Batman: City of Madness #3 (of 3)
(W) Christian Ward (A) Christian Ward
In Shops: Feb 13, 2024
SRP: $6.99
The terrible origin of the Gotham Below–and of those responsible for protecting its maddening secrets–is revealed! Batman and Talon have fought their way through the underground city’s nightmarish villains to rescue Jevony, but has the Batman Below already twisted his mind past the point of saving?
Batman: City of Madness #2 (of 3)
(W) Christian Ward (A) Christian Ward
In Shops: Dec 12, 2023
SRP: $6.99
The Court of Owls summons Batman, demanding he venture deep beneath the city to fight what has been unleashed from its depths: a wave of madness infecting Gotham’s villains, driven by the monstrous creature they’re calling the Batman Below. But the Court has not-entirely-noble reasons for wanting this chaos stopped… Is Batman their weapon, or their bait?
Buried deep beneath Gotham City there exists another Gotham. This Gotham Below is a living nightmare, populated by twisted mirrors of our Gotham’s denizens, fueled by the fear and hatred flowing down from above. For decades, the doorway between the cities has been sealed and heavily guarded by the Court of Owls. But now the door swings wide, and the twisted version of the Dark Knight has escaped…to trap and train a Robin of his own. Batman must form an uneasy alliance with the Court and its deadly allies to stop him-and to hold back the wave of twisted super-villains, nightmarish versions of his own nemeses, each one worse than the last, that’s spilling into his streets! Batman: City of Madness #1 unleashes a new nightmare on Gotham in a comic that delivers haunting visuals to match its ethereal storytelling.
Batman: City of Madness #1 is a solid debut showing off Christian Ward‘s strengths as a writer and artist. A DC Black Label release, it features a story that feels like it’s outside of Batman’s continuity but at the same time could completely fit in. Split into three focused plots, everything flows one into another with dialogue and storytelling that has a dreamlike quality about it. Really nightmare quality. That matches Ward’s artistic style which here looks like a beautiful dream that edges on turning into scares.
Batman is being warned about something coming as he’s sucked into the latest mystery that whispers to him and Harvey Dent from beyond. The Court of Owls is dealing with divisions within its own ranks as they must deal with a creature that may or may not exist from beyond. Then, there’s a young boy dealing with the violence of Gotham as he seeks his own revenge. All three stories begin to come together in the end for that feels like it might be a modern classic Batman miniseries in the making.
Ward’s art is of course beautiful. Like the writing itself, there’s an ethereal style to it that’s almost poetic and would fit right in with a story in the Sandman Universe. It’s hauntingly beautiful and borders on dream and nightmare. The art being so good isn’t a surprise at all.
Batman: City of Madness #1 is good. It’s really good. There’s so much going for it from the story, to the dialogue, and then how the art brings it all together. It’s the perfect Batman story for the spooky season and one to absolutely pick up for fans of Batman or horror.
Story: Christian Ward Art: Christian Ward Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Story: 8.75 Art: 8.75 Overall: 8.75 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
Wednesdays (and Tuesdays) are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in
Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!
Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.
A Haunted Girl #1 (Image Comics) – Cleo, an adopted 16-year-old Japanese-American whose depression drove her to near-suicide, is trying unsuccessfully to reintegrate back into her old life. But her struggles are just beginning as she encounters an increasingly terrifying succession of ghosts.
American Psycho #1 (Massive Publishing/Sumerian) – Witness the greatest hits of Patrick’s murderous rampage while exploring new revelations in the world of American Psycho. On that, we’re dubious, but it’s also the journey of an all-new psychopath as social media obsessed millennial. That, we’re more intrigued by.
Batman and Robin #2 (DC Comics) – The first issue did a great job of balancing superheroics and family drama and we’re expecting more!
Batman: City of Madness #1 (DC Comics) – Writer/artist Christian Ward takes on Batman, nuff said.
Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #1 (Marvel) – It’s such a silly concept but perfect for the season.
Destiny Gate #1 (Image Comics/Top Cow Production) – Life, for the most part, is the product of the decisions you make. For some, a “wrong” decision or two (or more) leads to a crossroads on the other side of the Destiny Gate.
Earthdivers #11 (IDW Publishing) – Mission isn’t accomplished so it’s on to 1776 and an attempt to cave out a better future in the Declaration of Independence.
Mech Cadets #3 (BOOM! Studios) – The series has been a fantastic reintroduction to the world that mixes up military/giant robot/alien genres with youthful energy.
Midlife Hero at Fifty #1 (Image Comics) – After 25 years in the LAFD, Ruben’s firmly in the middle of an unremarkable life…until his new wife gets pregnant and a random act of courage reveals that Ruben is FIREPROOF!
Nights #1 (Image Comics) – Supernatural creatures exist among the common folk, and America is comprised of just 31 states. Ok, that’s enough to get us to check this out.
Operation Sunshine #1 (Dark Horse) – A group of young, alienated vampires known as “bugs” plot to steal a magical object from ancient monstrous vampires to turn themselves back to human.
Scarlett Couture: The Munich File #3 (Titan Comics) – Sexy pop spy action!
Superior Spider-Man Returns #1 (Marvel) – We’re fans of the original run with the character and intrigued to see how this return happens.
Wesley Dodds: The Sandman #1 (DC Comics) – The classic Sandman is back and must get his journal with all of the other failed and more deadly gas formulas back.
Batman: City of Madness #1 (of 3)
(W) Christian Ward (A) Christian Ward
In Shops: Oct 10, 2023
SRP: $6.99
VISIONARY CREATOR CHRISTIAN WARD UNLEASHES A COSMIC-HORROR EPIC, FEATURING THE COURT OF OWLS! Buried deep beneath Gotham City there exists another Gotham. This Gotham Below is a living nightmare, populated by twisted mirrors of our Gotham’s denizens, fueled by the fear and hatred flowing down from above. For decades, the doorway between the cities has been sealed and heavily guarded by the Court of Owls. But now the door swings wide, and the twisted version of the Dark Knight has escaped…to trap and train a Robin of his own. Batman must form an uneasy alliance with the Court and its deadly allies to stop him–and to hold back the wave of twisted super-villains, nightmarish versions of his own nemeses, each one worse than the last, that’s spilling into his streets! Visionary writer-artist Christian Ward unleashes his cosmic-horror take on Batman’s world, in a tribute to disturbing Dark Knight classics like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Gothic! You’ll never look at Batman’s villains the same way again…you simply won’t have the stomach for it!
