Man oh man, it’s been a while since we last saw Rafael Grampa’s take on the Dark Knight. A quick look at the publication history of Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham will make even the tardiest of creators gasp, as the last issue of the series that started in September of 2023 came out a year and a half ago on December 26, 2024. An artist like Rafael Grampa is usually worth the wait, but even then, a year and half for a series that stars one of the most published characters in the modern era is just asking to be forgotten. Incredibly, Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #4 serves as a pretty good finale to Grampa’s special corner of Gotham, but one that will definitely hit harder when the whole series is collected.
Gotham is under siege by Doctorgeist, the madman who has been behind the series all along. Believing that he can harness “Dark Aura” and bend it to his will, Doctorgeist has the perfect battery for this type of aura in Gotham City. As the mobs burn through the city, Bruce Wayne is stuck underground with Dr. Charles Quinton, the man who helped put him in Arkham Children’s Wing. Quinton was once an associate of John Wells, who used Quinton’s father’s research to become Doctorgeist. Now, Quinton is looking to avenge his father’s research with his own army of the lower class of Gotham, and after a makeshift Batsuit, Bruce Wayne joins the fight to help them stop Doctorgeist’s plans once and for all.
DC
That’s really the gist of this issue, and I have to admit, as someone who completely forgot about Gargoyle of Gotham, Grampa’s script does make this issue easy to jump in on. While there’s subplots with Jim Gordon and the Crying Geisterman that I cannot remember anything about, Grampa’s script does fill us in on the necessary information for Doctorgeist and why it’s important to Bruce to stop him, beyond the usual “Gotham is in peril” drive. Grampa even takes an interesting approach to the idea of what drives Gotham City, giving the “dark aura” plot line one of the better metaphors for why Batman’s stomping ground is such a rotten place to live. In fact, Doctorgeist himself is such an interesting villain that I would love to see him brought over to the “main” Batman books to spice things up a bit.
Of course, the real reason people initially flocked to this series was to see Rafael Grampa’s take on Batman and his world, and in that regard, Gargoyle of Gotham #4 does not disappoint. From the gothic skylines of the city to a really unique and layered DIY Batsuit, Grampa’s style oozes through every page and panel, creating a visually wonderful and fantastic take on Batman and his world. Grampa even jumps in on coloring with Matt Lopes to make the pages really pop, and the end result is something that, at least from an artistic standpoint, was certainly worth waiting for.
And yet, it’s inescapable that the enormous drought between issues puts a big damper on the story. The aforementioned subplots feel tacked on, even though we know they won’t be when the story is collected. I understand not wanting to put a “previously” catch up page before this since the other issues didn’t have it, but the issue would really benefit from it. As it stands right now, it feels like DC just wanted this final issue to get out so they could finally get the collected edition out for it to be read as one story. Which, come to think of it, should’ve been the initial way Gargoyle of Gotham was released in the first place.
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