Spinning out of recent story arcs like Lazarus Planet and Superman: Son of Kal-El comes Batman: Legends of Gotham #1. The new one-shot focuses on Red Hood on a mission that’ll have him interacting with Batman’s The Outsiders, Killer Croc, and Gamorra, newly freed from its dictator. It’s a must-read for DC fanatics who need to keep track of every detail, especially since the narrative clearly understands the finest of details in recent continuity.
What’s evident from this extra-sized issue is writer Andy Diggle totally understands every character that pops into this narrative. Starting with Red Hood, we get a good sense of his personality today and a bit of his past self in key flashbacks. He’s still reeling from the loss of Alfred, and his mission is such that he may be after some revenge.
His mission isn’t clear at first, and that’s by design – what he’s up to is a bit of a mystery as well as a feint for the Outsiders, who immediately confront him in the bat cave. The main adventure here involves Red Hood, Black Lightning, and Katana racing to capture a hard drive containing all of Batman’s secrets. Now that Batman is off the table due to the events of Lazarus Planet, the info is out there and getting auctioned off. That allows the narrative to play out different tropes, including break-ins, heists, and straight-up action scenes.
The changing scenes and different challenges for the characters to overcome keep the plot moving and the story interesting. Well-timed flashbacks to Jason thinking of a critical moment he had with Alfred also help keep the comic moving along.
Cool mask, bro!
Credit: DC Comics
Other characters like Bane are a delight to read, thanks to the expert dialogue. Long-winded and clearly happy to hear himself talk, you get a clear sense of who Bane is these days. That goes for Katana, Black Lightning, and Killer Croc, all of whom have bigger parts to play in this issue.
It’s also nice to check on Gamorra now that its dictator leader is gone, and, surprise, it’s not doing so well. It’s like a Madripoor for DC Comics, only more advanced like Blade Runner.
If you like detailed art with a strong sense of size and weight, you’ll love Karl Mostert’s art. Mostert tends to draw panels a little further from the character, allowing you to take in the environments and the full body of the characters in each panel. This helps capture the characters’ space and follows the action more clearly. You can see Frank Quitely’s influence on his style, be it faces or body language, which adds to the book’s overall great look.
My only gripe with this issue is Red Hood’s entire mission is moving forward, but he seems to just give up on it. Yes, Katana does delay him further, but nothing here would stop him from continuing. One could guess Katana wouldn’t let him go on with it, or you can assume he ran out of time, but those are things you need to infer rather than knowing definitively.
Fans of Red Hood, Bane, or recent DC continuity can’t miss Batman: Legends of Gotham. Diggle has a great handle on the voice of these characters while the plot connects to recent stories and develops new ones in the process.
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