Batman: Dark Patterns #2 is written by Dan Watters and published by DC. Artwork is by Hayden Sherman, colours by Triona Farrell and letters by Frank Cvetkovic. Main cover art (left) is also by Sherman.
Batman: Dark Patterns #2 Is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Case 01: We Are Wounded – Part II
As the mysterious Wound Man’s body count rises higher and higher, the Dark Knight Detective must descend into the festering depths of Gotham’s past to uncover the secret truth at the heart of Wound Man’s crimes.
Review
A question I get asked a lot is “why Batman?”, “why does DC publish so many Batman books?” But when you pick up a book like Dan Watters’ Batman: Dark Patterns you know exactly why the publisher is in the market for continuing to tell new stories which put the Dark Knight in new settings.
Pitched as a series set in the early days of Batman’s career, Dark Patterns sets out to sidestep some of the more well known villains. Instead opting to tell what has been dubbed as “lo-fi” mysteries, raw and atmospheric stories, which seek to explore a stripped back version of Batman as he seeks to cement his place in Gotham City. Last month setup a grotesque body-horror story with the introduction of the Wound Man. A story which continues this month as Batman sets out to investigate just how the ghastly creature was created.
What’s immediately striking about Watters’ approach to Batman is just how gritty and grounded it really it. They’re terms which often get banded around. Especially when a new creative team is looking to bring Batman back to the streets of Gotham and away from the Jokers, Riddlers and Penguins of the world. Often those stories never quite live up to the hype, instead getting trapped in other aspects of Batman’s illustrious career. But Watters has truly tapped in to the aesthetic and the sensibility of an early Batman.
If you handed me this comic book and told me it was written during the gritty, noir era of 1980’s comic book storytelling then I would believe you without question. The lo-fi nature of the writing and Hayden Sherman’s own visual storytelling sensibilities perfectly lend themselves to a book which, in essence, has landed in the present day having just been found in a 1984 time capsule.
We pickup in issue #2 in the light of the Bat-signal as the Dark Knight and Jim Gordon meet on the rooftop of the GCPD. The two have plenty of discuss following Batman’s raid on the Smith & Oakley offices. With Ace Chemicals now in the frame for creating the Wound Man and a list of potential victims uncovered, it’s up to these two to decide the best course of action to ensure the bodies don’t continue to pile up.
It’s clear that Watters is having fun dialling back the relationship between detective and vigilante. There’s a lack of familiarity in how they address each other. Instead their conversations are practical and investigation-focussed. Neither sees eye-to-eye on how to move forwards and yet the hint of a shorthand developing between the two still exists in a sort of proto-form. It’s exhilarating to read because rather than focus on what’s missing from stories set later in the timeline, Watters revels in the here-and-now exploring what it means to be Batman in this moment, facing this very case.
Part of the fun is following Batman’s decision making. Particularly when he gets it wrong. This younger Dark Knight is obviously a little more hot headed. His missteps in this issue are pretty big. Firstly miscalculating the dose of knockout toxins to give the Wound Man but then entrusting his care to Doctor Sereika after already calling him out on his formaldehyde addiction. This Batman isn’t yet the World’s Greatest Detective but crucially Watters isn’t afraid to embrace that and allow it to inform the direction of the story.
Sherman’s artwork continues to be a huge selling point for Batman: Dark Patterns. None of this issue appears to take place during the day. So Sherman is allowed to revel in the shadowy corners of Gotham City. Rooms are dimly lit through roller blinds casting lively shadows across the already exquisitely details faces of the supporting cast. Batman himself is often only seen partly exposed from the shadows, highlighting the white of his lenses and the vivid yellow of his chest symbol.
Of course all of that imaginative design work is further enhanced by the eerie design of the Wound Man. He appears much more across this issue and we get to see him from a number of different angles which allow Sherman to explore all of the different atrocities he has committed to his own body. Yet at the same time, Sherman’s control over his positioning is still able to instil a sense of commiseration from the reader as more of his story begins to come in to focus.
Verdict
The second issue of DC’s Batman: Dark Patterns continues to define the series as a grounded, detective noir draws on the Dark Knight’s gothic roots. “We Are The Wounded” part two leans heavily in to its antagonist’s horror aesthetic whilst tasking Watter’s take on an early-days Batman to rise to the challenge of solving the delicious mystery of his origin.
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