Andersen Gabrych

The overall concept of the story is an interesting idea, all of Gothams gangs and mobs go to war with the public in the crossfire, but it is unfortunately marred by a superhero cliche.

Just two years after the Murderer?/Fugitive! crossover event the Batman comics experience yet another crossover event, with yet another death of a character, and it is yet again a female. This time Stephanie Brown. The death was planned from the start, her brief turn as Robin was planned from the start show more apparently as an attempt to trick readers into thinking that this is what the event was for, according to Batgirl writer Dylan Horrocks even her multi-page torture sequence was planned from the start. He and Devin Grayson were both uncomfortable with the intention of the story and kept Batgirl and Nightwing as isolated as possible. And while this death generated the most frustration something perhaps lost is that it is the stories second dead girl the first being mob daughter Darla Aquista, as often happens in these deaths it prompted Tim Drake to take back up the mantle of Robin. All of this was dictated by DCs editorial.

These shock twist stunts would continue not just in the Batman comics but across DC for years to come. They are generally attributed to Dan DiDio.

Another problem with these editorial impositions is a lack of internal logic, evidently another thing they wanted from this was for Batman to once again be feared by the public and hunted by the police. This is achieved by having Batman walk out of a school carrying a child that has been shot in the conflict between mobs with a tv reporter observing this declaring the shooting must have been caused by Batmans presence so he is a menace making Gothams crime worse - but surely the eyewitness testimony of hundreds of students and teachers would confirm she was shot long before Batman arrived? Nobody seems interested in correcting this convenient journalistic error.

Incidentally, to be properly read you have to pause before the last 7 compiled issues and then read most of City of Crime and Under the Hood (another one of the stunts), then come back to finish this, *and then* you can finish them. show less

The end twist is chilling and very memorable (though they'd lately retcon and de-fang it), but otherwise this storyline is just OK. The Joker is not at all threatening, the Black Mask goes from being scary and creepy early on to simply seeming foolish and unhinged, and nowhere near enough sense of dread is made by the notion that some unknown villain seems to know Batman's identity. There is also not enough actual investigation going on for a story where Batman himself claims to enjoy show more getting back to detective work.

All that said, when boiled down to its core, the story has many good beats to it, the artwork's decent, and getting an emotional payoff and resolution to the death of Stephanie Brown is greatly appreciated. show less

This is a tough one. It's a good crime noir, but it's filled with racist, sexist and homophobic slurs. I believe it's because that's the way people spoke in the 50s, but it still makes it difficult to read in parts. However, I think it's worth the read.

The new Batgirl, Cassandra Cain, is rapidly becoming a favorite DC hero of mine. Her origin is poignant and fascinating, and her burgeoning rise from the ashes of her upbringing as a mercenary assassin is a finely written work in progress. Here, she determines to track down the mystery of who is her mother, believing her to be Lady Shiva, a paid assassin and perhaps the only being on Earth who is her match (or better) as a fighter.