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A review by allisonjpmiller
Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder
4.0
In a word: CREEPY. I was not ready for James Gordon Jr. Nope. I also didn't think I was ready for Dick Grayson in the Batsuit, because to I'm one of those annoying purists who finds it really difficult to see anyone other than Bruce Wayne as Batman (we'll make a special exception for Terry McGinnis, because that's a future scenario with Old Grumpy Bruce acting as the brains behind the operation – a wonderful thing in its own right). But The Black Mirror made me appreciate DG as a character, when before I'd found him kind of uninvolving (even as Nightwing). I also loved Oracle in this arc, but then I always love Oracle.
The way that Snyder writes Gotham as its own character – a "hungry city" that contains something rotten in its very bedrock, not just in the people who fill Arkham and the alleyways – was effective. There's a sense that Gotham's good people are trapped in a city that won't let them win, and for that very reason feel compelled to stay, just to help the average person keep their head above water: to prevent them from drowning. I think I loved the atmosphere and themes explored in this series more than the actual story itself, which wasn't as well-delineated as it could've been. But it has a lingering effect.
The way that Snyder writes Gotham as its own character – a "hungry city" that contains something rotten in its very bedrock, not just in the people who fill Arkham and the alleyways – was effective. There's a sense that Gotham's good people are trapped in a city that won't let them win, and for that very reason feel compelled to stay, just to help the average person keep their head above water: to prevent them from drowning. I think I loved the atmosphere and themes explored in this series more than the actual story itself, which wasn't as well-delineated as it could've been. But it has a lingering effect.