Batman: The Black Mirror

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Commissioner Gordon doesn't trust his son, so he has Barbara Gordon run tests on James Jr.'s anti-psychotic medication. It turns out that he's inverted the formula to increase psychotic tendencies. They believe he's going to use his connections with Leslie Thompkins to infect an infant nutrition center, turning hundreds of babies into young sociopaths. The Commissioner runs to James Jr.'s home to try and catch him, but instead he finds a box containing the keys of everyone he's ever killed... this includes Bess Keller's keychain on top of the pile. Elsewhere the Joker escapes from Arkham Asylum and begins his next murder spree. [9] My Dark Architect Snyder writes the James Gordon Jnr storyline brilliantly, where the suspense between whether or not he's telling the truth is kept up tightly until the right time, and the way the character is written is both chilling and captivating, like Kevin Spacey's performance as John Doe in "Se7en". His normality is what's so disarming, and the artwork by Francesco Francavilla who draws/paints this storyline adds to the creepiness. He draws James as this normal looking kid but the expression on his face is as scary as anyone you'd find in Arkham Asylum.

Original 2016 Review: Up until the last 3 issues I was in the 3.5-4 area. It was solid stuff, but then those last 3 issues happened and BOOM it shot up to a 5/5. This is now my favorite Batman story next to Hush and Court of Owls. In addition to that, Snyder also works in nice references to past Batman stories like The Killing Joke, Year One, and A Death in the Family while still making this feel like a whole new era. Some of the best and creepiest stuff revolves around Gordon’s messed up son who may not wear a crazy outfit but definitely belongs in the ranks of Gotham’s criminally insane. The only disappointing thing was that the Joker story seemed kind of weak and short, but that’s a small complaint. As the conflict comes closer to its resolution, they find that the truth behind this murderous crime spree isn’t just careening toward their doorstep—it has in fact emerged from it. Can two of Gotham’s proudest protectors bring justice to this malevolent threat in Commissioner Gordon’s most personal battle to date? The Post-Crisis version of Grayson had him become the first and only Nightwing, with his costume partially inspired by his father, who at one time wore a circus costume that was a variant of colleague Boston Brand's Deadman costume. James Jr. has displayed violent behavior from an early age; as a child, he kills animals and takes them apart as a hobby. He is also implicated in the disappearance of one of his sister's friends, Bess Keller. Barbara swears that she saw James carrying Bess' keychain, although this is never proven. [8] His antisocial behavior contributes to his parents' divorce. [9] He is mentioned having left Gotham to travel around the country at some point. [10]The extra fun in Snyder's writing is it's clear he's doing research, gathering raw details about the subjects to lend some authenticity to the narration - not just making shit up, but pulling out notions that fit into the scene.

I met some villains I have never met before, like the Dealer and whatever the other guy's name was. The one who stays underground and feeds people to sharks. Social Darwinist: James Jr believes that empathy is weakness and looks to eradicate it in the next generation of Gothamites by mixing his psychopathy-enhancing formula to baby formula in the city. Eventually, Nightwing learned that Bruce was taken down by Bane and that he had chosen a total unknown called Jean-Paul Valley in his place as Batman. While Nightwing didn't agree with the decision, he trusted Bruce's judgement. [22] The tone of this series was pretty dark, but I liked that Snyder was still able to insert a bit of humor to it.Story-wise, I have no issue whatsoever with this, but I would have to say, I wasn't a big fan of the illustrations. I liked how there was a dark tone to it the entire time, but I just don't feel it. Sorry. As the conflict comes closer to its resolution, they find that the truth behind this murderous crime spree isn't just careening toward their doorstep--it has in fact emerged from it. Can two of Gotham's proudest protectors bring justice to this malevolent threat in Commissioner Gordon's most personal battle to date? First Scott Snyder helped rescue vampires from the clutches of teen-age girls in his American Vampire series, and now he’s saving Batman from the muddled mess that Grant Morrison and DC had put him in. Snyder may be the biggest super-hero of them all. As his journey with Batman and Robin began, Nightwing found himself with Robin trying to capture criminals associated with Intergang and they travelled across Europe, taking them down. [67] After a while, Nightwing returned to Gotham, following Intergang's trail. He worked with the new Batwoman and Renee Montoya to stop Intergang from destroying Gotham, shutting off dozens of fire spewing devices spread across the city.

Escapology: Due to his training with Batman, he possess extreme skill in escapology. He was able to escape a maze before the Flash could, [138] release himself from police handcuffs in an instant before the cop could even notice, and was able to use a Tibetan Mind Technique to escape virtual reality. [139] Though, down in the streets below, a mother walks with her newborn in a baby carriage. The baby's eyes are wide with a eerie look, indicating that James Jr may have succeeded with his plan, but only time will tell. Collected Editions With the world become smaller due to the accessibility of news 24 hours a day you become desensitized from the awful truth outside in the world, which is perhaps the bane of our times to many people lose their crutches to remain standing and are in search of the truth, which is perhaps why these days there is more than one truth. As I said, reading this, it's unclear why DC thought their universe and their comics line was so messed-up that it needed rebooting to save it, but, at the same time, it's clear why they wanted to keep Snyder around the Bat World. Azrael • Batgirl • Batman • Batman and Robin • Batman Beyond • Batman Confidential • Batman Incorporated • Batman: Dark Knight • Batman: Streets of Gotham • Birds of Prey • Justice League of America • Outsiders • Red Robin • Superman/BatmanTimothy D Peters (2015) Beyond the limits of the law: a Christological reading of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, Griffith Law Review, 24:3, 418-445, DOI: 10.1080/10383441.2015.1096985 They swore an oath late that night that they would fight together against crime and corruption, never swerving from the path of righteousness. Batman had realized for the first time that he did not have to be alone in his crusade. [9] [10] Nightwing was summoned at the Louis E. Memorial High School, where a shootout between several gangs was taking place. Nightwing infiltrated the building along with Batman and Batgirl and they eliminated all the thugs who were holding students hostage. Nightwing was exposed to the public eye when Batman carried out of the school the seemingly dead body of Darla Aquista. [57]

So maybe I'm just getting soft, but this sort of thing just seems purposelessly awful, even if it is just a comic book. It's where I think a lot of modern Batman writers have gotten it wrong, as they attempt to dream up newer and more horrible scenarios to toss the reader into, just for the sake of what they believe noir is. A twelve-year-old boy is infected with Killer Croc's mutagen and turns into a rabid beast. A panel shows his eye morphing into a crocodile's before he emerges from the water as a reptilian monster. Gabriel Huddleston (2016) A Dark Knight for public education: Using Batman as an apparatus of diffraction with neoliberal education reform, Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies, 38:5, 468-489, DOI: 10.1080/10714413.2016.1221713 Then, in a second story called Hungry City, the corpse of a killer whale shows up on the floor of one of Gotham City's foremost banks. The event begins a strange and deadly mystery that will bring Batman face-to-face with the new, terrifying faces of organized crime in Gotham.

Non-U.S. Editions

Acrobatics: Grayson is a prodigious natural athlete and master acrobat, possessing a peak human level of agility/acrobatic skills. He is regarded as the greatest human acrobat in the world. [133] He is one of three people in the world who can pull off a quadruple flip. [134] What I've been thinking about Batman lately (assuming, as you should, that I am always thinking about Batman in some way or another) is that Batman might be over. Throwing: Grayson is skilled in throwing modified Shuriken (Wing-Dings) to hit thugs at a great distance with his eyes closed, despite occasionally giving them head-starts [211] and even disarm others with his wingdings. [212] John Porterfield (2009) A Review of The Dark Knight, A Rorschach of the American Psyche, Psychological Perspectives, 52:2, 271-275, DOI: 10.1080/0033292090288128 There are several graphic novelists that I find to be brilliant writers ~~ Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore and Fabian Nicieza; I can now add Scott Snyder to that list. Before he began his critically-acclaimed, fan-favorite run on Batman for DC in the fall of 2011, writer Scott Snyder was ... writing Batman comics for DC.