Batman One Dark Knight

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Would have been nice as a one-shot and not a series of issues that just dragged the already thin premise way too long. Aside from that great art are some genuine emotional moments that happen along the way, including a subtle moment given to Gordon that re-establishes the WHY of his character. This is definitely one of the better Black Label things for me, I’ve always enjoyed Jock’s work and this one not exception. The villain in question has electro-magnetic powers which get triggered once the convoy is attacked and soon Gotham is in a city-wide blackout. I’ve seen the plot 2 billions times already- a prisoner has to be transferred from A to B in hostile territory- but I can live with that if the story is well told with good pacing, tension points and stuff in between.

Jock seems rather made for drawing Gotham’s crumbling architecture, and there’s a variety of great shots in the end of Batman battling marauding gangs and facing off against Vasquez at the gaping maw of a broken bridge. So too here, we see Gordon abandon popular character (and sometime Question) Renee Montoya, and then Vasquez leaves her to die what promises to be a horrific death.So yeah its a good one-time read with wonderful art and a good action-heavy and heartfelt Batman story! Jock’s art is outstanding through out but especially shines in the single and double page spreads showcasing Gotham City as well as the final issue’s bridge battle. metahumain aux pouvoirs électriques, d'Arkham à Blackgate ne se passe pas comme prévu et Gotham se retrouve dans le noir complet. The art also isn’t Jock’s best, this isn’t as good as his Black Mirror, GA Year One of his many amazing covers.

Among my reading the DC Black Label books, I’ve noted a few titles with events that fall under the old Elseworlds parlance of “shouldn’t exist. The beginning is a little rocky as it starts the novel in the wrong place I feel, it should have started with a flashback and then to the present day.It’s like Jock was given too many pages and didn’t know how to properly utilize each one with his pre-written story, which feels especially weird for a seasoned artist as talented as Jock. in time to save him, than seeing Batman get beaten into the ground, only to get back up and hit back twice as hard. Especially when it comes to the Dark Knight, Jock has proven himself to be one of the best artists on that character, so anytime he gets to do anything Batman-related, it might as well be an event. From high above the sweltering summer streets of Gotham, Batman planned to escort the GCPD as the dangerous metahuman super-villain known as E. Vasquez’s reaction to the situation and Batman’s role in it are natural and logical writing choices, but it’s a twist that I did not necessarily see coming.

I probably wouldn’t have even read this in the first place if I wasn’t such a big fan of Black Label. In this story, Batman has to take a dangerous criminal that every gang is out to get through the streets in a blackout.I would say, however, that the book’s unrelenting, street-level violence put me very much in mind of the classic Jim Starlin/Bernie Wrightson miniseries Batman: The Cult, and a Batman logo from the Starlin era among Jock’s sketchbook cemented that impression. The writing in this issue is a little weaker than in the previous issues, though, and I think this story wraps up a little too quickly. The book’s ending itself is satisfying in the way that it deals with the main villain, Vasquez, the prison warden, but I also feel that it’s somewhat rushed. Its simply the story of Batman taking a criminal named EMP back to Blackgate in a blackout and well having to fight so many criminal and gangs and that fight with Killer croc was so cool and we learn who the villain is and when his child Brody comes into the pic and this woman named "Vasquez" also enters the scene and when all the pieces fit into place, its one of the most epic scenes of how Batman stops it and saves the day! I just felt it was way too self-serious at times, the story never expands on any of the cool ideas Jock throws at the reader, and the mapped-out Gotham feels underused somehow.

You could look at this and say that Jock’s using a shortcut to start off his conclusion, but I think that drawing these panels from Batman’s perspective as he’s trying to find his way through the dark is very effective.

Jock’s gritty Gotham is certainly appealing, but among a glut of continuity and non-continuity Bat-books, I’m not sure this one necessarily rises above the pile.