Christian Ward‘s City of Madness takes place in a topsy turvy world bleeding into Gotham City. After a terrifying version of the dark knight escapes from beneath the city, Gotham’s rogues experience otherworldly side effects. Now, Batman and his allies must get ahold of the situation before the city falls to the unexpected calamity.
And So Below
Surprise! A twisted mirror world has existed beneath Gotham City for centuries and has now set its sights on the surface. In particular, the mirror world’s “Batman of the Below” escapes a vaulted door guarded by the Court of Owls. Although a terrifying Cthulhu-like wraith, this Batman seems to only aid a young teen’s quest for vengeance on the surface. The young orphan Jevonney travels to Gotham to kill the corrupt cop that murdered his father. Following an encounter with the Terrible Trio, The Batman Below takes Jevonney to his world to offer him the role of Robin. Nevertheless, Jevonney can tell this creature only cares about hurting people, and not just those responsible. Still, Batman and Jevonney’s presence in each other’s lives creates unnatural instability in both worlds.
Elsewhere, Ward introduces Nightwing to characterize the changes happening all around the city. For instance, Grayson arrives at the manor beaten by a supernaturally grotesque version of Clayface. While it isn’t clear if this version of Clayface is from below or Karlo going haywire, the raging monster’s existence serves as an example of what’s happening in Gotham. Interestingly enough, there are several parallels between the two batmen and the influence they have on the city. On one hand, Nightwing even questions if him and Batman are responsible for the madness befalling Gotham. Similarly, Batman fears he’s responsible for shaping and corrupting Grayson’s response to trauma. In turn, the same is happening with the Batman Below’s plans for Jevonney.
Party Pooper
Meanwhile, Batman spends his night on another unusual assignment. The Ventriloquist has holed himself up inside Flamingo’s hedonistic clubhouse called the Pink Palace. Much like what happened with Two-Face, Arnold Wesker has lost control of his alternate personality. As a result, even a cannibal like Flamingo welcomes Batman’s help in corralling Scarface’s newfound taste for torture. Slight touches like the bubblegum aesthetic and Scarface’s dialogue coming from Wesker’s bubbles have a lot of visual appeal. In fact, the stylized double page backstory of Wesker’s childhood is a unique, memorable moment of the book. The sequence ties into the book’s consistent theme of molding his anger and personality to serve someone else’s needs.
In addition, readers also get a pretty good look at the origin of Two-Face’s doppelganger. Admittedly, there isn’t very much difference between how “Half-Face” and Harvey got their injuries. Yet, Harvey Dent is the dominant personality in Half-Face rather than Two-Face’s penchant for chaos and crime. Half-Face gives his doppelganger convenient exposition on the overarching issue with their parallel worlds. His explanation is fairly close to the Jordan Peele’s Us and the STARZ series Counterpart. Weirder still, their communion is only the first sign that “the world without love” is folding into their reality.
A Court Date
Moreover, The Court of Owls finally reach out to Batman to form an alliance of their own. Assumedly, a version of Court of Owls storyline transpires in this universe, but ending in a truce or stalemate. Talon escorts Batman down an absurdly long stairway into their clandestine headquarters. There, Lord Strigadae gives Batman his own exposition dump with a mural and two models of Gotham as a visual aid. Basically, not unlike Blade 2 (2002), the elders must rely on their mortal enemy to vanquish his hideous counterpart. Of course, Blade 2 (2002) ends with the elders betraying Blade before the third act. Incidentally, the Court seem to have their own contingencies if Batman doesn’t do what they want.
With further repetitive elaboration, Nightwing relays Harvey’s insider information to Batman. In a nutshell, the key to this whole fiasco relies on Jevonney and the Batman Below. While Jevonney already endures the seduction of violence as a solution, he hasn’t fallen yet. Many undisclosed details about the nature of the world and what the Court of Owls knows about it may factor in. For example, the importance of the River Princess reservoir beneath Gotham is related to the status of the door. Whatever it really does, the Owls consider it valuable enough not to destroy the door for centuries.
Recommended If…
- You take interest in supernatural Batman stories.
- Christian Ward’s watercolor-like style appeals to you aesthetically.
- You’re a huge fan The Dark Knight writer David Goyer’s work on Blade 2.
Overall
The book is fun and consistently well drawn. It may remind me of other movies and books like The Doom That Came To Gotham, but it’s still fascinating. The weakest part of the series seems to be its obsession with over explaining elements of the story. Ironically, none of it really makes sense, yet. As part adventure and part noir, the story feels intimate but expansive. Ward clearly intends Jevonney’s soul to be at the center of the conflict. Overall, City of Madness could be a solid book, depending on how well the supernatural elements go over with readers.
Score: 8/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purposes of this review
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