Review: Detective Comics Vol. 5- Gothtopia

Quick Summary

Pros: The “Zero Year” tie-in and the conclusion to the Man-Bat story are good. The volume closes with several amazing stories that celebrate everything about Batman.

Cons: The main storyline is lackluster and constantly feels rushed. Some of the artwork does not fit the tone of the story being told.

Overall: This volume contains a multitude of stories, the bulk of which are clustered around average quality. The main disappointment comes from the “Gothtopia” event itself, which is decidedly lackluster. There are a few big positives, most of which are confined to the final chapter, but not enough to save the volume on their own. This is a volume for people who don’t mind reading a couple average quality Batman stories in order to get to a few great ones.

Story

Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gothtopia, by John Layman, when viewed as a whole, is a relatively average book. It starts with a solid opening chapter, moves into a satisfactory conclusion to a previous arc, tells a lackluster event, and ends with several incredibly entertaining independent stories. Unfortunately, these wonderful closing stories are very short and, thus, the general level of quality trends toward the middle of the road. Overall, this isn’t a bad book, but it also isn’t one I’m necessarily looking forward to re-reading anytime soon.

(spoilers start here)

This volume starts out with a quick “Zero Year” tie-in story that places the spotlight on Commissioner Gordon. This atypical point of focus is refreshing and helps further establish Gotham as a whole. The story is also entertaining overall and does well in highlighting the unique relationship that Batman shares with the commissioner.

From here, the collection returns to the present and begins to wrap up the Man-Bat arc that was started in the previous volume. Batman teams up with Kirk Langstrom so that the duo will be able to use their shared skillset to take down Kirk’s wife, who is now an even more powerful version of Man-Bat. The showdown is exciting and even takes a unique twist, when Batman convinces Kirk to fight his wife in his own Man-Bat form. Overall, the conclusion to this arc isn’t the most exciting but is still a satisfactory way to end the story.

Once this is done, the actual Gothtopia event begins. As a concept, this story is pretty interesting and unique. It explores what Gotham could be and is filled with neat versions of well-established characters. Then, once Batman realizes that the utopia is an illusion, the story becomes darker and more intense. Seeing Batman as an Arkham inmate is chilling and a great way to build suspense.

However, the storytelling used to detail the Gothtopia event is rather lackluster. For one, the pacing is way too rapid. Batman has barely accepted the truth behind his reality when Catwoman calls in every one of his allies to come arrest him, which also seems like an overreaction. In addition, the entire premise behind Gothtopia is abandoned far too soon; tie-in stories from other series help expand the world further but none have the focus on Batman that this series has. In the end, these problems leave the event feeling lackluster and the entire ordeal seems like it is over before it had time to go anywhere.

The volume ends with several fantastic stories that celebrate the history of Batman. Some of the stories are straightforward homages to Batman’s early days, like Brad Meltzer’s imagination of Detective Comics #27. Meanwhile, others are meta-textual takes on Batman as a character, like Greg Hurwitz’s trippy journey through comic history. The best stories, however, are Scott Snyder and Peter J. Tomasi’s takes on alternate Batman futures. Together, all of these stories are above average and are a worthwhile celebration of Batman that any true fan would enjoy.

(spoilers end here)

Art

There are a number of major artistic positives throughout Gothtopia. Jason Fabok brings his signature level of quality to a few chapters here. One is a dark take on Gotham City during one of its more dire hours, while the other is a bright re-imagining of the same location. Meanwhile, Sean Murphy’s work on the final chapter is wonderfully creative and is, quite possibly, the highlight of the entire book.

Other chapters are not quite as good but are also not bad. Aaron Lopresti does a few chapters which, for the most part, do well in mimicking Fabok’s style. However, they falter when depicting the menacing portions of this book, like Man-Bat or Scarecrow. Instead of being scary, these villains appear cartoonish and take away any feeling of fear that would otherwise be present. This is not a big error but is certainly something that kills the mood when reading specific moments.

Continuity

Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gothtopia continues the story from Detective Comics Vol. 4: The Wrath (Review).

The story here continues in Detective Comics Vol. 6: Icarus (Review).

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• The volume starts out with a “Zero Year” tie-in issue. The background behind the upcoming storm and the Red Hood Gang come from Batman Vol. 4: Zero Year- Secret City (Review).
• Batman mentions that he recently tested the security of Arkham Asylum. This happened in Batman Annual #2, which is collected in Batman Vol. 6: Graveyard Shift (Review).
• “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” story from this volume is essentially a modern day re-imagining of Batman’s first ever comic book appearance. The original story was told in Detective Comics #27, currently collected in Batman: The Golden Age Vol. 1.