Batman: Gothic (1990, Morrison, G., Janson, K.)

Batman: Gothic (1990), written by Grant Morrison, artist Klaus Janson

The mob bosses of Gotham are being picked up, one by one. A mysterious figure, a shadow from 20-years back, only known as Whisper, has returned to Gotham to wreak his vengeance upon men, who tried to kill him.

When Bruce Wayne was just a child, a child killer roamed the streets of Gotham. The crime families got worried, as the murdered children meant tightened police scrutiny. In order to ease matters for themselves, they decided together to hunt down the killer and dispense their own brand of justice upon him. But now he is back, as he is immortal.

Batman gets the whiff of matters when the bosses decide to call him for help. While he isn't keen to give aid to the scum of the city, the mysterious killer does intrigue him, as he has had nightmares of late. Dreams of his childhood and his father trying to tell something to him. These dreams and events going on, spring up memories of Bruce's former boarding school, where cruel Mr Winchester kept order.

While the kill count among the criminals gets higher, Bruce steers his way to Austria, where he learns of an old monastery, now surrounded by water. Back in the middles ages, it was a scene of obscenity and sin, the monks believing, that only doing sin would take them closer to god. One of them, when the plague arrived at them as well, made a deal with the devil, allowing him to live 300 years after which his soul would be forever punished.

The tale is true, Mr Whisper is that monk. A devious being from the past, long past his natural existence. He is in Gotham for a reason, that being to cheat the devil in the bargain he has made.  Now only Batman can stand on his way to prevent his former principal to fulfil his evil intentions.

Batman: Gothic is an interesting story. Despite it feeling like a story where making it a Batman story was almost an afterthought, it still works because of how well it is narrated. The writing is, at times, a bit wonky, but the narration it has is solid. Now, don't get me wrong, Gothic also is a good Batman story, but it also feels like a story that doesn't have to be a Batman story to work. In fact, some aspects of Batman are holding the story itself somewhat down, as you know the immortal villain isn't necessarily a death threat to the caped crusader.

The way Batman's role works in the story is, in the end, just an obstacle holding Whisper down long enough for his real judgement to manifest itself in the form of the devil he made his pact in the first place. The devil will get its own in the end.

In any case, Batman: Gothic is a story well worth reading, be you a fan of horror mysteries or just Batman. Grant Morrison has always been a good writer and Klaus Janson's illustrations create a nice atmosphere of horror fantasy.