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Batman: Gotham County Line TPB
Batman: Gotham County Line TPB
Written By Steve Niles
Art by Scott Hampton
Published By DC Comics. $17.99 USD
Writer Niles starts with a basically good, "why didn't anyone think of this first?" premise: have Batman work on a case outside the city limits of Gotham. From there it's a little bit Hot Fuzz, a little bit Shaun of the Dead. Small town, they do things differently, resent the intrusion of know-it-all Batman, etc. But it's a gruesome murder and the police are out of their depth. Once we find out one of the detectives is behind the murders, and continues to bedevil Batman even after a successful suicide by hanging, is when it plays to the strengths of both Niles and Hampton, both more comfortable with the macabre than typical superhero stuff.
And it's reasonably diverting, but the gimmick that Batman is trapped in a world of the killer's devising, where the dead are very active threats, doesn't quite come together. It seems like Niles just uses it whichever way works best for the moment, and luckily Deadman, and later, Phanton Stranger, are around to help coach Batman through it. Both guest stars definitely serve a purpose in the story, but not a very organic one. It never feels like Niles really had an itch to write either character or had anything to say with them, it's just that he needed some mystical types to help Batman, and the reader, make sense of what was happening, and so he choose them from among several other DC characters who would have sufficed.
Niles writes a very standard, confident, terse Batman, which is fine. When he deviates from the model it's only with actions, such as having Batman use a jetpack frequently to move around the small town. Kind of odd, but no harm done. Less defensible was his use of dead Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne's parents. Their appearances are kind of cheap and unearned, and what reason would there be by now to continue to draw the Waynes in '20s clothes?
While there's never any real suspense, or point, it's creepy enough to look at and fairly entertaining. Not a highlight in anyone's careers but neither should anyone regret their efforts here, either.
Written By Steve Niles
Art by Scott Hampton
Published By DC Comics. $17.99 USD
Writer Niles starts with a basically good, "why didn't anyone think of this first?" premise: have Batman work on a case outside the city limits of Gotham. From there it's a little bit Hot Fuzz, a little bit Shaun of the Dead. Small town, they do things differently, resent the intrusion of know-it-all Batman, etc. But it's a gruesome murder and the police are out of their depth. Once we find out one of the detectives is behind the murders, and continues to bedevil Batman even after a successful suicide by hanging, is when it plays to the strengths of both Niles and Hampton, both more comfortable with the macabre than typical superhero stuff.
And it's reasonably diverting, but the gimmick that Batman is trapped in a world of the killer's devising, where the dead are very active threats, doesn't quite come together. It seems like Niles just uses it whichever way works best for the moment, and luckily Deadman, and later, Phanton Stranger, are around to help coach Batman through it. Both guest stars definitely serve a purpose in the story, but not a very organic one. It never feels like Niles really had an itch to write either character or had anything to say with them, it's just that he needed some mystical types to help Batman, and the reader, make sense of what was happening, and so he choose them from among several other DC characters who would have sufficed.
Niles writes a very standard, confident, terse Batman, which is fine. When he deviates from the model it's only with actions, such as having Batman use a jetpack frequently to move around the small town. Kind of odd, but no harm done. Less defensible was his use of dead Jason Todd and Bruce Wayne's parents. Their appearances are kind of cheap and unearned, and what reason would there be by now to continue to draw the Waynes in '20s clothes?
While there's never any real suspense, or point, it's creepy enough to look at and fairly entertaining. Not a highlight in anyone's careers but neither should anyone regret their efforts here, either.
Posted by ChristopherAllen at 9:03 PM [Link to this post]
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