An attack by Mr Freeze on Gotham City helps Jim Gordon accept that Batman is dead and leads his police force to rededicate itself to the protection of Gotham's citizens.Those are the bones of the issue, the meat is a fast-moving, efficient script from Royal McGraw which shows us that Gordon doesn't always need a vigilante to protect him. Given his late middle-age, the extent of Gordon's physicality surprised me, but what the heck, this is his one of his only solo comics in 70 years. Let's assume he had an adrenaline rush and say no more.
I had no problems with the intelligence on show here, though; this is the top cop in America's most dangerous city, the father (yes, father - stick your post-Crisis tweaks where continuity don't shine!) of a computer genius. He's bound to be a sharp cookie.
The book is also a good showcase for Detective Harvey Bullock, highlighting his loyalty to Gordon. Mr Freeze is a tad annoying, displaying a movie Joker-style desire to teach the citizens of Gotham a lesson, but as drawn by the terribly underrated Tom Mandrake, he's menacing fun.
All in all, this isn't an indispensible part of the Battle for the Cowl storyline, but it's a decent spotlight that will hopefully give McGraw and Mandrake a chance to do more ambitious Batman work.
actually untill i read his wikipedia article i never knew gordon was NOT the father of barbara in post crisis and now it appears he is anyway
ReplyDeletei always assumed he was anyway
sometimes i wonder if dc is doing their best the past 25 years to undo crisis on infinite earths