DC Comics reviews 8/29/23 – Batman/Catwoman The Gotham War: Battle Lines #1, Knight Terrors Knight’s End
Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War Battlelines #1
In a welcome nod to continuity, which does still exist in some corners of the DCU, it’s been eight weeks since the end of Knight Terrors and Bruce Wayne is finally recovering.
It’s weird how so many comic storylines these days feature heroes fighting each other. Granted, Catwoman probably shouldn’t count as a hero, but she’s been on the side of Batman and company since the 90s so she’s certainly no arch-enemy from the 40s through 80s any longer.
Forcing heroes to fight always feels like a chore that requires too many leaps in logic to really work. In this setup issue for Batman and Catwoman’s war, crime is down in Gotham. Selina Kyle calls a meeting to explain it’s because she’s been hiring out the normal henchman of the big villains and training them to be elite cat burglars who only steal from the rich. She’s got a proposal for the Bat Family — let them continue operating in peace.
Writers Chip Zdarsky and Tini Howard try to establish the either/or mindset of Marvel’s Civil War with a pitch that has merits for multiple characters. Then the story strolls along a weird direction with Selina arguing the criminals needed compassion and that she and Bruce shouldn’t argue in front of the “kids.”
The premise of Gotham War is Gotham crime is incredibly diminished, but no comic fan is reading Batman for endless stretches of him fighting goons. They’re reading for the Jokers, Two-Faces, Penguins, Killer Crocs, Banes, etc. To suggest they’re taking a vacation because Catwoman has hired out all the henchmen is a stretch.
Mike Hawthorne’s art is solid. He’s been doing quality work on the main Batman title and that carries through with strong storytelling this issue. Adriano Di Benedetto’s inking provides solid tightening up of the panels and Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s color work remains reliable consistent.
If you want to see Batman and Catwoman fight over a goofy idea that certain crime is OK while the Bat Family gets divided, this will be your kind of event. From the special alone this seems like an event that’s going to get stretched out for the sake of dragging it out across multiple issues and months with no meaningful payoff in the end.
Rating: 5 out of 10