a year and a half since the last installment of the Black Label series, Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham, and a year since the one prior. I don’t know why the book was delayed, but the question is, “Was it worth it?”
Your mileage may vary, but in a word, yes.
B:GoG stands apart from the main continuity, meaning that when all is said and done and this is collected in hardcover on your bookshelf, will most remember how long it took to come out? Will those who experience it for the first time in a collected edition care? Probably not, as what they are about to dive into is a visual tour de force combining several Batman influences into a unique vision of Gotham hell-bent on damnation…and redemption.
Being published under the Black Label imprint means the restraints are off when it comes to what comic auteur Rafael Grampá unleashes onto the page. Aided on colors by Mat Lopes and with letters by John Workman, Grampá pushes the reader into the metaphysical while still grounding the work with contemporary social issues. What are the true forces that made Bruce Wayne into a Bat-Man? Grampá treats us to his unique vision, packing it with thrilling twists, turns, and grisly violence, pushing Bruce Wayne and the denizens of Gotham to the limits.
This conclusion is BIG, bringing to mind epic finales across Batman’s storied career across mediums, including The Dark Knight Returns and The Dark Knight Rises. Will Grampá end his tale on a similar note of hope? That’s for the reader to decide, but the final page is sure to take your breath away! I know it did mine.
I was very curious how the disparate elements of the story would coalesce. I have to say Grampá somehow makes sense of it all, connecting the rich, the poor, the heroes, the villains, the innocents, and the guilty into a fully realized Gotham that intertwines all its inhabitants to where one can’t coexist without the other.
I really loved how Grampá plays with religious themes and identity, particularly the dichotomy. What’s the difference between a devil and a gargoyle? What is the line between hero and villain? Can the Good have guilt, and can they be released from it and find hope?
Grampá delivers stunning artwork, adding a layer to the dichotomy of his themes with a style that is both cartoonish and exaggerated and simultaneously densely detailed and gritty. It’s a book that looks like nothing else today and is worth the price of admission alone. A true work of art.
Having revisited the whole series to write this review, I have to be honest that I’m still digesting it and what the book is saying. Grampá delivers a compelling Batman, one who has determined what the fate of Bruce Wayne should be, taking him upon an odyssey of revelation and challenging his world view. Did Gotham make him? Did he make Gotham? What of Little Joker? While closing some doors, Grampá opens others and I hope this isn’t the last we see of him on The Dark Knight.
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham is bold, daring, inventive-everything we want Batman to be and well worth the wait. – Javier E. Trujillo
GRADE: A+
