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spockpandasaurus's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
fandom4ever's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Oh current day media and its need to check all the right boxes of politics, no matter how cringey and obvious it is. Batman: Gotham Knights - Gilded City is supposed to be a prequel to the video game Gotham Knights, labeling it as Batman’s final case before his death. There are two parallel stories going on here: one in modern day Gotham with the Bat family (Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, and Batgirl) and a second in 1847 Gotham with some old vigilante called ‘The Runaway’. The two stories are supposed to be connected by a similar illness.
If it hadn’t been a tie-in to the game and included codes for extra gear in-game, I probably would have ignored this story as I tend to do with most current day comics especially ones concerning Nightwing as DC seems to delight in destroying him these days. Overall, it’s not really something I’d tell people they must read. The past arc was too focused on checking the right boxes and even the present Gotham had to fit in terms like ‘FOMO’ (that’ll attract the kids, right?).
There were a few good moments between Bats and Nightwing, in which the latter showed Bruce you don’t always have to go in fists first and sometimes things aren’t what they appear. Along with some good moments between Bats and Red Hood, and between Nightwing and Red Hood, but they just can’t combat against the rest of the comic. The reveal for who the vigilante of the past is was so dumb I both groaned aloud and rolled my eyes. That storyline went off the rails so fast and hard and I never felt that it really connected with the present day storyline despite a few lines trying to say otherwise.
Overall, from what I’ve played of the game so far, the most this comic factors in is Harley working with Batman, citing her knowledge of criminal psychology, and some of the past Gotham moments presented in a few lines of documents you can find and read. Unless you want the game codes like I did, this story is not worth your time. There are so many better Batman and company stories out there pre-New 52, ones that delve deeper into both story and character. I’d probably just stick with the game, I’m having a lot more fun with that and the characters and story seem to be sticking closer to their original stories, before the New 52 and everything after.
cryptidtinkerer's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It has good ideas for the plot but as much as I wanted to like it, it feels as if it needed a few more re-writes.
Also as a videogame tie-in (Gotham Knights) it doesn't feel like it really works. It introduced characters and plot threads we never see in the game. Probably would make more sense to be it's own limited series not related to the game.
The dynamics between the characters and the art were nice though.
Also as a videogame tie-in (Gotham Knights) it doesn't feel like it really works. It introduced characters and plot threads we never see in the game. Probably would make more sense to be it's own limited series not related to the game.
The dynamics between the characters and the art were nice though.
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