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Gotham Nights #5
Batman: Gotham Nights II #1
Batman investigates sabotage at a Gotham City amusement park, where a sabotaged Ferris wheel threatens the live of Robin and his friends.
24 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
John Ostrander
2,082 books172 followersJohn Ostrander is an American writer of comic books. He is best known for his work on Suicide Squad, Grimjack and Star Wars: Legacy, series he helped create.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
Originally an actor in a Chicago theatre company, Ostrander moved into writing comics in 1983. His first published works were stories about the character "Sargon, Mistress of War", who appeared the First Comics series Warp!, based on a series of plays by that same Chicago theatre company. He is co-creator of the character Grimjack with Timothy Truman, who originally appeared in a back up story in the First Comics title, Starslayer, before going on to appear in his own book, again published by First Comics in the mid 1980s. First Comics ceased publication in 1991, by which time Ostrander was already doing work for other comics companies (his first scripts for DC Comics were published in 1986).
Prior to his career in comic books, Ostrander studied theology with the intent of becoming a Catholic priest, but now describes himself as an agnostic. His in-depth explorations of morality were later used in his work writing The Spectre, a DC Comics series about the manifestation of the wrath of God. His focus on the character's human aspect, a dead police detective from the 1930s named Jim Corrigan, and his exploration of moral and theological themes brought new life to a character often thought of as impossible to write. He has also worked on Firestorm, Justice League, Martian Manhunter, Manhunter, Suicide Squad, and Wasteland for DC.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 7, 2023
[This is a review of the whole series].
Another strange one that is definitely worth a look. This mini series is almost a lab observation of Gotham's populace, part of it and yet apart, on the artificial island of Little Paris.
Batman is reduced to a secondary role, yet one of his most "detective" ones; the reason being that Ostrander wants to present a commentary on humanity, racism, capitalism and civil corruption. There's also a lot of inclusivity thrown around or hinted at in various places, although Ostrander never spends too much time dwelling on it. "It's there, carry on, I have a story to tell."
One of the stranger things is my conviction that Beatriz Sansone was originally meant to be male or at least trans, and the Sansones would be a gay couple. It is only after issue 1 (or 2, not sure) that Beatriz is ever mentioned by name or called "mother". Maybe I am reading too much into it, but I get a sense there were parts of the comic that were edited out or changed.
On another note, the art by Mary Mitchell is nothing short of amazing, with detailed, vibrant backgrounds, a Gotham truly alive. Also, Ace the Bat-Hound makes an appearance!
On the minus side, the reveal behind the park sabotage is rather uninteresting, Batman's lack of involvement seems a tad forced, there are unanswered questions like why Dunker says his grandfather (one of the two creators of the park) was a murderer etc.
Intriguing but not great.
Another strange one that is definitely worth a look. This mini series is almost a lab observation of Gotham's populace, part of it and yet apart, on the artificial island of Little Paris.
Batman is reduced to a secondary role, yet one of his most "detective" ones; the reason being that Ostrander wants to present a commentary on humanity, racism, capitalism and civil corruption. There's also a lot of inclusivity thrown around or hinted at in various places, although Ostrander never spends too much time dwelling on it. "It's there, carry on, I have a story to tell."
One of the stranger things is my conviction that Beatriz Sansone was originally meant to be male or at least trans, and the Sansones would be a gay couple. It is only after issue 1 (or 2, not sure) that Beatriz is ever mentioned by name or called "mother". Maybe I am reading too much into it, but I get a sense there were parts of the comic that were edited out or changed.
On another note, the art by Mary Mitchell is nothing short of amazing, with detailed, vibrant backgrounds, a Gotham truly alive. Also, Ace the Bat-Hound makes an appearance!
On the minus side, the reveal behind the park sabotage is rather uninteresting, Batman's lack of involvement seems a tad forced, there are unanswered questions like why Dunker says his grandfather (one of the two creators of the park) was a murderer etc.
Intriguing but not great.
January 27, 2025
A string of disasters befall the boardwalk amusement park of Little Paris, catching the attention of the caped crusader. As Batman goes undercover to determine the cause of the issues, the lives of four Gothamites affected by the park failures get wrapped up in the criminal conspiracy.
While this continuation of the Gotham Nights concept isn't as effective as the original story it still has some compelling character work and engaging art. The book shines when the ground level characters are interacting with one of Batman's undercover identities, giving way for covert detective work and organic character moments. Mitchell's pencilling continues to delight, especially in her depiction of architecture, but the soft & flat coloration of the original series has sadly been replaced by more modern gradient fill that muddies a bit of the line work.
While this continuation of the Gotham Nights concept isn't as effective as the original story it still has some compelling character work and engaging art. The book shines when the ground level characters are interacting with one of Batman's undercover identities, giving way for covert detective work and organic character moments. Mitchell's pencilling continues to delight, especially in her depiction of architecture, but the soft & flat coloration of the original series has sadly been replaced by more modern gradient fill that muddies a bit of the line work.
March 2, 2013
not as good as ostrander's first outing, but still an interesting read. here the characters didn't quite coalesce for me. there is a very interesting thread here about little paris and the generations of people who have lived and worked there, but the narrative is garbled a bit with some odd stuff: a creepy sculptor, some bizarre love triangles, and some graft that isn't interesting enough to hold it all together. the art is also a little sloppy in this, which detracts a bit. this kind of series (with it's perspective largely from "ordinary" gothamites) makes this almost feel like a script for a tv show: minimizing the fancy superhero aspect to make it plausible and playable. fortunately in this day and age we have the means to produce more robust prime-time fantasy. ostrander's work here is a nice example of an attempt at a more "seriously" or "realistic" treatment of the batman mythos.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews