Batman: Gotham County Line.
February 5th 2008 22:39
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Batman originally created by Bob Kane.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Production Team: Steve Niles – writer, Scott Hampton – artist, Jose Villarrubia – colourist, Pat Brosseau – letterer and Angi Shearstone – art assistance on book three.
Cost: $US 17.99.
Suburbia; the region of any major city that is often a place where most people would expect there to be a relative degree of normalcy or conformity if not both. Excitement and the extraordinary are definitely not qualities often associated on a regular basis with Suburbia. Yet it is often wondered if the various white picket fenced houses and neat condominiums actually conceal something, something dark and sinister that very rarely is ever seen in the cold harsh light of day. After all Suburbia is perhaps a little bit too humdrum and dull for there not to be anything going on, for there not to be any hidden secrets behind the doors of the many houses and apartment blocks with their neatly manicured lawns. Perhaps it is the fact that Suburbia is such a strong veneer that has managed to stand the rigours of inspection and thus does not reveal the bizarre and depraved that lurks beneath it. Certainly such regions are not the usual haunts of Gotham City’s Dark Knight, his bailiwick is the dark beating heart of the city not its outer limits. Still at the request of his long time friend James Gordon Batman looks in a series of murders that has been perplexing the homicide detectives of Gotham County Sheriffs Department (GCSD).
Gotham County Line has been written by horror writer Steve Niles who was responsible for the film 30 Days of Night, a vampire flick that the Lantern is keen to cast its viridian gaze upon at some stage. Here in this graphic novel Mr Niles has bent his talents towards the Dark Knight and created an unusual story that works very well and fits neatly into the whole oeuvre of Batman. Lets face the other moniker that Batman is often known by is the Detective and this story is a well crafted fusion of both detective and horror genres into a compelling whole in which the questions of reality, rationalism and the afterlife are all raised alongside of the drama of preventing a criminal from getting with his hideous crimes. A dark seed has found purchase in the soil of Gotham’s suburbs and found this soil to be very much to its liking, over the years it has been nurtured waiting for the right time and circumstances in which it can finally bloom. Naturally Batman is completely unaware of this, the events he is about to find himself involved in are a whole new world to him and what he also doesn’t realise is that in this mindset lies the very catalyst by which everything occurs.
Strangely the story beings not with the Dark Knight in suburbia seeking to unravel the rationale behind a series of brutal murders but instead we see him clashing with his age old foe; the Joker. As the two rivals trade blows there suddenly begins a dialogue on the nature of the afterlife and whether or not one actually exists. Batman, the rationalist that he is naturally doesn’t believe in one whereas his foe feels that there has to be something more than mundane everyday existence and ends the brief dialogue with “I mean there’s gotta be more right?” He seems mildly perturbed that there might not be any afterlife and somehow his remarks spark something in the mind of his lifelong adversary. With the Joker bundled into police custody Batman returns to his subterranean hideout to recuperate from his injuries and ponder matters spiritual.
Its whilst he and Alfred are engaged in finding out any factual information in regards to the afterlife that the bright red Bat phone rings, its retired commissioner James Gordon on the line. No doubt there is some dire event occurring or about to occur out on the city’s mean streets and with nary a thought for his injuries sustained in combat with the Joker Batman leaps into action to rendezvous with Gordon. The meeting with his long time ally brings to his attention a series of brutal killings that have the officers of GCSD baffled, they need help and Gordon believes that Batman is the one man who can bring the killer to justice. At first the Dark Knight is reluctant to get involved, the burbs are not his beat but it doesn’t take much prompting by the retired commissioner to get him to look into the matter. A line has been crossed.
Rather than leaping behind the wheel of his trusty Batmobile our protagonist instead dons a recently completed jet pack and flies into the area where the crimes have been committed. As I saw this particular scene, the Batman travelling into Suburbia via jet pack it was rather strange. It was almost as if the artist was attempting to convey that this was a crossing of a boundary, that Batman was not just only travelling to a crime scene but that he was effectively entering a whole new world. And in the mind of Batman this is essentially the case, the burbs may be all part of the city in which he dwells yet they are a foreign country to him, a place distinct from the dark beating heart that he is more intimately connected with. Yet in setting foot in leafy Suburbia he is about to find out that he has not only crossed into a new geographic location he is about to literary cross over.
As soon as he makes his presence known in the area the case swiftly becomes open and shut, in little time the Dark Knight has fingered the perpetrator and gets ready to move in on this individual. It seems that a member of the GCSD has been behind the killings and Batman wastes no time in attempting to capture them, unfortunately the killer commits suicide before Batman can make an arrest. Case closed, though not in the way that both Batman and the GCSD were hoping. It’s all over and Batman makes his farewells and returns back to the city that he is more familiar with believing along with the other detectives that the matter has been resolved. Unfortunately this is not the case, not by a long shot.
Black magic and undeath are unleashed upon the Dark Knight as he awakes after the events of his sojourn to Suburbia, things have changed drastically and it seems that he has become locked into a nightmare reality that is the creation of the murderer he attempted to bring to justice. It seems that his foe has done his research; the crimes were committed in their particular way in order to prompt the series of events that occurred and Batman unwittingly acted as his adversary expected him to in order to give impetus to the curse that has been cast by the killer. What the killer doesn’t realise is that the curse that has been formed has drawn the attention of others, those whose bailiwick are the realms of the dead and the mystical and they’re actively inclined towards helping the Dark Knight in trying to unravel this unusual fold in space and time that is the result of the killer’s curse.
Throughout this entire story Batman literally looks like someone who does not really belong in the places where he treads, he is a stranger in a strange land and it’s only when the proverbial hits the fan that he begins to realise exactly how strange the territory he is now in is. The other interesting note is the fact that the killer and the Dark Knight both share a similar historical incident; the death of parents at the hands of criminals, and it seems that for each this incident has been a defining moment in their respective lives. The difference lies that Batman has sought to prevent crime whilst the foe has used it to follow a dark and twisted path. Batman: Gotham County Line is a riveting tale that just goes to show that there is still a lot that can be done with such an iconic character as Batman, the city in which he operates and his entire oeuvre, top marks to the production team and DC Comics for bringing out such an excellent story.
Publisher: DC Comics.
Production Team: Steve Niles – writer, Scott Hampton – artist, Jose Villarrubia – colourist, Pat Brosseau – letterer and Angi Shearstone – art assistance on book three.
Cost: $US 17.99.
Suburbia; the region of any major city that is often a place where most people would expect there to be a relative degree of normalcy or conformity if not both. Excitement and the extraordinary are definitely not qualities often associated on a regular basis with Suburbia. Yet it is often wondered if the various white picket fenced houses and neat condominiums actually conceal something, something dark and sinister that very rarely is ever seen in the cold harsh light of day. After all Suburbia is perhaps a little bit too humdrum and dull for there not to be anything going on, for there not to be any hidden secrets behind the doors of the many houses and apartment blocks with their neatly manicured lawns. Perhaps it is the fact that Suburbia is such a strong veneer that has managed to stand the rigours of inspection and thus does not reveal the bizarre and depraved that lurks beneath it. Certainly such regions are not the usual haunts of Gotham City’s Dark Knight, his bailiwick is the dark beating heart of the city not its outer limits. Still at the request of his long time friend James Gordon Batman looks in a series of murders that has been perplexing the homicide detectives of Gotham County Sheriffs Department (GCSD).
Its whilst he and Alfred are engaged in finding out any factual information in regards to the afterlife that the bright red Bat phone rings, its retired commissioner James Gordon on the line. No doubt there is some dire event occurring or about to occur out on the city’s mean streets and with nary a thought for his injuries sustained in combat with the Joker Batman leaps into action to rendezvous with Gordon. The meeting with his long time ally brings to his attention a series of brutal killings that have the officers of GCSD baffled, they need help and Gordon believes that Batman is the one man who can bring the killer to justice. At first the Dark Knight is reluctant to get involved, the burbs are not his beat but it doesn’t take much prompting by the retired commissioner to get him to look into the matter. A line has been crossed.
Rather than leaping behind the wheel of his trusty Batmobile our protagonist instead dons a recently completed jet pack and flies into the area where the crimes have been committed. As I saw this particular scene, the Batman travelling into Suburbia via jet pack it was rather strange. It was almost as if the artist was attempting to convey that this was a crossing of a boundary, that Batman was not just only travelling to a crime scene but that he was effectively entering a whole new world. And in the mind of Batman this is essentially the case, the burbs may be all part of the city in which he dwells yet they are a foreign country to him, a place distinct from the dark beating heart that he is more intimately connected with. Yet in setting foot in leafy Suburbia he is about to find out that he has not only crossed into a new geographic location he is about to literary cross over.
As soon as he makes his presence known in the area the case swiftly becomes open and shut, in little time the Dark Knight has fingered the perpetrator and gets ready to move in on this individual. It seems that a member of the GCSD has been behind the killings and Batman wastes no time in attempting to capture them, unfortunately the killer commits suicide before Batman can make an arrest. Case closed, though not in the way that both Batman and the GCSD were hoping. It’s all over and Batman makes his farewells and returns back to the city that he is more familiar with believing along with the other detectives that the matter has been resolved. Unfortunately this is not the case, not by a long shot.
Black magic and undeath are unleashed upon the Dark Knight as he awakes after the events of his sojourn to Suburbia, things have changed drastically and it seems that he has become locked into a nightmare reality that is the creation of the murderer he attempted to bring to justice. It seems that his foe has done his research; the crimes were committed in their particular way in order to prompt the series of events that occurred and Batman unwittingly acted as his adversary expected him to in order to give impetus to the curse that has been cast by the killer. What the killer doesn’t realise is that the curse that has been formed has drawn the attention of others, those whose bailiwick are the realms of the dead and the mystical and they’re actively inclined towards helping the Dark Knight in trying to unravel this unusual fold in space and time that is the result of the killer’s curse.
Throughout this entire story Batman literally looks like someone who does not really belong in the places where he treads, he is a stranger in a strange land and it’s only when the proverbial hits the fan that he begins to realise exactly how strange the territory he is now in is. The other interesting note is the fact that the killer and the Dark Knight both share a similar historical incident; the death of parents at the hands of criminals, and it seems that for each this incident has been a defining moment in their respective lives. The difference lies that Batman has sought to prevent crime whilst the foe has used it to follow a dark and twisted path. Batman: Gotham County Line is a riveting tale that just goes to show that there is still a lot that can be done with such an iconic character as Batman, the city in which he operates and his entire oeuvre, top marks to the production team and DC Comics for bringing out such an excellent story.
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