Batman: Dark Knight, Dark City

Batman (1940-2011) #452-454

by Peter Milligan, Kieron Dwyer (Illustrations), Jim Aparo (Illustrations)

In this epic tale written by Peter Milligan (RED LANTERNS, JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK, SKREEMER), Batman is led through a labyrinthine urban maze by his old nemesis the Riddler, who seems to have changed into an abominable monster with one purpose: to drive Batman insane. In his quest, the Riddler is working with an occultist who has summoned a demon to stop Batman--but in the process, the Riddler himself is slowly changing into a nightmarish beast!
Collects BATMAN #452-454 and DETECTIVE COMICS #629-633.

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, The United States Of America

192 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2015

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC isn’t like Marvel, they usually don’t reprint their '90’s works with kitten-skin binding and ink mixed with the blood of Jack Kirby and gold-plated staples and slap a “Premium Edition” on them. They generally use the simple approach and here it’s just a repackaging of some of Peter Milligan’s early ‘90’s Batman work. It’s even printed on paper that’ll gash your finger open if you turn the pages too quickly.

I guess the kids were into the occult back then because most of the stories contained here have a supernatural vibe to them. The titular story involves a now-crazed Riddler, who wants to conjure up a demon (a bat demon, naturally).



It seems that Gotham City has a long history of demon worshipping and human sacrifice that dates back to pre-revolutionary times and included Thomas Jefferson.



What’s with the barely readable cursive typeface?

Jefferson couldn’t hack it in the Black Arts, so he quit and went on to write the Declaration of Independence and become a President.

Loser.

So The Riddler puts Batman through the paces with his goofy riddles, riddles that Batman needs Alfred to help solve. As Batman jets all over town trying to stay one step ahead of The Riddler, he puts his animal husbandry skills to good use with a goat (Oh, the humanity!)…



…as well as his amateur surgeon training trying to perform an emergency tracheotomy on an infant.



Yikes!!

The other tales include enchanted Irish grass, a golem, a Paste Pot Pete wannabe…



(”Stench was like a fist”? Yes, you read that right. Batman’s first person’s narrative is all over the place in this collection, from the nonsensical to the ersatz Sam Spade.)

…and a Batman villain you’ll probably never see on the silver screen – Two Tone – a Siamese twin who’s half-white and half-black.



That’s just…embarrassing, yet, not without precedent.



Bottom Line: I’m not going to dump all over comics from last century again. Comic books have grown-up a lot since then. This has a retro-feel to it and isn’t without a modicum of entertainment value, but it took me awhile to read through. I’m giving it a generous three stars, but your mileage will probably vary depending upon what era of comics you were weened.

One of the highpoints of the collection was the cover art, which is some of the best you’ll ever see:

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Batman tales with more supernatural bent; the Riddler is the only "classic" villain to appear here. Definitely a more introspective Bruce Wayne as well...

[Nik · Rating 3 out of 5]

“So all those… Those stupid riddles, those setups” -> Genau das dachte ich mir auch, Batman 😊

Wenn mich mal jemand nach ein paar ziemlich bescheuerten Batman-Geschichten fragt, werde ich mit Sicherheit auf diese Anthologie verweisen können. Wir haben z.B. Riddler, der Batman dazu bringt, eine Tracheotomie bei einem Säugling vorzunehmen, oder aus Irland importiertes, verhextest Gras, bei dessen Berührung sich Unglücke wiederholen. Wir haben einen siamesischen Zwilling, halb hell- und dunkelhäutig, natürlich mit zwei Köpfen, der sich als profilierter Auftragskiller verdingt und auch einen Rabbi, dessen Deutsch zwar etwas nachgelassen hat, der aber noch lebhafte Erinnerungen an die Zeit der Judenverfolgung in Deutschland hat und einen Golem beschwört, um Rechtsradikale in die Schranken zu weisen; mit tödlichen Folgen.

Die Anthologie fasst die o.g. Geschichten zusammen, wobei die titelgebende „Dark Knight, Dark City“ gerade mal etwas mehr als ein Drittel der Seitenzahl ausmacht. Einen direkten Zusammenhang mit den anderen Geschichten gibt es nicht, weshalb der Titel und die Coverwahl etwas willkürlich wirken. Mit Letzterem ist allerdings ein positiv besetztes Thema angesprochen, denn das Cover-Artwork ist wirklich ausgesprochen gut, Mike Mignola und Michael Golden liefern tolle Stücke ab, die ich mir sofort an die Wand hängen würde.

Inhaltlich reißt mich der Band weniger vom Hocker. Es gibt ein paar interessante Mystery-Ansätze, aber am Ende schreit es sehr nach Trash und ich frage mich manchmal, wie man auf diese Ideen gekommen ist. Oft wirkt es gar nicht wie eine Batman-Geschichte, sondern wie eine Mystery-Horror-Geschichte, in die man Batman platziert hat, weil der Auftrag eben so lautete. Am Besten kommt da noch „Identity Crisis“ weg, welche an Abschluss bildet und bei der es darum geht, dass offenbar nur noch Bruce Wayne weiß, dass er Batman ist und das verzweifelt zu beweisen versucht.

Wer mehr von Batman und Mulligan lesen möchte, vermischt mit den Genres Mystery und Horror, gewürzt mit großartigem Cover-Artwork, kann gerne einen Blick riskieren. Meins war es weniger.

[Alex Sarll]

Read as singles many years ago. I wish the plan for Milligan to take over as the title's regular writer hadn't fizzled out, but then that seemed to happen a lot with him around then (see also Animal Man) and I suppose it wasn't like we weren't getting plenty of other great work from him instead.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This trade contains Batman issues #452-454 and Detective Comics issues #629-633.

Batman has always been my favorite comic book character and his stories around the time this was original published developed my life long love of the medium. As such I'm thrilled to see DC making these stories available again in reasonably priced collections.

First up here is the three part titular story Dark Knight, Dark City. A more brutal, unpredictable Riddler is leading Batman around Gotham on a merry chase with a lot of collateral damage. Parallel story sequences recount a vile ritual performed in Gotham's past via a confession committed to the pages of a personal diary in 1793. This is a creepy, suspenseful tale with a lot of interesting additions to the history and mythology of Gotham City and its protector. The central plot threads are quite clever and while there are elements here that won't appeal to some readers I thought everything came together nicely. Kieron Dwyer's art (with special mention to the exquisite coloring of Adrienne Roy) is excellent and atmospheric, complementing the story to perfection. It's is very reminiscent of great work from Norm Breyfogle during the same time period.

The remainder of the trade is filled out with several of the same writers issues from Detective Comics. Issues #629-631 are drawn by legendary Bat-artist Jim Aparo and while his art is quite different in style than today's comics it's still phenomenal. We start with a single issue tale called The Hungry Grass. The themes explored make a great anchor for a story and are well enough developed, but this one ends up being a bit too weird. Milligan's regular use of myths and the concept of actions and consequences is interesting though.

Another stand alone issue sees Batman caught in-between an escaped death row inmate and the mob hit man sent to kill him. Good little story here.

The two part Golem of Gotham finishes the Aparo issues. Amid racially motivated violence and experiencing flashbacks to the horrors of his younger life an old Jewish man makes a protector for the slums of Gotham. There's a lot of depth to this one, and Milligan continues to use heavy, often mystical, thought-provoking themes effectively.

The collection finishes with the single issue Identity Crisis, drawn by Tom Mandrake. The art is a slight step down from the previous issues, but still appropriate and effective. Bruce Wayne wakes up drowning, and things are going to get worse from there when everything he knows is true about his duel identities appears to be all in his mind. Cute mind bender here to close out the trade.

While there's nothing essential in this issues I found the titular story excellent and remaining issues decent enough. The ways in which Milligan pushes plot, theme, and structure are worth checking this out for alone, and I can only hope we'll see more trades like this collecting Batman's older adventures.

[Tomás · Rating 5 out of 5]

Por lo general, Peter Milligan no me parece un escritor adecuado para poner al frente de una serie de superhéroes (la excepción a la regla claramente es su magnífica X-Force y X-Statix, pero es una excepción como ya dije). Asi que cuando vi este tomo a la venta, a muy buen precio y encima en inglés, dudé un poco, pero mi alma de fanático que busca la redención de sus autores preferidos, me ganó y me lo llevé a casa. Lo leí muy tranqui este último finde largo.

Y esta historia, es otra excepción a la regla como descubrí a medida que iba pasando página tras página. Acá Milligan fue puesto al frente de un Batman manejado por las circunstancias de la época. Los 90 fueron los peores años para el hombre murciélago, con un sinfin de autores que se dedicaban a hacer mierda al personaje, de deprimirlo y tratar de emular, a veces bien, a veces mal, al Batman que redefinió Frank Miller allá por los años 80. Fue una época bastante desigual, con algunas buenas historias y otras porquerías bastante olvidables.

En la historia principal de este tomo, la que da título al mismo, Milligan no deja de lado la historia sombría pero lo hace a su manera, incluyendo algunos agregados surrealistas y alucinógenos dando forma a una historia detectivesca con mucha pinta y una redefinición del Acertijo espectacular. Acá el Acertijo no resulta para nada simpático, es un loco desatado, muy sádico y forrito como pocas veces se ha visto. La trama se mezcla entre la persecusión del villano y por otro lado con un mito antiguo en Ciudad Gótica que, dicho sea de paso, redefine a la ciudad y señala la importante relación que esas calles oscuras y agresivas tienen con Batman (esos monólogos que tiene la ciudad mientras ve al héroe ir de acá para allá tratando de salvar vidas, es excelente).

Una historia muy oscura, fiel a la época pero no por eso una emulación de otros autores. Milligan tiene voz propia y nos muestra que puede escribir a Batman a su manera sin dejarnos indiferentes.

El resto del tomo son números unitarios que completan toda la etapa de Milligan en la serie y no están para nada mal. Resultan igual de entretenidos y personales como la historia principal. Acompañado Milligan en su mayoría, encima, por un Jim Aparo en estado de gracia, estos números sean quizás lo mejor que se escribió de Batman en esos años (él último número, dibujado por Tom Mandrake, es ya de por sí un número increíble y un tour de force demente como pocos).

En resumen: un tomo imprescindible para los fans del personaje y un tomo imprescindible para los fans de este autor inglés tan personal y enigmático, que aunque a veces tenga altibajos, acá se encuentra en su mejor momento.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The 5 star rating is for the Dark Knight, Dark City three part story to start this collection. That story would never leave the DC editor's room Today. Very dark...

[Tom Ewing · Rating 4 out of 5]

How much like a Pete Milligan comic can Batman really be? you might ask, and by the time you’ve reached the story where Batman has to visit a foot fetish shop to track down a gentleman hitman on the run from a two headed mobster who has one Black and one white head you’ll be forced to admit that the answer is “Very like”.

The feature story here is the 3 part “Dark Knight, Dark City”: Mike Mignola does the covers and it’s a shame DC couldn’t have snagged him for interior work too as this is in many ways a classic Hellboy set-up, with someone probing a little too deeply into bad old magic and paying a price. That someone is The Riddler, in a slightly unconvincing ‘darker’ mode, though the reveal of why he’s been acting like a motiveless psycho is fun.

It’s solid, with Batman playing catch up and out of his depth - a mode Milligan likes to work in, it turns out. This is not the omni-competent, hyper prepared 21st Century Batman, this is a man who gets scared and feels pressure, making the occasional bad call, physically vulnerable and living on his wits. Which are considerable but not superhuman.

It’s refreshing to read this human (and compassionate) Batman, and the stories Milligan likes to tell, full of grotesquerie and weird pulp ideas, work better with him. Jim Aparo handles most of the art - his Batman style is jagged, action-packed, constantly moving the story along. Visually though the best story here is the last, where Tom Mandrake illustrates a tricksy yarn about identity and reality in his best swirling gothic style. It’s very Pete Milligan, and all the better for it.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can see them now, all the Batman villains chilling at Starbuck's or something, regaling each other with the way they've fucked with Bats over the years. Then someone yells down the table, "Hey! Riddler! Remember that time you tricked Batsy into performing a tracheotomy on a baby with a knife?"
This is that story.
These are, needless, to say, grim tales collected here. The Riddler/baby-throat story is the titular, central piece. An ancient demon named Barbatos (yes, the one Morrison uses later) possesses the Riddler and makes him do uncharacteristic psychotic shit to free said demon via a rite that involves putting ping-pong balls down an infant's throat, hence the trach.
The other selections here are less gripping. The one about the off-center villain "Stiletto" kind of sucks and the last bit about "The Synaptic Kid" tricking himself into thinking he's Bruce Wayne is kind of retarded, too. The intervening story arc, which involves white supremacists in Gotham being targeted by a vengeful Jewish golem created by an elderly rabbi in revenge for all that holocaust stuff, is great, though. The golem gets out of control and Batman has to fight it. Never will you ever see again a Batman story where Batman threatens an elderly Jewish man with violence if he doesn't erase the alif from a golem's forehead. Ridiculous, yes. The best line from this story? The one when Batman gets thrown into an Indian restaurant:
"There's blood in my mouth and curry sauce on my cape."

[Victoria Delgado - Libros para Buddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

¡Qué buenísimas historias! Y sobre todo las ilustraciones son perfectas. Me encanto.

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Riddler story is amazing- great use of violence and fear but still keeping it feeling like a comic. This era of Batman rides the line between adult (serious in tone) and childlike (bright colors and quirks). I love this era so much, it doesn’t take it self overly seriously and allows some zaniness but treats each threat as if it were REAL. Batman is solving a missing baby case but flying on a hang-glider!

The hitman story was a good “moral code” story but just ok. The golem story was fine but felt odd having a clay monster and no clay face. The story certainly feels timely (or a more negative take: things haven’t changed as much as it may have seemed). Batman/ Bruce Wayne dichotomy literally broke a man’s brain- that’s my Batman!

[Gabriel Llagostera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Esta etapa debería tener un mayor reconocimiento de la que tiene. Principalmente el primer arco que da título al tomo nos trae al mejor Acertijo que recuerde. El resto de historias son muy buenas también, buenos relatos policiales con tintes macabros. Ojalá vuelva algún día a los cómics del personaje una época como esta.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Reading individual issues since this was out of print] The Batman issues were my favorite - I remember reading them when they came out. Pretty dark but clever story. And the first appearance of Barbatos!!! ... Detective was ok. The golem story was a little stretched out. Mignola's covers were amazing.

[Andy Spagnol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some cool occult stuff but underwhelming in the end

[Emma Kay Krebs · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

[Raven Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★
I waited for a man who would set a trail of riddles.
I waited for a BAT who would answer them

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am so grateful to DC for putting out these collections of actually good comics. While I really can't stand the New 52 Batman, I'm still a fan of the character. And when I read stories like this collection of Peter Milligan stories, which merge Bats with a bit of horror, I'm reminded of why I used to love reading Batman books. There was a depth to the characterization and storytelling that's just lost now, possibly for good. I'm not generally one for the "old was better" but in Bat's case--it's true.

In this collection, one of my favorite stories, Dark Knight, Dark City is told, where Batman and the Riddler are pawns in a recreation of an ancient cult's attempt to summon a demon. The Riddler's demented actions are notable--because, unlike now, where murders are cheap--Eddie killing people is a red flag. (How refreshing.) In the end, there's lingering questions as to whether or not the city of Gotham forged Bruce to be the Bat, and it's a nice, lingering thought.

Also collected are a few other tales, with Batman trying to save a crook's life--only to have it be ended in Florida's electric chair, haunted grass that recreates horrific moments when "planted" in tragic spots, and a two-part story where Bats faces off with a Golem, created by a Jewish collaborator's guilt. The depth and moral questions here are a lot of fun to digest.

The artists are great, too--Kieron Dwyer's Breyfogle-like Bats works well for the cult story, Jim Aparo's Batman is so emotional and expressive, and Tom Mandrake comes in at the end for a psychological piece that questions sanity and makes his slightly whimsical linework mesh perfectly.

A great collection you should grab if you like pre-New 52 Batman. Those who enjoy the current version? Unlikely you'll dig this. Too few dead people! Too little brooding! Bruce is actually smart!

[Etienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Batman collected works here. First part there is a story stretch in a couple of issues (three if I remember it correctly), which put Batman against the Riddler. The rest of it is more or less stand-alone issue of some old Batman Detective Comics series. Nothing extraordinary in this one. But good enough and entertaining so I don't regret buying it!

[Fugo Feedback]

Como nunca conseguí todos los # de Zinco que conformaban esta historia, supongo que esperaré al dichoso tomo yanqui para leerme todo prolijamente y de un saque.

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quise leer esta obra por recomendación de uno de mis mejores amigos. Aunque al poner atención a la portada y notar el nombre de Milligan como autor, recordé inmediatamente la grata y sorpresiva experiencia que había sido para mí leer Enigma del mismo autor. Dark Knight Dark City, es una historia diferente de Batman y que aunque no tan conocida, introduce un elemento que ha sido retomado por otros autores más populares.
Este tomo trae ocho números, los primeros tres conforman la historia que le da el título a la colección, y las otras cuatro son historias sueltas, entretenidas y creo que podríamos decir que el elemento que conecta a todas es que Batman se enfrenta a elementos sobre naturales, algo que no es común y yo aprecié mucho.
En la historia que le da el nombre a la colección, tenemos a batman enfrentándose al Riddler, pero el Riddler está más desquiciado que nunca, y Milligan intercala la historia de Batman con el diario de Stockman, uno de los fundadores de Gotham. En el tercer número de la historia, tenemos un giro sobre natural que pone en perspectiva inclusive, el asesinato de los padres de Bruce. Pero todo lo maneja de una manera coherente, no muy desquiciada y con giros interesantes y originales que hacen que el final se sienta plausible. La introducción de Barbatos es importante porque es un elemento central del run de Morrison en Batman, uno de los más icónicos, y también es uno de los elementos clave del Batman Metal de Snyder y que deriva en el run de Justice League del mismo autor. Y pocos saben que ésta entidad fue creada por Milligan en este tomo.
El resto de historias son entretenidas y normalmente manejan giros interesantes sobre la psique de Batman. La última historia, crisis de identidad, me mantuvo muy tenso durante todo el número.
Recomiendo mucho este tomo para los que son fans del aspecto sobre natural del personaje y los que quieren saber más sobre Barbatos.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman: Dark Night, Dark City is a collection of three issues from the original run of Batman series and five issues from the original run of Detective Comics. It was written by Peter Milligan and penciled by Kieron Dwyer. Batman: Dark Night, Dark City collects eight issues: Batman #452–454 and Detective Comics #629–633.

"Dark Night, Dark City" is a three-issue story (Batman #452–454), which has Bruce Wayne as Batman go against The Riddler, who has been possessed by a demon and it is up to Batman to save not only Gotham City, but the Riddler as well.

"The Hungry Grass!" (Detective Comics #629), "And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels" (Detective Comics #630), "The Golem of Gotham" (Detective Comics #631–632), and "Identity Crisis" (Detective Comics #633) has Bruce Wayne as Batman deal with the supernatural against the effects of the Irish legend of Fairy Grass, Golems, and the like.

Peter Milligan penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part, it was written moderately well. Milligan has written a handful of odd stories that deal with the supernatural, which unfortunately is not my cup of tea when it comes to Batman stories and has may have influence my enjoyment of the trade paperback.

Kieron Dwyer (Batman #452–454 and Detective Comics #633) and Jim Aparo (Detective Comics #629–632) penciled the trade paperback. For the most part, their penciling style complement each other rather well and made the overall artistic flow rather smoothly – a tad dated, but given when it was published understandable.

All in all, Batman: Dark Night, Dark City is mediocre collection of Peter Milligan stories about Bruce Wayne as Batman encounters with the supernatural.

[Phillip Cash · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first three issues contained in this trade (Batman #452-454) make up the entirety of the title story by Peter Milligan and Kieron Dwyer. This is often trotted out as one of the defining Riddler stories, or at least one of the defining stories for this particularly characterization of the Riddler (a cold, cunning psychopath who can actually rival Batman's mental prowess and get some victories now and again). I enjoyed this story fine; the throat operation was legitimately disturbing and the artwork was creative, particularly the panel that evoked Starry Night.

Also included is Milligan's run on Detective Comics, featuring legendary Batman artist Jim Aparo on pencilling duties for #629-632, and Tom Mandrake on #633. These stories are mostly self-contained, with one two-parter (#631-632). They're all pretty solid: the central theme of #629, that not all things are fixable, was intriguing. I enjoyed the conjoined twin contract killer and mob shenanigans of #630. The bizarre Golem and white supremacist gang shenanigans of #631-632 were cool too. Then there's #633, which reminds me of a Silver Age story called Am I Really Batman? from Batman #112. It has the same Twilight Zone-esque premise, and follows up on it in a totally different way. It's predictable but amusing. Mandrake's art is inconsistent though—some pages look excellent while some are really poor.

[Alex E · Rating 3 out of 5]

When people say that Gotham city is a dark city, they ain't talking about the lighting.

This book really delves into the city itself as a character. From shootouts on city streets, to old memories of tragedies reoccurring, to evil itself embedding itself into the city, this volume explores why Gotham is such a strong presence in Batman books.

The main story, involving a sadistic and frankly psychotic version of the Riddler, is definitely the best story in the volume. It delves into some dark themes and areas that leave you wondering if the Riddler has finally lost it... well, more so than usual. In the end, it is revealed he is not completely in control at the time, but it goes to show you how dangerous he is as a villain if he really wants to be. Even one of his "goons" compares him to the Joker at one point.

I liked this volume because it reminds me of the Batman stories of the past where he is very human. He gets tired, beat-up, needs to lie down and recuperate, you know... he is very much a normal dude under the cowl. Its definitely different from today's BatGod persona.

Overall, the stories are a bit uneven, but the book is worth it for the Riddler story itself. If you like old school Batman, check this out.

[Georgie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Digital version from the library contained the titular story, as well as some other small stories from the run.

-Dark Knight, Dark City: very eery. Much more bloodthirsty take on the Riddler. Seeing mystical elements in Batman was interesting. Always enjoy when Gotham is rendered as an otherworldly, almost living entity.
-Hungry Grass: another mystical storyline. Interesting moral/ethical questions asked.
-And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels: another look at state punishment, in particular the death penalty. Not much else.
Skipped over the Golem of Gotham- did not want to see if it aged well or not. My attention had waned so I also skipped over Identity Crisis.

The main storyline had me plugged in. The larger ethical questions and solemn tone throughout worked well for me. Also enjoyed the individual cover art.

*read as a part of Comic Book Herald's Dark Knights: Metal reading order*

[Enrique del Castillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Knight, Dark City was a big hole in my Batman readings; despite knowing how important it was for Morrison's run with the character, I had yet to read it, and now I'm glad I've finally done it.

It was as good as I hoped; the wacky superheroics mix pretty well with the darkness inherent to a story about a demon trying to break free, and the connections to Morrison's work enhance some of its elements.

The rest of the stories are overall good; they have a darker approach to Batman and the criminals of Gotham City, though by not being a true collection of Milligan's work on Batman, they feel kind of disjointed.

Still, as a snapshot of Milligan's work with the character, this collection is quite good and makes me wish to see what else he did on Batman.

[Fernando · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me encanta cuando las historias de género negro introducen o tienen su motor principal en elementos sobrenaturales y fantasmagóricos. Este "Caballero Oscuro, Ciudad Oscura" siempre se ha encontrado entre mis sagas favoritas de Batman, escogiendo precisamente un villano muy antitético al respecto y casi risible (al menos, hasta la última adaptación cinematográfica, según tengo entendido) como "El Acertijo".

Quizá no alcance el nivel de algunas de las grandes historias del Señor de la Noche pero merece, con toda justicia, ser reivindicada y recuperada ya que supone un viaje divertido e inteligente al demonio que toda ciudad guarda en su interior y a las diferentes perspectivas que pueden adoptar los hechos y la Verdad.

Tres números deliciosos que sobreviven al paso de los años.

[Max Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

A passable anthology of early nineties Bat-tales.

When I've found out that Peter Milligan wrote Batman ongoing for some time in the early nineties I was curious to check it out. Your usual detective Batman is there but there are a lot of occult undertones which will fully develop much later on in other creations like Hellblazer. So in the first arc Riddler is going edgy and kidnapping babies while nonchalantly murdering people. The Great Detective is baffled but has to persevere as usual. Decent art and good narrative. The rest of the book is just some short stories from Detective Comics. All are fine but nothing special.

[Kanti · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Batman fighting (his) demons, ©DC Comics]

He is Batman. The DARK KNIGHT.

I am Gotham. The DARK CITY.


[Stockman's Square, Gotham City, ©DC Comics]

Batman: Dark Night, Dark City is a series of 'unearthly' events that come threatening to destroy both the bad and good - The Riddler and The Dark Knight.

Peter Milligan and team have written and illustrated quite a few supernatural stories with Batman playing the main character. There are many dark elements and much blood is shed. And, surely, these are not for everyone.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great volume and introduced Barbartos who would later have a role to play later in the DCU first in this 4 parter, Grant Morrison's run on Batman and Robin, and in the Dark Knights Metal Mini-series. I also enjoyed the other stories. One deals with a timely story which is still relevant in our nation today which is about Batman tackling a Golem and a series of Hate Crimes towards Immigrants.

This volume has a mix of Mystery and The Supernatural. A must for Batman fans and Comic fans alike.

[Brian Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want this to be better than it is, mostly because the first half is just such a great Riddler story, in the nature of the riddles, how they play fair while misdirecting, that there's a reason for using them in the first place, etc. The back half kinda slips with the magical aspects, which don't fit my conception of Riddler as a villain.

Kieron Dwyer's artwork is excellent throughout. Evocative and easy to follow, and the kinetic nature of the panel layout of the sequence with the sphinx woman is amazing.