Batman: Gothic

All right, if you’re a comic book fan, then you likely know about the writer Grant Morrison and the work he’s done on The Invisibles, Doom Patrol, Justice League, Seven Soldiers, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and the regular Batman comics.

But you might not have heard of one of his older Batman tales, called Batman: Gothic. This 5-issue story was drawn by Klaus Janson, and originally printed in the early issues of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

The story kicks off when a mysterious character called Mr. Whisper starts killing the heads of organized crime in Gotham City. As Batman investigates, he discovers that Mr. Whisper is the same person responsible for a horrifying incident that happened in Bruce Wayne’s childhood, while he attended a private school for boys. This was before the horrifying incident that put Bruce Wayne on the road to becoming Batman. Which makes one wonder exactly how much of Bruce Wayne’s childhood wasn’t tied up in dark and traumatic events. But that’s just the way these things tend to go.

Batman: Gothic starts off well, and it has some interesting concepts to work with, though not as much as Morrison’s later comics. And the story does seem to flounder a bit in the middle, as Morrison explains the history of Mr. Whisper a little too much. While he is an interesting character, he was a great deal more interesting when he was a mystery. Still, a flawed Grant Morrison tale is still stronger than most of what’s on the stands, and it is a satisfying read. And it should also be said that even though Batman: Gothic was first published in 1990, it doesn’t feel at all dated.

So, call this one a pretty good Batman story that Morrison wrote early in his career, and hadn’t quite developed the writing style that he’d become known for.

- Nate