Ricky Church reviews Batman #5…
“I Am Gotham” part five. In the final chapter of this epic, is Batman truly the hero Gotham City deserves—or does it deserve better? In this ultimate showdown, where the line between allies and enemies blurs, the question will finally be answered…and the fate of Gotham will be decided.
Tom King wraps up the opening arc for Batman in an epic brawl as Batman throws everything at the crazed wannabe hero Gotham before he destroys the city. While there isn’t much story to be found in this concluding chapter, there was plenty of tense action and some moments that delivered good character beats, particularly with Gotham Girl.
The beginning was quite notable for its levity despite the situation at hand. Seeing Alfred suited up as Batman and ready to go toe-to-toe with Gotham was quite funny and something I thought I’d never quite see in a Batman comic. Alfred’s wit shined through in these opening pages as well, imaging what he’d say to Thomas Wayne were circumstances a it different. As well as being humorous, however, this also hinted at Alfred’s anger towards Thomas and pain at the life Bruce leads, delving a bit deeper into what makes the trusted butler tick.
From there its non-stop action as Batman used all the gadgets at his disposal to stop Gotham’s rampage. King displayed Batman’s intellect very well in this sequence, showing just what he was capable of when cornered by an overpowering enemy. David Finch’s artwork really shined through in this fight, detailing the tears in the costumes, cracks in the street and other damage these two heroes laid at each other, particularly displaying the intense anger and fear on Gotham’s face.
The one character who shined through the most was Gotham Girl, finally getting some must needed development after several issues. She was always pushed to the sideline, but Batman #5 gave her a prominent role. Her interactions with Duke also helped expand both characters, even going so far as to drop some interesting hints for the future of King’s run. Some answers were also given as well as to how the Gotham siblings gained their powers, yet Gotham’s turn to evil, even if he was partly brainwashed, seemed a bit rushed.
As King closes out his first arc, he presented some interesting ideas, examinations of the characters and intriguing hints for the future, but a bit more time could have been devoted to fleshing out Gotham and his state of mind. Still, King and Finch depicted a great fight between Batman and Gotham and how much danger a young, reckless man could do with such power.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church
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Originally published August 25, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
