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A review by neilrcoulter
Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder
5.0
Wow. I've read the graphic novels that people regard as "the best Batman story ever" (Year One, The Dark Knight Returns, The Killing Joke), and I wasn't as enthusiastic about any of them as many people are. But The Black Mirror really is the best Batman story I've read. It's a perfect combination of writer (Scott Snyder) and artists (Jock and Francesco Francavilla). The writing is sharp, witty, insightful; and the art is my favorite Batman art--from both artists, in slightly different ways.
I like how Snyder crafts a story in which Gotham City is the main character. Gordon, Grayson, and others muse on whether the city itself is a nightmare, a "black mirror" that creates fear and despair. In the face of such a foe, what can anyone do? Gordon questions, "Do you ever feel like . . . the more good you do or try to do for people out there, for strangers, the more the ones close to you, the ones you love, get hurt? . . . I don't mean in general. I mean here in Gotham. . . . I'm talking about the bricks. The stone. The damn bedrock. There are times I feel a dark heart down there, Dick. Beating and beating." Gordon, especially, is put through a most difficult story, and in the end . . . there's really no answer, other than to endure. "The thing is," Grayson says, "being here now, on the other side of all the terrible things that happened, I know that this is where I need to be. . . . [I]f you make it through Gotham's trials, if you can stand up to the monsters it throws at you, you come out redeemed. A stronger version of yourself." That's not very satisfying, because there are certainly limits to how far your own strength can take you. But the story doesn't end, and we can hope that the next day is a little better--that the true answer to the seemingly relentless evil in the world will become clearer to all of these tormented, big-hearted characters.
The separate stories in this collection interweave in interesting ways. It all builds to a great final chapter--though I felt that Gordon Jr.'s monologuing in the end was a bit too caricatured and typical. I would have liked something more surprising or complicated. However, that slight disappointment doesn't take away from the skillful storytelling that leads up to it.
This is a Batman story with no Bruce Wayne, and in which the Joker is merely a side character. But it is classic noir Batman, and nearly perfect.
I like how Snyder crafts a story in which Gotham City is the main character. Gordon, Grayson, and others muse on whether the city itself is a nightmare, a "black mirror" that creates fear and despair. In the face of such a foe, what can anyone do? Gordon questions, "Do you ever feel like . . . the more good you do or try to do for people out there, for strangers, the more the ones close to you, the ones you love, get hurt? . . . I don't mean in general. I mean here in Gotham. . . . I'm talking about the bricks. The stone. The damn bedrock. There are times I feel a dark heart down there, Dick. Beating and beating." Gordon, especially, is put through a most difficult story, and in the end . . . there's really no answer, other than to endure. "The thing is," Grayson says, "being here now, on the other side of all the terrible things that happened, I know that this is where I need to be. . . . [I]f you make it through Gotham's trials, if you can stand up to the monsters it throws at you, you come out redeemed. A stronger version of yourself." That's not very satisfying, because there are certainly limits to how far your own strength can take you. But the story doesn't end, and we can hope that the next day is a little better--that the true answer to the seemingly relentless evil in the world will become clearer to all of these tormented, big-hearted characters.
The separate stories in this collection interweave in interesting ways. It all builds to a great final chapter--though I felt that Gordon Jr.'s monologuing in the end was a bit too caricatured and typical. I would have liked something more surprising or complicated. However, that slight disappointment doesn't take away from the skillful storytelling that leads up to it.
This is a Batman story with no Bruce Wayne, and in which the Joker is merely a side character. But it is classic noir Batman, and nearly perfect.