The big play in a very dirty and gritty way.
Creative Staff:
Story: Ray Fawkes
Art: Ben Templesmith
What They Say:
Dr. Szandor Tarr is far from what anyone would consider social, but will it turn out he’s more at home with an insect monster savaging Gotham City than he is with the Midnight Shift?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Within the first four issues of Gotham by Midnight, we’ve now been exposed to a lot of the underbelly of Gotham that hasn’t populated most other series. There’ve been areas where the supernatural comes into play and there are some really creepy moments and players in the mix. But with this being more about the procedural side to a degree, focusing on the cops rather than the capes dealing with these issues for the most part, it has a very different feeling to it. Even more so because it really is focused on being a supernatural book that would have fit right in with the Vertigo line if not taking place in Gotham itself. And honestly, that’s a lot of the appeal in terms of the concept, which continues to be brought to life in an amazing way from Ray Fawkes and Ben Templesmith.
This installment plays to a little bit of a different angle than from the previous issues, but it’s all building on what we had before. What becomes really fun is just watching the dialogue between Corrigan and Rook at the start of this as they’re at the bar and Corrigan is nearly drunk, or at least it seems that way,a s he rambles on about the things they see and do. It’s all still too surreal for Rook and it’s hard to tell where he’s coming down on all of these even after the craziness he’s seen. But it takes a far crazier turn as the things they’ve been facing against elsewhere, such as the swamp with the spirits and voices with the children, has now hit even there in a rather disturbing way. Having Rook infected is definitely a neat twist since it’s done via the alcohol with the latest attack, but we also see things happening on the outside as Tarr and Drake deal with how it’s impacting the whole neighborhood.
To complicate matters even more. Corrigan is finding himself being pushed into the Spectre because judgment must be passed on what’s going on and the Spectre is waking up to do just that. His bringing judgment to these creatures almost feels expected, but what we get is Tarr figuring out the trick of it through the language that he’s been deciphering. The neat part is that the creatures have basically been calling out for this the whole time, not to be judged themselves, but in order for the Spectre to pass judgment on the city of Gotham itself. That makes for a neat twist as it comes together, particularly since it’s discovered too late as the Spectre is out there in full force. Amusingly, while we get this darkness mixed with the green of the Spectre, we get our Batman touch as well with his jet flitting around in the background from time to time to provide the connectivity there.
In Summary:
The exploration of things over the previous three issues has been fascinating because we got a solid horror-mystery story that allowed us to get a feel for the characters in a basic way but also gave us time to grasp the nature of the department and their view of the city itself. It’s been a curious build with what it’s doing, and I was glad we got to see more of Corrigan as a cop than the Spectre. But with the plan and truth revealed here with the creatures and their likely centuries old grudge, it takes on a whole different feeling now as that unfurls and we see the Spectre being played in a big way. With some wonderfully sharp dialogue and character bits combined with gorgeously raw and rough artwork that fits the series perfectly, this is a thoroughly exciting book to dig into that hits all the right marks.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 25th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
