Gotham State: Batman #8 Review

I have said before that the Court of Owls storyline in Batman has followed a familiar and well-trod path that was previously laid down in stories like The Cult: Batman is overwhelmed by an implacable foe and imprisoned. Batman is psychologically broken down. Batman escapes and returns to his cave to cower for a while. The villain that broke Batman begins to run amok in Gotham City. Batman mopes around and listens to The Shins until Natalie Portman teaches him what it’s like to really feel. Wait, something there’s not quite right… I meant Batman returns to his cave and snivels. I think. Maybe. Whatever.

Anyway, Batman #8 continues following that classic old chestnut of an arc by starting the part of the story where Batman locates and reattachs his balls, and begins his counterattack against the villain who broke him. Based on what has come before, both in this story arc and in the similar stories that preceeded and clearly inspired it, this is expected and as predictable as night following day or Natalie Portman being introduced in a meet cute in any movie in which she appears that doesn’t include ballet or lightsabers.

Just because it is predictable, however, does not mean that it is boring. Because Jesus Christ, this is an intense and fun comic book… provided you can stop yourself from saying with every page turn, “I read this when it was written by Jim Starlin, drawn by Bernie Wrightson, and Natalie Portman was meeting cute with French assassins and posssibly the occasional delighted sweaty ‘fan’  in a stained raincoat.”

The story here is simple, and is the setup for the Bat-books big summer event: The Court of Owls has activated all of their Talons, and are sending them to kill every public figure in Gotham City, from Commissioner Gordon to Queen Amidala. They have also sent about thirty of their best and mouthiest Talons to Stately Wayne Manor to stick a pin in poor old wounded and psychologically damaged Bruce Wayne, because they know that he is The Batman and because they apparently have never read a Batman comic book before. Protip for multimillionare villains with the resources to keep dozens of highly-trained assassins in indefinite cryogenic freeze and who know Bruce Wayne is Batman: if you have the cash to send that many assassins to Wayne Manor with swords, swallow the up-front capital investment and send them to Wayne Manor with rocket launchers instead. Batman beat a little-known swordsman names Rás-Al-Ghul in a straight up duel, and you’re no Rás-Al-Ghul. Based on your taunting dialogue, you’re barely even Luther from The Warriors. But I’m getting off point here.

There are two things working in this issue that made it a solid achievement in my eyes, and the first is the in the dialogue of the Talons attacking Wayne Manor. As I previously implied, it is childish taunting, along the lines of, “Go ahead, Bruce! Try to run away! We’ll follow you wherever you go!” and it goes on for pages and pages, and it makes Farkus from A Christmas Story sound like Dorothy Parker. But it has two effects, the first born of the way they address Batman: “Bruce.” It is almost always “Bruce,” not “Batman,” even as they attack him in the Batcave, and never simply, “Wayne” in the manner of sneering adults. They sound like schoolyard bullies, which goes miles in showing how the Court of Owls and their Talons view Batman: as a child who they want to smack down. The use of dialogue like this is classic “show, don’t tell,” when it comes to character, and it adds two things to the story: a creepy vibe, and a built-in emotional trigger for any reader who has ever been bullied (comic geeks, bullied? I know it’s a reach, but stick with me) to automatically hate the villains. It’s smart writing, and it works.

The second thing that made this issue exceptional to me was the progression of Bruce Wayne’s characterization. He starts the issue moping in the dark like some kind of emo kid. When the Talons attack, Bruce responds with mouthy wisecracks. But as the battle proceeds, Bruce becomes less verbal. He becomes more violent. The progression is subtle – or at least as subtle as it can be when you only have 20 pages in which to do it – but it goes a long way toward demonstrating brain-shattered Bruce Wayne’s progression back toward being Batman, and in it’s own way, it is as satisfying as a page long sequence of Bruce suiting back up would be, even if that sequence were drawn by Bernie Wrightson (*cough*).

Greg Capullo’s art in the first part of this issue remains consistent with his earluer work; it is fine-lined and detailed, and while his facial expressions are generally solid, although for some reason the man sometime draws Bruce Wayne’s whiskers as growing radially and proportionately from a central point on his chin, as if the Tunguska blast of 1909 occurred there. Rafael Albequerque’s art in the second story part is very different, yet equally satisfying; it is slightly more abstract and thick-lined which brings a solid, weighty feel to the story, particuarly when he shows Batman in his power armor, which looks like what causes Tony Stark to wake up screaming with vague dream-addled images of forced sodomy in his head. The conflicting styles give the book a slightly schzoid feeling, but both work on their own merits.

Batman #8 is an action-packed book with strong writing and a straight-ahead plot that will carry you along nicely, and which felt like a nice rebound from the misfire of issue #7. The character work by Snyder is masterful, and amongst the best and most subtly effective, I’ve seen in any comic book in the past several weeks. It did what the first issue of a major event needs to do: it made me excited for the rest of the event.

And the moment when Alfred puts out the call to “The [Batman] Family” for reinforcements gives the issue a feeling of rising action that the first issue of an event needs… just don’t be like me when you read that sequence and mutter, “Dude… if Batman needs help, why is he calling Jason fucking Todd? Call Natalie Portman. She will remind you how to love. Plus that chick knows Darth Vader, V, and fucking Thor.”