Batman: Dark Patterns (2024-) #9

Batman: Dark Patterns

by Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman (Artist)

Case 03: PareidoliaBatman. Three criminals. One gun. One wound. One life. The heart-wrenching finaleof “Pareidolia” is here. Don’t miss it.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Batman

Kindle Edition

Published August 13, 2025

About the author

Dan Watters is a UK based comic book writer. His first book, LIMBO, was released through Image Comics in 2016. He has since written THE SHADOW at Dynamite Comics, and ASSASSIN’S CREED and WOLFENSTEIN for Titan Comics.

Currently he is writing the relaunch of LUCIFER for Vertigo’s Sandman Universe, as well as DEEP ROOTS for Vault Comics. Deeply rooted in London Town, and firmly of the Devil's party.

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best Batman books on the market these days. It proves the old method works just fine sometimes - you don't always need more than 2-3 issues to tell a great story. I miss those days as a comic fan, and this title scratches that itch.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dan Watters puts Batman through the wringer once again. This title is one I always set high expectations for and it always rises to the occasion.

[Nick LeBlanc · Rating 5 out of 5]

A killer and brutal conclusion to the Red Hood storyline. I really love this series. Particularly good artwork by Sherman in this issue. I’ve heard there’s another Batman project on the horizon for these guys. Let’s hope so!

Read as a single issue.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fucked up"

Would sum up this fantastic issue. Batman finally confronts the "Red Hood Gang" leader but things turn out very different than expected. Sad, depressing, and wonderful all at once. A 5 out of 5.

[Carly · Rating 4 out of 5]

damn batman 😬

[Cybernex007 · Rating 5 out of 5]

These have legit been some of the best batman stories I’ve ever read, I’ve seriously been missing out on this series. From the last issue we found out that the red hood gang isn’t back, but an old man trying to remind the rookery who they are in the hopes that people will be nicer to each other. But batman just couldn’t stay away and has now passed out with a bullet in his back after the old man shot him. All the nights in the rookery, the digging up the empty grave where the burned woman’s body was stored (as she was an old victim of the red hoods gang), and now the bullet have combined to leave batman empty of energy. He wakes up this issue to the smell of bleach, the bucket waiting for him to become their next warning to the community, in a desperate attempt to leave a legacy.

But even while tied up and facing this brutal death, batman rips into this old man and these kids who are apparently his grandsons. The truth is no one has thought about the red hood gang for decades. No one noticed when they left the body in the dryer, so they set the laundromat on fire as a signal flare for someone to notice. Even then batman was the only one, why would anyone think twice about a fire in Gotham? Really the only reason the rookery would be talking about the red hood gang is because batman mentioned it. This old man raised his grandkids on exaggerated stories of the red hood gang, when the truth is they were nothing but petty criminals. Nothing special or memorable, especially for Gotham. No one in the neighborhood gave them up because they have no idea who they are or what they have done. This old man is nothing but a corpse defiler.

This really gets the old man flustered, and once the kids sit him back down and get him his oxygen, one of them sends the other kid downstairs as a “lookout.” Batman knows the reality and calls it out for what it is, that kid is sensitive and they don’t want him to watch what they are about to do. Batman then proceeds to go in depth about exactly what they are going to do and what it will be like. For the dead woman it was easy because her body had decayed and her skin slid right off. Batman also questions the old man of he even remembers her name. But for a living human it’s not that easy, the skin on living tissue blisters and the fat turns to soap. As batman goes in depth about this the kid remaining yells at him to stop. He didn’t even remove Batman’s cowl because he didn’t want to see him as a person.

They aren’t hardened criminals, just a scared old man and his grandsons trying to leave a mark. WHAT WAS HER NAME?! And that’s when it hits batman from the old man’s non answer…he doesn’t know, because he was never a member of the red hood gang, just like how he was never in the military. The heyday of the red hood gang was more than seventy years ago, he’s old but not that old. And that gun is military issue but all that rust would leave any old soldier who still dreams about the glory days weep. They would never let their weapon fall into disrepair. The kid tries to reassure the grandpa that batman is full of it, but when he wouldn’t deny it…the kid admitted that they know and liked the stories anyway. The kid then proceeded to go for the bucket of bleach so they could end it, but the grandpa leapt up and throws to grab it as it was his to do. Once the old man stood up, the rifle sitting in his lap fell to the floor and fired right into the kids chest. The old man freaked out and refused to listen to Batman’s directions to stay calm, his breathing got harder and he collapsed right there, admitting in his final breaths that he saw the red hood gang bury that woman when he was 12. He thought he could do something good.

Batman could have saved them, or at least one of them, but it took 10 minutes before he could even feel his legs to break free. By that time it was too late. He stumbled back down the stairs and met up with the other boy who knew the worst had happened. Batman instructs him to stay outside and wait for the police. The police will come, he will make sure of it. And as batman leaves he apologizes, thinking that he shouldn’t have come here at all. This wasn’t a win but I don’t blame batman at all, he just can’t help but think that he achieved nothing and only brought more harm than good. But I do think there was a level of good be brought and the end of the issue shows it. What was the word of the day when we started this arc? Pareidolia. Seeing patterns where they don’t exist, a quirk of evolution. As the boy waited on the steps for the cops to come, a gang brandishing knives approached him from an alley…only to look up and see a figure that looks a lot like batman. Following their instincts…they fled, and the boy was saved. It wasn’t batman, just a bundle of garbage resembling a familiar pattern. But it goes to show that it wasn’t all pain that batman dug up.

[Seth Grindstaff · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually write reviews for single issues, but this one warrant it.

Wow. Two brutal emotional twists at the end of this one. The story can stand alone or be tied to the two good issues before it.

Wow. This was an emotional gut punch that I don't often feel. (I remember feeling a similar sensation when I read Watchmen.)

The bitter sweet last image makes this so much more than a "messed up" Batman story.

[alejandro galvez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok.

It's a great series but this storyline in particular just was not that interesting to me. Its still a good series to pick up. The art is really
good. I can't complain too much.

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Patterns is so good! I loved the ending to this one how Bruce felt so wasteful and regretful only for him to miss that he truly did make an impact but not in way he was expecting. It was just really good. I love this run so much.

[Richard A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying this book as it looks back at a younger Batman. This issue was unique and also odd as in so un-batman like. Will see where it goes.

[Maverick Eaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the best Batman run going on right now, dreading this ending, would kill for it to go longer than the expected 12!!!!

[Wm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Early Batman learns a hard lesson.

[James B · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sad one

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of the four cases. It's incredible, I audibly gasped at so many points.

[Frank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strong conclusion to an alright story

[Mark Cubillos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a dark ending. This is a great series featuring early Batman.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bleak and poignant.