Written by: Ray Fawkes
Art by: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: DC
I would like to start this review by saying how thankful I am this series exists (and no this isn’t a thanksgiving day reference); I was a huge fan of the dark line of books DC put out at the start of the new 52 and each cancellation felt like a huge loss to me and the company became increasingly focused on pumping out numerous Batman themed titles. While I still feel a little annoyed that this has to masquerade as a Batman book to even get published, I am very pleased to say that Gotham by Midnight is a great return to the kind of dark, creepy storylines I loved from the initial line-up of books and should pull in even the most jaded of DC fans.
DC have chosen well in writer Ray Fawkes to lead this book; he’s had experience with writing this type of series before, both for DC and his own creator owned books, so manages to create an immediately more sinister and mysterious Gotham right off the bat. While the plot of the book is a little formulaic at times, the actual content is brilliant stuff. We get some nice introductions to our cast of characters who seem like a very interesting, oddball group, as well as an immediately grabbing mystery to form our opening arc. While the series doesn’t go too far into the dark elements, it tips its hand enough to build suspense effectively and ensure I’ll be back next month to follow Fawkes down the rabbit hole.
My favourite part of the issue though was the art by Ben Templesmith; recently DC have been far less strict on sticking to their house style, and when I see art like this I am eternally grateful for that. Templesmith’s art is incredibly freaky and twisted in all the best ways. It’s the perfect sort of style for this book and is full of creepy imagery which compliments the writing perfectly. It makes the book stand out from all the other Batman books out there and from all other DC books in general.
In conclusion, if you’re someone who’s been burnt out on the overabundance of Bat-books from DC recently then you owe it to yourself to check out this book. It’s different from every other DC book and feels like a great return to form of their quality supernatural titles. This comes highly recommended.
