In the Gotham’s shadow – “Batman: The Imposter” comic book review

A lot of comic books, movies and games about Batman have been made. Does Mattson Tomlin’s Batman: The Imposter stand out from other culture texts about the Dark Knight?

 

Batman vs.… Crusader in a cape?

Bruce lost his parents, but he could always count on Alfred, and as Batman he had Gordon on his side. Batman: The Imposter from the DC Black Label line offers a different story of the Bat-Man. At first glance, these are inconspicuous changes, and yet they give a dark, pessimistic tone to the whole story. Imagine the generous and helpful Alfred, who is fed up with the spoiled and always furious lord! He is so desperate that he expects a psychiatrist to prescribe drugs to Bruce! In the end, she quits her job because she’s not a nanny, after all, but a butler! When I read this comic and saw a lonely Bruce in a large empty mansion, it almost squeezed my heart. Batman has always been a loner, he relied mostly on himself, but in this installment he is even more lonely, basically abandoned by everyone. So much so that at the very beginning you can see that he doesn’t care too much about life. In addition, he is not so good at dealing with criminals. The story barely begins, and as part of his intervention, the cashier takes the bullet, the driver dies, and he receives a few shots in the chest so that he almost bleeds out. And in this condition, Dr. Leslie comes to the door.

Dark Gotham

There are several important and interesting threads, for example Batman’s therapy with a psychiatrist. After the death of his parents, Bruce was taken into the care of Dr. Leslie, who was most terrified by his rage. And now again, as the Dark Knight, he was forced by her to resume the treatment (although she still wonders if it would be better for the hero if he landed in Arkham!). The authors show Bruce’s motivations and what shaped him. The main plot is based on the appearance of the second Batman. By contrast, this disguise kills criminals mercilessly. It makes Bruce in even more trouble because the entire Gotham police are hunting him down!

Darkness, loneliness, dirt and death …

The graphic design is another strong point of this item! The frames are dark, full of black and red, because there is a lot of blood spilling here. However, what I liked the most was the unusual drawing artist. Andrea Sorrentino skillfully highlights every blow or shot. For example, it not only depicts Batman crushing a bandit’s leg, but also makes a sort of x-ray at the point of impact to reveal a broken bone. It looks brilliant !!! I have no major objections to the issue. A solid job in every respect, although there was one inaccuracy. In the cover announcement, we find information that Batman has only been active for a year, and in the text one of the characters mentions that the Dark Knight first appeared three years ago.

Was it worth hunting Batman?

Batman: The Imposter is one of the few comic books that I could really write a lot about. I haven’t mentioned Detective Blair Wong, who is an important character in the story, and has a lot in common with Bruce. Moreover, the episodic characters are simply outstanding! Even the inconspicuous Otis Flannegan turned out to be very moving. While reading this comic, I was touched several times, and even more than once my heart ached, but what is surprising when Alfred screams out such things. Many times I had the feeling that Gotham in this comic book was even darker and more depressing, that there was no hope here.

I promised myself a lot from this comic, and in the end it surprised me in every way anyway! I cannot imagine that Batman: The Imposter would not be included in the top ten of my top comics of all time!