BurtonReviews Batman Night of the Monster Men: Werewolf of Gotham
(Image sourced from http://www.newsarama.com/29773-batman-detective-nightwing-take-part-in-dc-rebirth-s-1st-crossover.html)
With only
one main story arc finished in each Bat-book’s rebirth line, already we get a
mega crossover between the titles (Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing) that
spans a month and brings together Batman, Nightwing, Batwoman, Clayface, Orphan
and Spoiler to take on a monstrous force that horrifyingly give Godzilla a run
for his money.
(Image sourced from http://www.nerdspan.com/70820-2/)
The story of
this crossover event, Night of the Monster Men, sees Gotham buckling up for a
long night as a storm is rapidly approaching on the horizon. And if that wasn’t
bad enough for the unluckiest town of Gotham, a sinister force decides to throw
nightmarish monsters into the mix just to make everyone’s day abit harder. From
an infecting fungi to a towering behemoth, it’s suffice to say that the Bat-family have a lot on their
hands this night.
One great
thing about the immediacy of this story, being an almost unpredictable event of
destruction released on the citizens of Gotham, you don’t need to be well
versed in all the Bat-books. Personally I only read the main ‘Batman’ title and
could follow the story with no issue. While there is a huge spoiler from the
Detective Comics’ first storyline mentioned almost once every issue of this
event, these books don’t expect you to have read every single one of these
titles and simply jumps right into the action and chaos of this story, explaining
anything you may need to know in a cohesive and fluid way that doesn’t feel
like an awkward exposition drop that halts or breaks the flow of the momentum
unfolding a page. Saying this I do think I am lucky as it seems that the main ‘Batman’
title’s recent history is the one that most factors into the events of this
crossover, however the past story beats mentioned are either explained very well
or are a simple Google search away from clearing up any minor confusion.
As I said,
this story feels immediate and chaotic and in this we get the opposite in
pacing to the style used in ‘Batman: I am Gotham.’ Instead of the slow build of
evolving characters punctuated by awesome action beats, here we get the
opposite. With this being a big crossover, something big, scary and ferocious
has to be in the Bat-family’s way to need them to unite in this way and the
very nature of this calls for a more action oriented story. But don’t just
think that makes this story a mindless punch-fest. In-fact much of the action
isn’t just, how can we punch this thing harder, but the techniques and scenarios
of many of the action scenes in this event are clever constructions that
challenge each characters strengths and exploits their weakness’.
(Image sourced from http://www.gamespot.com/articles/batman-and-allies-to-fight-giant-kaiju-creatures/1100-6440994/)
And don’t despair
that this action heavy plot has also pummelled great character moments and
story out of the script just as the Bat-family do the snot out of these hulking
monsters. There are those great iconic Batman moments where he’s already got a
contingency plan ready for this event that he can now whip out of nowhere that I
love to see epically come to life and to the writers credit, this story is full
of great character moments that reveal more about our beloved, pointy eared cowl
wearing vigilante’s psyche through the twists and turns of this arc. But also
there are great interactions between the Bat-family that are weaved into how
the action plays out and creates some book dropping, smile inducing team ups
that I honestly never saw coming but now want to see a lot more of. And nothing
was there just for a cool splash page or another explosion. Each cog of this
story is put there for a reason and that kind of thought into every detail of
the story is what gave its story such intrigue and depth in plot.
As for the
story beats, this event comes with some of not only the smartest revelations I’ve
read in a while that makes the story feel greatly cohesive and well thought
out, but also creates a mystery that I didn’t even know I wanted or needed amidst
this skyline of bat vs hellish creature that left me stroking my imaginary
beard exclaiming “oooooh, that’s cool.”
Also each
character in this rather large Bat-team is not only given something appropriate
to do for their character’s skill set, but they are all given their unique time
to shine, kick butt and call it a well-earned day as the story smartly divides
the characters into factions that the story energetically zips to and fro
without making you feel lost but instead you are infused with this momentum and
great sense of team between the Bats as you can’t wait to see where the story
goes next.
(Image sourced from http://screenrant.com/batman-rebirth-monster-men/)
But unlike ‘Batman:
I am Gotham’, not every issue of this event is created equally. A few in the middle
section of the event just don’t have enough happen in them to warrant a whole
issue to depict its events and feel like padding. Meanwhile the finale of this
story, which is being lifted by some greatly paced rising in tension, intrigue
and momentum from the books preceding it as a final face off leaves you
clambering to know what happens next, is delivered in a rushed way that not
only feels too easy, but makes the struggles of the books before it feel lesser
as the hands behind it are dealt with so easily so you wonder why this night
was a problem for the Bat-family at all.
But one
thing this event does nail is the community of Gotham and Batman’s undying love
for his city. While greatly personal struggles with characters like the Joker
are great, it’s also really compelling to see Batman come up against a threat
that is directly attacking his Gotham shaped heart. Through this we see just
why Batman is a hero and not just a brutal stalker of the night and how much he
really cares for and protects the city that raised him to be the man shaped
like a bat that he is. And then to see Gotham rally behind his Bat-beacon of
light is a greatly emotional and satisfying image that this crossover did a
great job of depicting.
Speaking of
images! Once again unlike the ‘Batman: I am Gotham’ story and with this being
over multiple titles it was never going to have the same artist taking its
helm. And while I always fear this will give the story a strange feel as you
are swapping to and from different art styles, the artists of this story all
did a very good job of sticking to the same dyer colour palette and tone that
gave this arc the same consistency that would have been felt is the same artist
was bringing the whole story to life.
Also with
this being a big crossover event the sense of spectacle had to be
maintained and the art went a long way
to achieving this with striking moments not only of the team all standing together
as one against this overwhelming threat, but also the monsters themselves. From
the smallest of fungi, to the largest of nightmare fuel, they not only felt
threatening and unique but also were appropriately disgusting; giving this arc
a surprisingly welcomed Universal Pictures, supernatural/horror movie vibe that
comfortably moved Batman from the gritty street level he is comfortable at, to
the more fantastical. If fantastical is the right word for this horrible gory
mess the Bar-family have gotten themselves into.
So overall this
crossover is a tight, action packed ride that gives you epic moment after epic
moment while leading you down a mystery that is not only intriguing but also
brings great light to the mind of the Bat. The art is consistently horrifying
and epic and while the ending is rushed and its villain abit disappointing in
the end, the ride to get to that conclusion is one hell of a monstrous show
Batman Night
of the Monster Men = 7.5/10
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