Batman: One Dark Knight #2 is published by DC Comics. Story and art is by Jock with letters by Clem Robins. Jock also provides the main cover art.
Issue #1 is available in print and on digital from March 29, 2022, where all good comics are sold.
Synopsis
With the power out across Gotham, Batman must haul the not-particularly-cooperative villain responsible, E.M.P., across miles of chaotic city streets, filled with terrified people and opportunistic criminals! Blackgate Prison can nullify E.M.P.’s destructive electrical powers, if Batman can survive long enough to get them there-but what happens if there are two people loose in Gotham with those powers? What then? The mega-talented Jock (Batman: The Black Mirror, The Batman Who Laughs) writes and draws the blockbuster story of Batman’s worst night!
Review
Jock’s Batman: One Dark Knight is back for another round of high stakes, high tension as we reach the middle point of the story. With Batman being hunted by gangs across the city, his race to get E.M.O to Blackgate feels even more desperate.
Most readers will be familiar with Jock for his outstanding artwork. That is no different in One Dark Knight. With much of Gotham in darkness, Jock is able to play in to his superb use of shadow to portray a powerless city. The cover alone is a perfect example of the atmospheric colour palette inside the book.
The interior art often feels deeply claustrophobic, framing characters tightly within their dark surroundings. With minimal sources of light its down to torches – both electrical and combustible – to add splashes of colour. In turn this means that faces are passionately expressive with fine detail heavily exposed.
That’s not to say that One Dark Knight is small in scale. When the story opens up we get some luscious renderings of the abandoned streets. The cityscape often looms large in the background when required. Visually, this is Batman (and Jock) at his best.
With the pieces all moving frantically around the board, Jock uses more of Batman’s inner monologue to keep things moving. It never comes at the expense of the story and is testimony to transferring his artists skills to the story. Contextually, this second chapter complicates matters with the introduction of more nuance. Alongside Batman’s race across the city is a subplot involving the potential death of a major GCPD player. The introduction of another potential major player also complicates matters.
What’s most striking is Jock’s commitment to vision. Book two feels like a natural progression from book one. There’s no dramatic escalation, only continuation of events already in play. There’s no cramming of multiple major characters from the Bat-mythos or push to widen the story to an epic scale.
Instead there is only a singular focus on Batman and the task at hand. One Dark Knight feels entirely organic to its original premise. For that I commend one of the best artists in comics.
Verdict
Jock continues to tease out a complex story with Batman: One Dark Knight. With only one issue to go the disparate plot threads are beginning to knit in exciting and unexpected ways.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
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