DC Comics
Written by, Grant Morrison
Illustrated by, Klaus Janson
Batman Gothic is a collection of the
Legend of the Dark Knight series(6-10) and boy, was it really good.
If you're a Batman fan, you've probably already read this or heard
something about it. Well, I just got done reading it for the first
time and it blew me away; a real page turner. It was written by Grant
Morrison, who everyone probably knows of by now. Illustrations were
done by Klaus Janson who has drawn many comics in the DC and Marvel
universe. This book also has an introduction by F. Paul Wilson, the
author of a bestseller called The Tomb...which I have never read or
heard of. Just some quick, personal back story: I think I have read
like 6 actual novels in my entire. So, obviously for information
regarding an author, I default to Wikipedia. I'll start this review
by trying to summarize Wilson's introduction for his words had me
sucked in immediately. Lets take a look into Batman Gothic.
Wilson's intro starts with descriptions
of the “soul.” He explains how it is linked with one's own
integrity and asks the reader what they would do with their soul.
Hold on to it or sell it, and if it was sold, how would one go about
taking it back. Immediately I started thinking about this. I don't
even think about things like souls nor am I a spiritual person, but
Wilson's words actually started making me think how valuable I hold a
soul. That's pretty impressive if you ask me. He then continues to
explain the term Gothic, the architecture obviously, but also the
mood it possesses. Wilson details Morrison's inspiration for writing
this comic, using ideas from the German legend Faust, the noir movie
M, and more...that I have no frame of reference to. I'm starting to
think this may not be a great review, but I liked the book so much, I
have to talk about it. I may not be able to link source material used
because I am totally uneducated in these books and subjects, but I am
educated in Batman. So, I'll do the best I can with this.
We open up with a couple of gangsters
beating the living hell out of some poor schmuck. During their
onslaught, some music plays and a goon goes to check it out. His
comrade notices that his buddy hasn't returned and investigates. He
finds a record player playing the English nursery rhyme, Oranges and
Lemons, which was a singing game that refers to church bells. A note
is pinned which is a line from the poem, The Rime of the Ancient
Mariner: Like one that on a lonesome road, doth walk in fear and
dread...which was also used in
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. Scenes like this happen throughout the
whole book when someone dies as Morrison used plenty of source
material that coincides with each person's death. A man then appears
behind the gangster and screams of pain ensue. The unknown person
then sets the bullied victim on fire.
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| Evil opens our story |
The
next pages show a dream Bruce Wayne has that ends with his father's
mouth stitched. Wayne awakens and talks to Alfred about having the
same nightmare. Cut to another gangster, that is trying to sneak out
of a hotel with a dude....dressed like a woman, gets another card
with a poem. The two enter an elevator and are dropped to their
deaths. This is forming a pattern of old gangsters, seemingly,
getting their just desserts. We cut to a gangster named Mr. Ottavio
that is getting a call from a friend and gangster, Jack Kane. Kane
describes that someone named Mr. Whisper has returned and is killing
everyone. Ottavio explains that Whisper should be dead, but before
they can continue, Kane is murdered and a voice on the other end says
that he is coming for them all. This is creepy, and very dark. I'm so
interested in how Batman is involved and why these gangsters are
dropping like flies. The dark illustrations and evil mood kept me
wanting more.
 |
| Some scary shit |
The
following pages are a combination of three things going on at the
same time. One has Batman preventing an alley murder. Batman tells
the criminals some weird shit, that this city is Hell and they are
part of the reason why. Then there are scenes will a gangster
attending Don Giovanni, receiving a poem, while an stranger asks an
usher to deliver a package to him. Then we cut to a girl coming off a
bus and being hassled by some thugs, but one look from her and they
cower. Then, the gangster opens the “gift” and we see a scene of
the opera house exploding. This collection of events was somewhat
bizarre, but they w ere played out as if it was in a movie. It's hard
for comic to pull that off(I don't know if that was the intention) in
my opinion, but it's as if I can play it out in my head, like a
movie. We segway to the last gangsters, Ottavio and Morgenstern, as
they talk more about Mr. Whisper and that their numbers are up. In an
act of desperation, they attempt to attract Batman. And they use
something I don't I have seen in a Batman comic. An upside down
Batsignal they put into the sky. Batman appears and they plead for
his help. He denies and uses my favorite line in the whole book:
A
scene appears with the girl from before that got off the bus, being
hassled out of Gotham Cathedral. Apparently, this girl is a nun that
is confused with a crazy person. Her scenes throughout the entire
book seem useless until the end, so I won't even bring her up again
until we come full circle. Continuing on, Bruce has another dream
with his father trying to tell him something. The only thing he can
get out of it is a message written saying “Unlock the Rose.” When
Wayne awakes, he tells Alfred a story from his childhood that he has
remembered. He went to a private school that had a great reputation
on the outside, but was home to bullies that picked on the weak.
Bruce had a friend that got picked on the most, and said that one day
he stopped coming to class. Wayne investigated and was caught by a
feared teacher, Mr. Winchester, a man the children said was evil and
that he did not cast a shadow. Winchester brought Wayne into his
office and began to hit him with a stick as he was bent over his
desk. Bruce saw two things; one, the head of his dead friend IN THE
TRASH BIN and that Mr. Winchester had no shadow. This is CREEPY. I
had to put the book down it freaked me out so much. The story telling
is so good in this book; Morrison impresses me so much throughout the
whole comic.
Cut to
Ottavio, who is shitting himself in his penthouse, when Mr. Whisper
finally shows up. Ottavio and his goons unload on Whisper and the man
still stands. Batman crashes onto the scene and gives chase to the
villain. Ottavio then realizes that his henchmen was poisoned from
wine they drank earlier and Ottavio falls victim to the same fate.
Batman faces off against Whisper and finds out that his attacks are
useless against this man. Whisper hits Batman off the balcony, but
thanks to his cape getting caught, he lives. Attempting to recapture
Winchester, Batman finds him on the same balcony and says that he
knows Batman. He then falls off the building into the street. This
villain is very tough. He ignores pain and it seems like he can not
die. The suspense of seeing if Batman can prevent killings and
wondering what he can do to topple this opponent had me gripping the
pages. It's pretty rare when I'm asking myself so many questions
about a character's intentions. You want to know why Mr. Whisper is
evil. You want to know why he is doing what he is doing. Shit,
everything is so damn interesting in this book!
 |
| Winchester is Mr. Whisper |
Batman
retreats to the Batcave, and tells Alfred that Mr. Whisper is
Winchester. He goes to his old private school to retrieve an old
recording Winchester made. Back to the Batcave where Batman examines
the recording and determines that he must go to Lake Dess in Austria.
Cut to some quick pages explaining that Ottavio's death wasn't at the
hands of Whisper but his gangster pal, Morgenstern, in an attempt to
own the Gotham underworld. Batman arrives at a monastery in Austria
in which the Abbott tells a story of a man named Manfred, that was a
great leader in the church 300 years ago. He was swayed by pride to
try and restore another man's faith that was torn asunder by sins.
Manfred gave into the sins and his followers killed and tortured and
believed that by committing horrible sins would lead to salvation.
During this dark time, Manfred contracted the Plague, and in return
for not dying, he sold his soul to the devil for the cure and 300
additional years of life. After this, the Dess River broke through
the land and drowned the monastery and all the sinners. It was told
that Manfred escaped on a boat with his diseased comrades. This story
was AMAZING! I don't know how much truth there was, or is Morrison
took it straight from another context, but it is so well written,
that I could BELIEVE that it actually happened. Did I mention how
kick ass the writing was?
 |
| Manfred sells his soul |
Batman
explores the sunken monastery and finds a rose, and based on his
dream, examined it and found an old drawing of a cathedral. He then
makes his way back to Gotham. He makes his way to the home of
Morgenstern where he explains that he knows he killed Ottavio. Batman
then inquires about Mr. Whisper and we are then exposed to another
story. Basically, Ottavio, Morgenstern, the Kane brothers, a bunch of
young gangsters trying to make it big, were held back from making
their way by a child killer. Since so many cops were on the streets,
the gangsters to it upon themselves to find the killer and get him
out of the way. They found Mr. Whisper. They shoot him through a
window and he falls out, but lives. Then one of the Kane brothers
starts hacking at him with an axe and Morgenstern explains that
Whisper just kept forming back together. So they tied him to an
anchor and dropped him in the sea. Morgenstern tells Batman that
there will be a group meeting at a Chemical factory and he wants his
help. But Batman is no where to be found. Mr. Whisper is one of the
creepiest villains I have read in a Batman comic. A mass murderer,
selling his soul to the devil, living through many attempted attacks;
it brings something different to Batman that I have not experienced.
And, once again, I am left eagerly wanting to know the conclusion.
Back
at his home, Batman tells Alfred the story of when he escaped the
private school and his father came. His father tore into Winchester
and Bruce was taken out of the school. And then the weird part of the
story is this: Bruce is so happy to be home, as well as his parents,
that they decide to celebrate. By going and seeing a movie, implying
that the time Bruce got back, was the night of his parents movie. A
very unexpected twist that brings more importance to Batman in this
comic.
Batman also explains that the cathedral drawing he found in
Austria is almost the exact replica of Gotham Cathedral. Batman makes
his way to the chemical factory to find Morgenstern and all with him
dead and hanging, which leads to another conflict with Mr. Whisper.
Once again, Batman's attempts are faulted by Whisper's lack of fear
and is subdued. On thing I really like about this scene is the way it
is drawn and the colors that were used. Big towering setting with a
blood red background; very effective and helped the mood just reek of
death.
Batman
is captured and Whisper reveals that he knew him to be Bruce Wayne.
Whisper explains more of how he escaped the monastery with the dead
bodies of his followers, still infected with the Plague. He
experimented with them to make a horrible Plague that would kill
millions. He continues to explain that his study of Gothic
architecture helped him build a cathedral that focuses energy. The
idea being, that if could get millions of souls, he can present them
to the Devil and exchange them for his own soul back. He laid his
disease in Gotham Cathedral and waited for enough people to live in
the city. He then tells Batman that he likes him and leaves him to
die in a very, well, stupid way; reminds me of a Bond villain.
Honestly, the story was great but the way he just leaves Batman to
die, is terrible. The candle burns the rope, a balloon is popped, the
shoe hits the ball and then MOUSE TRAP! Definitely the worse part of
the comic.
Whisper
thinks the day is his as we are rejoined with, what the fuck do I
call her, I don't know, “bus girl” from earlier. Batman hits the
scene, after his EASY ASS ESCAPE, and we see the final conflict
between our hero and Whisper. Batman fights off Whisper in a subway
tunnel and thwarts his plan, preventing Gotham from being infected by
the Plague. We end by finding out that bus girl is the Devil and she
takes Whisper down to Hell.
This
comic was fucking great! It has been a long time since something like
this has sucked me in and never let me go. Grant Morrison's writing
was excellent and his reference to outside content got me interested
in researching(trust me, that's really hard for me to do). You really get a feel for everything, the conflict, the surroundings, the history, everything. Janson's
illustrations were really gloomy and fit the mood of Gothic very
well. I highly recommend this book. Seriously, give it a read and get
blown away.
