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A review by unladylike
Batman, Volume 8: Superheavy by Scott Snyder
4.0
As I said in my review of [b:Batman & Robin: Eternal, Vol. 1|27246000|Batman & Robin Eternal, Vol. 1|Scott Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1447731837s/27246000.jpg|47294490], I must have slept through, forgotten about, or somehow skipped the final events of Endgame that led to Bruce Wayne essentially losing his memory and leaving a Bat-shaped vacuum in Gotham. This volume does a good job of re-capping the details I was foggy on, while focusing primarily on the new Mecha-Batman: Jim Gordon! I would never have expected Scott Snyder to end his masterful 7-year run of writing Batman with a total switcheroo of the titular Caped Crusader, but he somehow did it really well. Gordon trying to be a new kind of Batman allows for some jokes that he would otherwise never be able to make. Snyder captures our sometimes-daft, sometimes-cavalier, sometimes-boyscoutish former Commish with the perfect voice and trajectory.
But let's talk about Batman #44, which seems to have been led by a different creative team made up primarily of [a:Brian Azzarello|17029|Brian Azzarello|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1314572772p2/17029.jpg] and the distinct art of Jock. This was the issue that blew me away and had me searching for copies of the single issue to own (and I am decidedly *not* a collector of single floppy comics). The subject matter is dense and confusing at times, but more relevant and courageous than almost any storyline I've seen touched on in superhero comics. It's basically the murder mystery of Trayvon Martin, but in Gotham.
I live in a U.S. city that has long been ranked as having the 2nd most violent, murderous police force in the nation. Every year, cops kill handfuls of people and are acquitted without charge 100% of the time. Almost all of the murder victims are young, unarmed black and brown folks. Azzarello writes actual statistics into his script that are both necessary and bold, but then he goes further than most white anti-racists wishing to demonstrate solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter etc. He forces both Batman and the reader to look at the cause-and-effect of nice, well-meaning, white, wealthy capitalists, and how phases of gentrification can play out. Bruce Wayne is put on the metaphorical stand and all but breaks down in guilty, white tears.
All the Brian Azzarello books I've read published by DC have been top notch, and I would love to see him take these challenging topics on more fully in a Batman title. Scott Snyder has already been paving the way, focusing so much on the economic disparities found in The Narrows of Gotham, and minorities taking exponentially greater hits whenever the city faces a massive threat. But based on their track record, DC will probably throw out all the things that made Batman so great in recent years when they launch their Rebirth in a month or two. [fingers crossed]
But let's talk about Batman #44, which seems to have been led by a different creative team made up primarily of [a:Brian Azzarello|17029|Brian Azzarello|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1314572772p2/17029.jpg] and the distinct art of Jock. This was the issue that blew me away and had me searching for copies of the single issue to own (and I am decidedly *not* a collector of single floppy comics). The subject matter is dense and confusing at times, but more relevant and courageous than almost any storyline I've seen touched on in superhero comics. It's basically the murder mystery of Trayvon Martin, but in Gotham.
I live in a U.S. city that has long been ranked as having the 2nd most violent, murderous police force in the nation. Every year, cops kill handfuls of people and are acquitted without charge 100% of the time. Almost all of the murder victims are young, unarmed black and brown folks. Azzarello writes actual statistics into his script that are both necessary and bold, but then he goes further than most white anti-racists wishing to demonstrate solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter etc. He forces both Batman and the reader to look at the cause-and-effect of nice, well-meaning, white, wealthy capitalists, and how phases of gentrification can play out. Bruce Wayne is put on the metaphorical stand and all but breaks down in guilty, white tears.
All the Brian Azzarello books I've read published by DC have been top notch, and I would love to see him take these challenging topics on more fully in a Batman title. Scott Snyder has already been paving the way, focusing so much on the economic disparities found in The Narrows of Gotham, and minorities taking exponentially greater hits whenever the city faces a massive threat. But based on their track record, DC will probably throw out all the things that made Batman so great in recent years when they launch their Rebirth in a month or two. [fingers crossed]