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Batman: Streets of Gotham #2
Batman: Streets of Gotham - Leviathan
The 2-part "Leviathan" story kicks off from guest writer Chris Yost (RED ROBIN) as The Huntress finds herself in an unusual position - the responsible one. Because when Huntress hunts down a violent new criminal, she finds herself stuck with a violent, loose cannon of a partner on the case - the Man-Bat! And in a special story from Mike Benson (Deadpool: Suicide Kings, Moon Knight), Batman and Robin uncover a sinister plot involving dozens of Gotham City's young runaways. Is Arkham Asylum escapee Humpty Dumpty at the center of the scheme - or is he just the tip of an even more dangerous iceberg?
Collects BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #5-11.
Collects BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #5-11.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published November 2, 2010
8 people are currently reading
598 people want to read
About the author
Paul Dini
726 books716 followersPaul Dini is an American television producer of animated cartoons. He is best known as a producer and writer for several Warner Bros./DC Comics series, including Star Wars: Ewoks, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, The New Batman/Superman Adventures, Batman Beyond and Duck Dodgers. He also developed and scripted Krypto the Superdog and contributed scripts to Animaniacs (he created Minerva Mink), Freakazoid, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. After leaving Warner Bros. In early 2004, Dini went on to write and story edit the popular ABC adventure series Lost.
Paul Dini was born in New York City. He attended the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California on an art scholarship. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he earned a BFA degree in creative writing. (He also took zoology classes at Harvard University.)
During college, he began doing freelance animation scripts for Filmation, and a number of other studios. In 1984, he was hired to work for George Lucas on several of his animation projects.
The episodes of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon that were written by Dini have become favorites amongst the show's fans over the internet, although despite this as well as contributing to interviews on the released box sets of the series, Dini has made no secret of his distaste for Filmation and the He-Man concept. He also wrote an episode of the Generation One Transformers cartoon series and contributed to various episodes of the Ewoks animated series, several of which included rare appearances from the Empire.
In 1989, he was hired at Warner Bros. Animation to work on Tiny Toon Adventures. Later, he moved onto Batman: The Animated Series, where he worked as a writer, producer and editor, later working on Batman Beyond. He continued working with WB animation, working on a number of internal projects, including Krypto the Superdog and Duck Dodgers, until 2004.
He has earned five Emmy awards for his animation work. In a related effort, Dini was also the co-author (with Chip Kidd) of Batman Animated, a 1998 non-fiction coffee table book about the animated Batman franchise.
Dini has also written several comics stories for DC Comics, including an acclaimed oversized graphic novel series illustrated by painter Alex Ross. (A hardcover collection of the Dini and Ross stories was published in late summer 2005 under the title The World's Greatest Superheroes.) Other books written by Dini for DC have featured his Batman Animated creation Harley Quinn as well as classic characters Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Zatanna.
Best known among Dini's original creations is Jingle Belle, the rebellious teen-age daughter of Santa Claus. Dini also created Sheriff Ida Red, the super-powered cowgirl star of a series of books set in Dini's mythical town of Mutant, Texas. Perhaps his greatest character contribution is the introduction of Harley Quinn (along with designs by Bruce Timm) on Batman: The Animated Series.
In 2001 Dini made a cameo appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back during the scene in which Jay and Silent Bob wear ridiculous looking costumes for a film being directed by Chris Rock, in which Dini says to them "you guys look pretty bad ass".
In 2006, Dini became the writer for DC Comics' Detective Comics. That same year, he announced that he was writing a hardcover graphic novel starring Zatanna and Black Canary. In 2007, he was announced as the head writer of that company's weekly series, Countdown. Paul Dini is currently co-writing the script for the upcoming Gatchaman movie. Dini is also currently writing a series for Top Cow Productions, based in a character he created, Madame Mirage.
Paul Dini is an active cryptozoologist, hunter and wildlife photographer. On a 1985 trip to Tasmania, he had a possible sighting of a Thylacine. He has also encountered a number of venomous snakes, a Komodo Dragon and a charging Sumatran Rhi
Paul Dini was born in New York City. He attended the Stevenson School in Pebble Beach, California on an art scholarship. He attended Emerson College in Boston, where he earned a BFA degree in creative writing. (He also took zoology classes at Harvard University.)
During college, he began doing freelance animation scripts for Filmation, and a number of other studios. In 1984, he was hired to work for George Lucas on several of his animation projects.
The episodes of the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon that were written by Dini have become favorites amongst the show's fans over the internet, although despite this as well as contributing to interviews on the released box sets of the series, Dini has made no secret of his distaste for Filmation and the He-Man concept. He also wrote an episode of the Generation One Transformers cartoon series and contributed to various episodes of the Ewoks animated series, several of which included rare appearances from the Empire.
In 1989, he was hired at Warner Bros. Animation to work on Tiny Toon Adventures. Later, he moved onto Batman: The Animated Series, where he worked as a writer, producer and editor, later working on Batman Beyond. He continued working with WB animation, working on a number of internal projects, including Krypto the Superdog and Duck Dodgers, until 2004.
He has earned five Emmy awards for his animation work. In a related effort, Dini was also the co-author (with Chip Kidd) of Batman Animated, a 1998 non-fiction coffee table book about the animated Batman franchise.
Dini has also written several comics stories for DC Comics, including an acclaimed oversized graphic novel series illustrated by painter Alex Ross. (A hardcover collection of the Dini and Ross stories was published in late summer 2005 under the title The World's Greatest Superheroes.) Other books written by Dini for DC have featured his Batman Animated creation Harley Quinn as well as classic characters Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel and Zatanna.
Best known among Dini's original creations is Jingle Belle, the rebellious teen-age daughter of Santa Claus. Dini also created Sheriff Ida Red, the super-powered cowgirl star of a series of books set in Dini's mythical town of Mutant, Texas. Perhaps his greatest character contribution is the introduction of Harley Quinn (along with designs by Bruce Timm) on Batman: The Animated Series.
In 2001 Dini made a cameo appearance in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back during the scene in which Jay and Silent Bob wear ridiculous looking costumes for a film being directed by Chris Rock, in which Dini says to them "you guys look pretty bad ass".
In 2006, Dini became the writer for DC Comics' Detective Comics. That same year, he announced that he was writing a hardcover graphic novel starring Zatanna and Black Canary. In 2007, he was announced as the head writer of that company's weekly series, Countdown. Paul Dini is currently co-writing the script for the upcoming Gatchaman movie. Dini is also currently writing a series for Top Cow Productions, based in a character he created, Madame Mirage.
Paul Dini is an active cryptozoologist, hunter and wildlife photographer. On a 1985 trip to Tasmania, he had a possible sighting of a Thylacine. He has also encountered a number of venomous snakes, a Komodo Dragon and a charging Sumatran Rhi
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
October 30, 2025
(B+) 77% | Good
Notes: A back-alley view of Gotham, steeped in blood and violence, where mysteries reveal mistaken intention and identity.
Notes: A back-alley view of Gotham, steeped in blood and violence, where mysteries reveal mistaken intention and identity.
May 28, 2015
Three and a half stars rounded up.
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,”
Because this is Gotham, they all happen to be dead
Apologies to Henry Livingston, Jr.
Oh and Damian, don’t worry about losing your lunch at the crime scene. The GCPD will clean it up.
This set of stories takes place around the time that Batman was still sort of dead. . All the other superheroes have to chip in and make sure that Gotham City is safe from psycho Santa Clauses. Nightwing/Dick Grayson is the Batman and he’s dragging around smart mouth Damian/Robin.
The warm and fuzzy holiday issue aside, this isn’t a bad collection. The first set of stories deals with a Huntress/ManBat confrontation and is the best of the bunch. The rest of this volume has Victor Zsasz moving up from psycho-serial killer to psycho-small business owner. He has kids fight to the death for the amusement of Gotham’s underworld hence Santa’s abandoned orphanage filled with dead kids.
Both story lines do tie together pretty well. Really.
And speaking of orphans, a new “hero” is introduced into the Gotham Mix: Abuse. Colin Wilkes, an orphan who was rescued by Batman but not before being dosed with venom by the Scarecrow, can now Hulk-out at will and stomp evil doers.
Happy Holidays everyone!
“Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,”
Because this is Gotham, they all happen to be dead
Apologies to Henry Livingston, Jr.
Oh and Damian, don’t worry about losing your lunch at the crime scene. The GCPD will clean it up.
This set of stories takes place around the time that Batman was still sort of dead. . All the other superheroes have to chip in and make sure that Gotham City is safe from psycho Santa Clauses. Nightwing/Dick Grayson is the Batman and he’s dragging around smart mouth Damian/Robin.
The warm and fuzzy holiday issue aside, this isn’t a bad collection. The first set of stories deals with a Huntress/ManBat confrontation and is the best of the bunch. The rest of this volume has Victor Zsasz moving up from psycho-serial killer to psycho-small business owner. He has kids fight to the death for the amusement of Gotham’s underworld hence Santa’s abandoned orphanage filled with dead kids.
Both story lines do tie together pretty well. Really.
And speaking of orphans, a new “hero” is introduced into the Gotham Mix: Abuse. Colin Wilkes, an orphan who was rescued by Batman but not before being dosed with venom by the Scarecrow, can now Hulk-out at will and stomp evil doers.
Happy Holidays everyone!
March 12, 2018
So I didn't love the first book but this one was a lot better.
These are basically side stories, or gotham stories, so it's not always staring the Batman. I kind of love that. Because when the hero comes in, more of a impact. So we have one with Huntress and Manbat, one with Damien and Dick hunting down a killer who forces children to fight to the death, and also introduces Abuse who's a kid who was infected with venom and can become huge and fights for Justice like Batman.
Good: Both storylines are really good. The twist at the end of the man-bat one works really well and the build up is solid. I freaking loved the storyline of Damien and Abuse teaming up together to take down a serial killer murdering children. It felt like it had stakes which is really nice.
Bad: I thought could have been a issue or two more squeezed in.
Overall very exciting, fun, and dark. This is what a side batman story should read like. A 4 out of 5.
These are basically side stories, or gotham stories, so it's not always staring the Batman. I kind of love that. Because when the hero comes in, more of a impact. So we have one with Huntress and Manbat, one with Damien and Dick hunting down a killer who forces children to fight to the death, and also introduces Abuse who's a kid who was infected with venom and can become huge and fights for Justice like Batman.
Good: Both storylines are really good. The twist at the end of the man-bat one works really well and the build up is solid. I freaking loved the storyline of Damien and Abuse teaming up together to take down a serial killer murdering children. It felt like it had stakes which is really nice.
Bad: I thought could have been a issue or two more squeezed in.
Overall very exciting, fun, and dark. This is what a side batman story should read like. A 4 out of 5.
April 15, 2018
A set of stories with Dick Grayson and Damian as Batman and Robin. Borderline mature audiences by American standards. Shadowy artwork.
OVERALL GRADE: B.
OVERALL GRADE: B.
September 14, 2022
This felt like a pretty filler volume and its alright I guess like the first story was with Huntress vs an-bat and its the hero who becomes the monster and that trope and Helena realizing she may have been wrong and also has some redemption moments and then a story with a girl named Sophia and Batman solving some case like that and it was quite bland and made it a bit boring and then finally a story with what Zsasz has been upto and well his child-fight ring and how Damian and a kid named Colin stop it and it was actually pretty good and you will love Damian by the end and it also shows him evolving from beyond his LOA days and I love the focus on Colin here!
So yeah a pretty filler volume with 3 stories, 2 good, 1 mid and solid art and covers from Dustin and makes for an okay read and promises some big things happening next Volume with Hush! Definitely check it out!
So yeah a pretty filler volume with 3 stories, 2 good, 1 mid and solid art and covers from Dustin and makes for an okay read and promises some big things happening next Volume with Hush! Definitely check it out!
October 27, 2011
Once again, I've managed to read things out of order. I'm currently waiting to get Batman: Streets of Gotham Vol. 1: Hush Money.
Doesn't matter. This was great as a stand-alone.
The first story involves Huntress, Man-Bat, and a priest.
Huntress, Man-Bat, and a priest walk into a bar...
It's a solid story, but there's a little twist at the end that sort of takes it up a notch or two and pushes it into the Really Good category.
The second half of the book is where we get introduced to a new character, Abuse. Loved him. The plot follows Damien and Abuse as they separately try to figure out what's happening to Gotham's runaways. It's a dark story, but it ends on a high note.
So, yes. Put this on your to-read list right now.
Doesn't matter. This was great as a stand-alone.
The first story involves Huntress, Man-Bat, and a priest.
Huntress, Man-Bat, and a priest walk into a bar...
It's a solid story, but there's a little twist at the end that sort of takes it up a notch or two and pushes it into the Really Good category.
The second half of the book is where we get introduced to a new character, Abuse. Loved him. The plot follows Damien and Abuse as they separately try to figure out what's happening to Gotham's runaways. It's a dark story, but it ends on a high note.
So, yes. Put this on your to-read list right now.
December 13, 2011
Kind of a hodgepodge of storylines and authors. Luckily, they're all pretty good. Probably the high point is the resolution to the ongoing Zsasz storyline, written by Paul Dini, but the rest are by no means bad. The Huntress story that starts the collection is really topnotch. Dustin Nguyen's work is, as always, excellent. Yet another really good Bat collection, even without an overarching storyline.
September 3, 2021
What I actually like about this series is that, like Gotham Central, I feel Gotham when I'm reading it. It has this tone that really makes you feel like you're in the muck of it with the characters. It's one of those books that breathes life into the city.
As cases go, this one is pretty damn depressing: Zsasz is kidnapping orphans and forcing them to fight each other to the death with knives. Batman and Robin come across the bodies after Humpty took them back to a house and tried to "put them back together" (cringe). Robin is physically ill at the sight of all these dead children and I've never seen Damian lose it at a dead body. It's here that I think about what comes later with Jon running away in tears after he saw what looked like a dead family of 4. This is what I think about when I think about because it shows how far Damian has come. And... that's not really a good thing. This kid has seen way too much at his young age.
So, part of this is that case but it takes a backseat for an issue or 2 while Dick hunts down a man that's killing a bunch of skels around town after they get involved with a stripper (sex worker? I wasn't entirely sure what exactly her job was). I enjoyed that story less because it just seemed like an excuse to draw a bunch of scantily clad women and the crux of it was men acting like this woman was property. Not something I enjoyed reading about.
The end of this is Damian Wayne getting to the bottom of Zsasz's cage fighting operation. Zsasz is not a character I've really come into contact with before. I wiki'ed him and I had seen him once on the Gotham TV show but he really didn't make much of an impression. Here, he did because he was pretty formidable as an opponent. To be honest, in everything I've read with Damian (and that's quite a lot) this is the most violent and bloody fight I've seen him in.
He meets Colin Wilkes in this story, Abuse, and they form a bond. I liked watching them work together.
So, it's a recommend if you can get past the beginning because it was a little hard to read.
As cases go, this one is pretty damn depressing: Zsasz is kidnapping orphans and forcing them to fight each other to the death with knives. Batman and Robin come across the bodies after Humpty took them back to a house and tried to "put them back together" (cringe). Robin is physically ill at the sight of all these dead children and I've never seen Damian lose it at a dead body. It's here that I think about what comes later with Jon running away in tears after he saw what looked like a dead family of 4. This is what I think about when I think about because it shows how far Damian has come. And... that's not really a good thing. This kid has seen way too much at his young age.
So, part of this is that case but it takes a backseat for an issue or 2 while Dick hunts down a man that's killing a bunch of skels around town after they get involved with a stripper (sex worker? I wasn't entirely sure what exactly her job was). I enjoyed that story less because it just seemed like an excuse to draw a bunch of scantily clad women and the crux of it was men acting like this woman was property. Not something I enjoyed reading about.
The end of this is Damian Wayne getting to the bottom of Zsasz's cage fighting operation. Zsasz is not a character I've really come into contact with before. I wiki'ed him and I had seen him once on the Gotham TV show but he really didn't make much of an impression. Here, he did because he was pretty formidable as an opponent. To be honest, in everything I've read with Damian (and that's quite a lot) this is the most violent and bloody fight I've seen him in.
He meets Colin Wilkes in this story, Abuse, and they form a bond. I liked watching them work together.
So, it's a recommend if you can get past the beginning because it was a little hard to read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2018
Okay, so I said in my review of volume 1 that the overall plot was difficult to discern. Volume 2 is much of the same, but I think I've come to realize that this is the point: the story is Gotham City without Bruce Wayne as Batman, but with Dick Grayson assuming the cape and cowl, and Damian Wayne as his very young sidekick, Robin. From that perspective, the story suddenly becomes a much deeper narrative. Ultimately, doesn't matter who is Batman, the bad guys and evil-doers will always be there, fighting against those who stand for justice.
On to volume 3!
On to volume 3!
January 8, 2012
With Bruce Wayne lost to the world, Dick Grayson dons the cowl of Batman with Damian at his side as Robin and a host of allies, to keep peace on the streets of Gotham. But with Batman temporarily gone, chaos has erupted and Gotham is in as much peril now as it ever was. Cue Man Bat, Black Mask, a series of abducted children, the psychotic Zsasz, a jealous and murderous boyfriend of a call girl, and an unlikely new superhero called Abuse.
The "Streets of Gotham" series is a collection of short stories by a variety of writers showcasing the mini-disasters that happened when Batman left Gotham. And surprisingly, there are no duds in the stories here, they're all brilliant.
Chris Yost writes the title story, Leviathan, and does a fantastic job of turning expectations on their head. Huntress is after Man Bat who seems to have gone crazy - but has he?
Mike Benson writes "Hardcore Nights" where a seedy sex club has been building up a body count - Batman puts aside the cowl and decides to solve this mystery as Dick Grayson.
Paul Dini writes the other three stories starting with "In the Bleak Midwinter" and tells the sad tale of street children disappearing and an underground death club run by one Victor Zsasz. 12 year olds Damian and an orphan called Colin (with quite the secret) wind up in this club and must fight their way out.
What I like about these stories are that they're obviously Batman-themed but the Dark Knight plays a minimal role in all of them. Huntress and a priest are the heroes of the first story, Dick Grayson plays a bigger role than the Batman in his story, and Paul Dini's stories have Batman show up in the final couple of pages when the story is over - Damian and Colin are the heroes. And it's a credit to the writers that despite this lack of Batman that they're still gripping reads.
This book is a fantastic look at the heroes of Gotham who won't get entire books written about them but get a moment in the spotlight here nonetheless. "Leviathan" is a fine addition to the overarching Batman storyline and a must read for Batfans everywhere.
The "Streets of Gotham" series is a collection of short stories by a variety of writers showcasing the mini-disasters that happened when Batman left Gotham. And surprisingly, there are no duds in the stories here, they're all brilliant.
Chris Yost writes the title story, Leviathan, and does a fantastic job of turning expectations on their head. Huntress is after Man Bat who seems to have gone crazy - but has he?
Mike Benson writes "Hardcore Nights" where a seedy sex club has been building up a body count - Batman puts aside the cowl and decides to solve this mystery as Dick Grayson.
Paul Dini writes the other three stories starting with "In the Bleak Midwinter" and tells the sad tale of street children disappearing and an underground death club run by one Victor Zsasz. 12 year olds Damian and an orphan called Colin (with quite the secret) wind up in this club and must fight their way out.
What I like about these stories are that they're obviously Batman-themed but the Dark Knight plays a minimal role in all of them. Huntress and a priest are the heroes of the first story, Dick Grayson plays a bigger role than the Batman in his story, and Paul Dini's stories have Batman show up in the final couple of pages when the story is over - Damian and Colin are the heroes. And it's a credit to the writers that despite this lack of Batman that they're still gripping reads.
This book is a fantastic look at the heroes of Gotham who won't get entire books written about them but get a moment in the spotlight here nonetheless. "Leviathan" is a fine addition to the overarching Batman storyline and a must read for Batfans everywhere.
April 17, 2017
Of the Streets of Gotham series, I like this collection of stories the best. They were most interconnective and worked the best together. I enjoyed it. Great art.
July 30, 2017
"This is Gotham. It's not a city...it's a leviathan."
Well, overall, I didn't love this one quite as much as I loved Batman: Streets of Gotham - Hush Money--this volume still has the same theme of showing stories going on in Gotham's streets, but it has less of the charm of the first. Fewer villains appear in this one, so instead of going from villain to villain and showing what all these different types of bad guys are up to, it focused in more on a few select villains or crimes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it was something I really enjoyed about the first one. On the plus side, I did genuinely enjoy reading the section with Humpty Dumpty--he's a villain I'm not familiar with, but in just a few short pages Dini worked his magic and got me interested in the guy:
I think one key difference is that the heroes were a much more prominent aspect of this book, and like I said in my review of the first volume, the heroes were not the strongest point. On the bright side, I did feel this volume was an improvement over the first--I liked seeing the parts with Damian and Colin, and Damian got a few more jabs in at Dick. It's kinda nice to see these early days of their relationship when they still don't really know or understand each other:
On the other hand, I still felt like Dick wasn't really quite...right. His days as Batman may have shown a grimmer version of Dick, which I happen to like, but in this volume, we get stuff like this:
That first scene especially was really surprising to me. For some context, the dead criminal in question is a safe-cracker and diamond thief--not exactly scum-of-the-earth material. Also keep in mind, this story is bookended by two stories that are about heroes nearly killing villains and Batman chastising them for it. That said, it felt odd to me that Dick was practically advocating for the murder of criminals. I feel like maybe there was some attempt at a theme there, but it didn't really come across very well if there was. Dick never seems to regret his words here, and he never reflects on them later. All-in-all, although Dick's time as Batman is definitely a more serious, grimmer period for the character, I don't recall him ever altering his beliefs about the "no-killing" rule anywhere else, and this seemed rather strange to me. Also worth noting, this story was written by Mike Benson, an author that I'm pretty unfamiliar with. So that could account for why Dick feels so off.
Overall, I enjoyed Damian's arc and wrapping up the Zsasz storyline from the first volume, but I was less of a fan of both the serial killer plotline and the opening story with Huntress and Man-Bat. I wish Dini had had full control over the book, because I think I would have liked it better that way. The stories by Chris Yost and Mike Benson felt out of character and disconnected from the rest of the story, and they lost that odd charm the previous book had of showing the day-to-day grittiness of Gotham when the heroes aren't around.
Well, overall, I didn't love this one quite as much as I loved Batman: Streets of Gotham - Hush Money--this volume still has the same theme of showing stories going on in Gotham's streets, but it has less of the charm of the first. Fewer villains appear in this one, so instead of going from villain to villain and showing what all these different types of bad guys are up to, it focused in more on a few select villains or crimes. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it was something I really enjoyed about the first one. On the plus side, I did genuinely enjoy reading the section with Humpty Dumpty--he's a villain I'm not familiar with, but in just a few short pages Dini worked his magic and got me interested in the guy:
I think one key difference is that the heroes were a much more prominent aspect of this book, and like I said in my review of the first volume, the heroes were not the strongest point. On the bright side, I did feel this volume was an improvement over the first--I liked seeing the parts with Damian and Colin, and Damian got a few more jabs in at Dick. It's kinda nice to see these early days of their relationship when they still don't really know or understand each other:
On the other hand, I still felt like Dick wasn't really quite...right. His days as Batman may have shown a grimmer version of Dick, which I happen to like, but in this volume, we get stuff like this:
Commissioner: I think we got us a Travis Bickle. Some vigilante that thinks they're doing us a favor.
Batman: Maybe he is.
Commissioner: Maybe I'm losing my hearing because I didn't catch that.
Charlie: Whoever's killing these punks, I'm gonna say a prayer for them tonight. I'm gonna pray they continue to kill as many of these organ donors as they can get to. And when I'm done, I'm gonna pray you don't stop 'em.
Batman, interal: Sometimes the lines get blurred. Sometimes the only difference between you and them is the mask and cape.
That first scene especially was really surprising to me. For some context, the dead criminal in question is a safe-cracker and diamond thief--not exactly scum-of-the-earth material. Also keep in mind, this story is bookended by two stories that are about heroes nearly killing villains and Batman chastising them for it. That said, it felt odd to me that Dick was practically advocating for the murder of criminals. I feel like maybe there was some attempt at a theme there, but it didn't really come across very well if there was. Dick never seems to regret his words here, and he never reflects on them later. All-in-all, although Dick's time as Batman is definitely a more serious, grimmer period for the character, I don't recall him ever altering his beliefs about the "no-killing" rule anywhere else, and this seemed rather strange to me. Also worth noting, this story was written by Mike Benson, an author that I'm pretty unfamiliar with. So that could account for why Dick feels so off.
Overall, I enjoyed Damian's arc and wrapping up the Zsasz storyline from the first volume, but I was less of a fan of both the serial killer plotline and the opening story with Huntress and Man-Bat. I wish Dini had had full control over the book, because I think I would have liked it better that way. The stories by Chris Yost and Mike Benson felt out of character and disconnected from the rest of the story, and they lost that odd charm the previous book had of showing the day-to-day grittiness of Gotham when the heroes aren't around.
November 17, 2013
Paul Dini is back writing Batman . I felt he was wrongly bashed for his work for Batman: Battle for the Cowl. The guy writes a good Bat tale. For those of you who don’t know who Paul Dini is, he’s done some writing on Detective Comics before Batman: RIP. Now, the Batman Streets of Gotham series is a lot like Detective Comics; it doesn’t need to be about Batman, it can be any detective/vigilante character in Gotham, but it more often than not, has Batman. It’s a good way to mix things up and give other characters the spotlight from time to time.
So here we have three arcs: one starring Huntress, another starring Batman (Dick Grayson ) and Gordon, and another starring Robin, Colin Wilkes / Abuse and Dick / Batman . And to my surprise, these actually were 2-part or 3-part arcs and Chris Yost writes the Huntress arc, Mike Benson writes the Batman/Gordon arc, and Dini writes the last arc.
My favorite thing about this was Dini actually knowing how to write Damian . There’s a couple sides to him we see here that we don’t see often unless he’s in the hand of Grant Morrison. Dini writes Damian like the true brat prince he is.
They may stray from the “wrapped up in one issue” format, but they are good stories that stay true to the goal of putting storytelling first and foremost. Nguyen’s art is great, and this entire trade is great for casual reading.
This is really a great read, and worth the price if you can find it.
April 27, 2013
This middle volume has nothing to do with Hush, and not much Batman either. It does have Robin/Damian, and a new 'hero' as well as some brutal scenes involving Zsasz. Lets just say Damian stands up well against him. Worth reading, but still kind of ho-hum.
May 22, 2025
Por fin le dieron un poco más de desarrollo a Damian y me gusta la forma en que el autor decidió mostrarlo. Personalmente, todo eso de Huntress me pareció súper aburrido al igual que la mini historia de Two Faces, pero lo demás fue bastante rescatable. Me gustó.
December 23, 2017
Even a little better than predecessor Hush Money - and I liked that one!
During the Christmas-themed second story ('In the Bleak Mid-Winter') Damian, the new Robin, finally drops his snarky tough-guy act for a moment when confronted with a rather grisly discovery. That scene was long overdue, but effective. His resulting fury returns to fuel the connected final two stories, 'The Heroes' and 'Final Cut.' In those two, Damian is thrown into a quagmire with 'Abuse,' a wannabe vigilante who made a cameo in Hush Money, and they make a pretty good duo versus the disgusting villain Zsasz.
Elsewhere, I liked that Dick Grayson seems to be coming into his own as Batman and that is on display in the two-part crime story 'Hardcore Nights.' He and Commissioner Gordon partner for a string odd of robbery-homicide cases. Given the subject matter this one should come with a parental advisory. (Needless to say, Robin is absent.)
Last, but certainly not least, The Huntress (I love DC's current line-up of super-heroines!) headlines the two-part opener 'Leviathan' in the pursuit of Man-Bat throughout Gotham City. Things get even more complicated when an apparently off-kilter priest is thrown into the mix.
During the Christmas-themed second story ('In the Bleak Mid-Winter') Damian, the new Robin, finally drops his snarky tough-guy act for a moment when confronted with a rather grisly discovery. That scene was long overdue, but effective. His resulting fury returns to fuel the connected final two stories, 'The Heroes' and 'Final Cut.' In those two, Damian is thrown into a quagmire with 'Abuse,' a wannabe vigilante who made a cameo in Hush Money, and they make a pretty good duo versus the disgusting villain Zsasz.
Elsewhere, I liked that Dick Grayson seems to be coming into his own as Batman and that is on display in the two-part crime story 'Hardcore Nights.' He and Commissioner Gordon partner for a string odd of robbery-homicide cases. Given the subject matter this one should come with a parental advisory. (Needless to say, Robin is absent.)
Last, but certainly not least, The Huntress (I love DC's current line-up of super-heroines!) headlines the two-part opener 'Leviathan' in the pursuit of Man-Bat throughout Gotham City. Things get even more complicated when an apparently off-kilter priest is thrown into the mix.
December 21, 2011
I loved the Huntress. Many stories and good art.
November 4, 2011
The whole book series has been one giant ball of confusion, and this book just heaps more of it on.
February 6, 2013
Short summary: Leviathan is a perfectly good continuation of Dini and Nguyen's work on the first Streets of Gotham collection.
The title story starts off the collection nicely - The Huntress tracks Man-Bat across the city, and both of them end up in over their heads when they crash into an old church. Dini does a good job of blending Huntress's wit with the spooky situation. My one little grumble here is that it seems like this would be a natural place to address the cross iconography Huntress uses, but it doesn't come up once.
"In The Bleak Midwinter" is a sad, Christmas one-shot featuring Humpty Dumpty and continuing the Zsasz story from the first collection. Really well done.
When I first read through the collection, I wasn't really a fan of "Hardcore Nights", but I enjoyed it a little bit more on the second pass. It's a pretty good Batman mystery story, but ultimately forgettable. (This is where I drop a star.)
The collection gets rounded out with "The Heroes" and "Final Cut", which wrap up the Zsasz storyline and reveal the identity of Abuse. This is another bit that I originally wasn't a huge fan of, but came to enjoy more.
All in all, Streets of Gotham continues to entertain (and Nguyen's art continues to wow)
The title story starts off the collection nicely - The Huntress tracks Man-Bat across the city, and both of them end up in over their heads when they crash into an old church. Dini does a good job of blending Huntress's wit with the spooky situation. My one little grumble here is that it seems like this would be a natural place to address the cross iconography Huntress uses, but it doesn't come up once.
"In The Bleak Midwinter" is a sad, Christmas one-shot featuring Humpty Dumpty and continuing the Zsasz story from the first collection. Really well done.
When I first read through the collection, I wasn't really a fan of "Hardcore Nights", but I enjoyed it a little bit more on the second pass. It's a pretty good Batman mystery story, but ultimately forgettable. (This is where I drop a star.)
The collection gets rounded out with "The Heroes" and "Final Cut", which wrap up the Zsasz storyline and reveal the identity of Abuse. This is another bit that I originally wasn't a huge fan of, but came to enjoy more.
All in all, Streets of Gotham continues to entertain (and Nguyen's art continues to wow)
July 6, 2015
This starts out fairly average with a two parter featuring the Huntress (again still with Grayson as Batman). It was a nice story for me because I've only read a couple with her in it and this gets into her head a little and the role she plays in Gotham.
The best part of this volume is the remaining issues. The crime is pretty gruesome and horrible, really stepping the grittiness up a notch. The dynamic duo (although mostly separately) work together to find out who the real criminal is. Along the way you have a lingering plot thread come to fruition and a very satisfying conclusion to the crime, mostly coming from Damian.
This was definitely not a kid's Batman story and it hit the right notes for me. I'm looking forward to Vol 3.
The best part of this volume is the remaining issues. The crime is pretty gruesome and horrible, really stepping the grittiness up a notch. The dynamic duo (although mostly separately) work together to find out who the real criminal is. Along the way you have a lingering plot thread come to fruition and a very satisfying conclusion to the crime, mostly coming from Damian.
This was definitely not a kid's Batman story and it hit the right notes for me. I'm looking forward to Vol 3.
March 26, 2013
I like the art, the stories were interesting. I was happy to finally meet Colin who I'd vaguely heard of on the internet as Damian's bestest buddy. I get the feeling they'll be bad influences on each other.
February 20, 2024
Okay, so we had a Huntress story by Chris Yost, which was pretty good except for his character profile on Helena Bertinelli were old; she'd gotten past the whole black sheep of the Bat family thing during the Simone BoP run. (She'd also gotten a more practical version of her costume by this point as well.)
Mike Benson wrote a 2-parter with Dick Grayson going undercover in a sex dungeon to solve a series of murders. It was a pretty by-the-books pulpy noir story, and honestly Dick could have been literally any private detective because he had zero percent of his personality in this story, in costume or out of it.
Finally, the main story wraps up the Zsasz plotline and finally explains who the big guy with the "abuse" brass knuckles is. I have some feelings about this one. It's f***ing dark. Zsasz is running a murder arena where abducted children fight to the death only to be killed by Zsasz himself as the Main Event.
Look, I'm not one to say comics shouldn't tackle tough subjects, but goddamn, this is a Batman comic written by the guy who did the all-ages Animated Series, and the prelude issue features a former Arkham patient finding children's corpses by the river and trying to "fix" them by giving them presents. It's bleak.
Damian is rightly angry about this (and possibly a little traumatized), so he goes AWOL to find the people taking these kids himself. It's here, he runs into Abuse Man, in his true identity as an orphaned child who the Scarecrow filled with Venom in an attempt to f*** with Batman earlier in Dini's tenure. The boy retained the ability to change, Jekyll and Hyde style into a massively jacked adult body, so he sets out to fight crime, specifically people who abuse children. Thus, the brass knuckles.
Anyway, the two boys get "recruited" to Zsazs's murder arena and each thinks they're going to have to save the other one and take out Zsasz on their own. Yadda yadda, Damian chooses not to cut Zsasz in half for reasons I do not understand.
So, the feelings: I don't like Zsasz on the best of days. A murderer who carved tally marks on his skin every time he kills someone is edgelord shit. This is a Punisher villain who Frank dispatches with Garth Ennis gruesomeness, not a Batman villain. (I understand that I may be in the minority with this opinion.) This is another guy, like the Joker, who the notoriously corrupt Gotham cops should have straight murdered ages ago but didn't because Plot. Now he's evolved into a guy who trafficks and murders children? I don't care about Batman's no-kill rule; this guy needs to f***ing die. It's beyond comic book contrivances at this point.
Rant over.
In all, the book was...meh. The fill-ins were pretty obviously inventory grade stories. But I have to give Paul Dini credit for making me feel things, but being that those feelings revolved around tortured and murdered children in a Batman comic, it's kind of a wash.
Mike Benson wrote a 2-parter with Dick Grayson going undercover in a sex dungeon to solve a series of murders. It was a pretty by-the-books pulpy noir story, and honestly Dick could have been literally any private detective because he had zero percent of his personality in this story, in costume or out of it.
Finally, the main story wraps up the Zsasz plotline and finally explains who the big guy with the "abuse" brass knuckles is. I have some feelings about this one. It's f***ing dark. Zsasz is running a murder arena where abducted children fight to the death only to be killed by Zsasz himself as the Main Event.
Look, I'm not one to say comics shouldn't tackle tough subjects, but goddamn, this is a Batman comic written by the guy who did the all-ages Animated Series, and the prelude issue features a former Arkham patient finding children's corpses by the river and trying to "fix" them by giving them presents. It's bleak.
Damian is rightly angry about this (and possibly a little traumatized), so he goes AWOL to find the people taking these kids himself. It's here, he runs into Abuse Man, in his true identity as an orphaned child who the Scarecrow filled with Venom in an attempt to f*** with Batman earlier in Dini's tenure. The boy retained the ability to change, Jekyll and Hyde style into a massively jacked adult body, so he sets out to fight crime, specifically people who abuse children. Thus, the brass knuckles.
Anyway, the two boys get "recruited" to Zsazs's murder arena and each thinks they're going to have to save the other one and take out Zsasz on their own. Yadda yadda, Damian chooses not to cut Zsasz in half for reasons I do not understand.
So, the feelings: I don't like Zsasz on the best of days. A murderer who carved tally marks on his skin every time he kills someone is edgelord shit. This is a Punisher villain who Frank dispatches with Garth Ennis gruesomeness, not a Batman villain. (I understand that I may be in the minority with this opinion.) This is another guy, like the Joker, who the notoriously corrupt Gotham cops should have straight murdered ages ago but didn't because Plot. Now he's evolved into a guy who trafficks and murders children? I don't care about Batman's no-kill rule; this guy needs to f***ing die. It's beyond comic book contrivances at this point.
Rant over.
In all, the book was...meh. The fill-ins were pretty obviously inventory grade stories. But I have to give Paul Dini credit for making me feel things, but being that those feelings revolved around tortured and murdered children in a Batman comic, it's kind of a wash.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 13, 2018
Batman: Streets of Gotham is a Batman comic book series that was published by DC Comics. The series stars Dick Grayson as the new Batman, but is told from the perspective from a "street level" with other characters in the lead. Batman: Streets of Gotham: Leviathan collects the next seven issues (5–11) of the 2009 on-going series.
Batman: Streets of Gotham: Leviathan consists of four stories "Leviathan", "In the Bleak of Midwinter", "Hardcore Nights", and "The Heroes/Final Cut".
"Leviathan" is a story about the Huntress and Man-Bat. While in "In the Bleak of Midwinter" has Batman and Robin go off against Humpty Dumpty dressed up as Santa Claus. In "Hardcore Nights" Batman begins tracking down a serial killer who is murdering Gotham's top criminals. He traces their connection to a kinky prostitute with a jealous boyfriend, and makes a date with her as Dick Grayson to get closer. Finally, in "The Heroes/Final Cut" we get the backstory of Colin Wilkes as Abuse and his friendship with Damian Wayne as Robin.
Paul Dini penned most of the trade paperback. With guest writers Chris Yost who wrote "Leviathan" (Batman: Streets of Gotham #5–6) and Mike Benson who wrote "Hardcore Nights" (Batman: Streets of Gotham #8–9). For the most part, it was written rather well and I was glad with the introduction of Colin Wilkes – a new contemporary and perhaps friend for Damian Wayne.
Dustin Nguyen penciled the entire trade paperback and because he was the only penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style – it is a tad cartoonish in some places, but it is rather well penciled.
All in all, Batman: Streets of Gotham: Leviathan is a wonderful continuation for the series and I cannot wait to read the next trade paperback.
Batman: Streets of Gotham: Leviathan consists of four stories "Leviathan", "In the Bleak of Midwinter", "Hardcore Nights", and "The Heroes/Final Cut".
"Leviathan" is a story about the Huntress and Man-Bat. While in "In the Bleak of Midwinter" has Batman and Robin go off against Humpty Dumpty dressed up as Santa Claus. In "Hardcore Nights" Batman begins tracking down a serial killer who is murdering Gotham's top criminals. He traces their connection to a kinky prostitute with a jealous boyfriend, and makes a date with her as Dick Grayson to get closer. Finally, in "The Heroes/Final Cut" we get the backstory of Colin Wilkes as Abuse and his friendship with Damian Wayne as Robin.
Paul Dini penned most of the trade paperback. With guest writers Chris Yost who wrote "Leviathan" (Batman: Streets of Gotham #5–6) and Mike Benson who wrote "Hardcore Nights" (Batman: Streets of Gotham #8–9). For the most part, it was written rather well and I was glad with the introduction of Colin Wilkes – a new contemporary and perhaps friend for Damian Wayne.
Dustin Nguyen penciled the entire trade paperback and because he was the only penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style – it is a tad cartoonish in some places, but it is rather well penciled.
All in all, Batman: Streets of Gotham: Leviathan is a wonderful continuation for the series and I cannot wait to read the next trade paperback.
November 12, 2021
Colin and Damian were definitely the highlight of this volume. I love the character of Abuse and how he's a kid who was treated poorly but still has a good heart and is trying to do good, even if he's not going about it in the most systematic way. He says, "They were strong. They were powerful. And better than that, they were good," which tells us a lot about his motivations.
I absolutely loved Damian and Colin's first interaction, in which they were both equally angry about Zsasz's sick scheme but still trying to protect each other from it. I also thought Damian's reaction to Colin identifying him was hilarious. He clearly saw Colin as a good kid who was playing out of his league with zero recognition that he was the same. I hope the final volume in this series has more of Colin and Damian's friendship.
I also really liked Damian's vulnerable reaction to finding the children. Despite being raised by the League of Assassins, he's a deeply empathetic kid with a soft spot for children who are hurt, and it's always good to see him being a little more emotionally vulnerable and human. It was also nice to see Dick supporting him when he had such a visceral reaction.
This book gets very dark, which was a little shocking to me, as I'm used to seeing Dustin Ngyuen's work in Li'l Gotham, a wholesome, family friendly version of Gotham, but it's done pretty well. If the story focused more on the Colin-Damian-Zsasz story, I definitely would have given it a higher rating but the other stories just didn't hold my attention as well.
I absolutely loved Damian and Colin's first interaction, in which they were both equally angry about Zsasz's sick scheme but still trying to protect each other from it. I also thought Damian's reaction to Colin identifying him was hilarious. He clearly saw Colin as a good kid who was playing out of his league with zero recognition that he was the same. I hope the final volume in this series has more of Colin and Damian's friendship.
I also really liked Damian's vulnerable reaction to finding the children. Despite being raised by the League of Assassins, he's a deeply empathetic kid with a soft spot for children who are hurt, and it's always good to see him being a little more emotionally vulnerable and human. It was also nice to see Dick supporting him when he had such a visceral reaction.
This book gets very dark, which was a little shocking to me, as I'm used to seeing Dustin Ngyuen's work in Li'l Gotham, a wholesome, family friendly version of Gotham, but it's done pretty well. If the story focused more on the Colin-Damian-Zsasz story, I definitely would have given it a higher rating but the other stories just didn't hold my attention as well.
October 21, 2024
A pesar de que frustra la sensación de no tener una "cohesión" más "palpable" sabiendo que estos recopilatorios apenas abarcan las tantas entregas asociadas a Calles de Gotham. He de admitir que el formato de mini arcos de apenas dos números ofreciendo una variedad de personajes y perspectivas es de lo que más me llena y disfruto con Batman y su microverso. Así es como arrancamos con una persecución a un Man Bat que parece sumido en su parte más bestial por parte de Cazadora, quien no quiere dudar en segar la vida de ese literal hombre murciélago. Pero el cruzarse con un sacerdote que ha vivido una conjunción de desastres y sucesos en su llegada para luchar por la fe y esperanza de Gotham, desdibuja los límites del Mal. Por otra parte se dan una serie de asesinatos que hacen que Dick ponga en práctica lo aprendido de la fachada "playboy" de Bruce para integrarse en un submundo de placeres en venta cuyas pasiones pueden volverse mortales. Y también completamos la trama iniciada en el anterior volumen sobre el plan mortal de Victor Zsasz financiado por Máscara Negra. Lo que revela a su vez a otro personaje que conocíamos al inicio de la serie y que recupera de mejor forma la idea de darle más protagonismo heroico a individuos "de a pie" de las calles de Gotham como se pudo ver con aquel trío de jóvenes enmascarados que acababan mal con sus aspiraciones heroícas.
April 21, 2019
This was a mixed bag. The Dustin Nguyen / Derek Fridolfs artwork, which I wasn't that fond of in the earlier issues, is starting to grow on me. The Paul Dini stories in this volume are good, as is the one by Christopher Yost, but I thought the Mike Benson one wasn't as good. It felt a bit like an "inventory" story to me. The Batman in that story doesn't quite feel like the Dick Grayson Batman. And the way Benson portrays the Batman/Gordon relationship is a little weird and doesn't seem quite right.
The Yost "Leviathan" story features Huntress, and is a nice little standalone two-part story. I assumed the "Leviathan" title meant that it had something to do with Grant Morrison's Leviathan organization, but nope, it's more of a metaphor thing. Which is fine, just a little weird that they'd use that as the title of the collection.
And Dini's stuff brings the Victor Zsasz and Abuse subplots to a reasonably satisfying conclusion. I really like what Dini has been doing with the Grayson/Damian team. It's a little subtle and it's developed over a number of issues, but he's definitely got a good handle on the characters.
The Yost "Leviathan" story features Huntress, and is a nice little standalone two-part story. I assumed the "Leviathan" title meant that it had something to do with Grant Morrison's Leviathan organization, but nope, it's more of a metaphor thing. Which is fine, just a little weird that they'd use that as the title of the collection.
And Dini's stuff brings the Victor Zsasz and Abuse subplots to a reasonably satisfying conclusion. I really like what Dini has been doing with the Grayson/Damian team. It's a little subtle and it's developed over a number of issues, but he's definitely got a good handle on the characters.
May 16, 2023
There are moments with a bit stronger material than what I'm accustomed to getting in my comics, but as this IS Batman and Gotham City, I'm all for that as it's far more likely than a lot of the softer material. I look forward to seeing more of Dick as Batman, and also more of Damian, who I came away liking with this being my first read of him (although I'll never be fond of his parents being together, or anything really too much that came from that "union"). However, the character I'd LOVE to see more of probably barely even makes an appearance anywhere else, and that is Abuse. I love the realization of who this character is, and pretty much everything about him, including how he handles things at the very end and WHY he chooses to do so -- even if I've never been a fan of Batman making the same decisions. Batman is Batman, and Abuse... well, when you read the story, you'll "see" why I say that Abuse just should still be thinking like that in this time period of his life.
February 20, 2023
This is an underrated series. Very dark, darker than usual for Batman titles. We start out with Manbat and Huntress, and then we find a fight club Zsasz is running where he had children battle to the death. Dick Grayson is Batman at this point, and Batman seems to be a supporting character in most of this series. I could see how some readers may think the stories need more Batman, but overall this is a really good series.
Read
June 2, 2021There are a few different stories here, with Dini’s continuing the Zsasz plot from volume one. It’s disturbing and well-written, even if the venom kid is a bit over-the-top. Huntress takes center stage in the first story for an intense showdown with Man-Bat and a crazed priest. All in all, another reliable Dini-led Batman book. Nothing mind-blowing, but enjoyable.
November 16, 2023
I hid my potato
I hid my potato in the mud one day, along can a sparrow who wanted to take it away. No sparrow that's my potato I say, and the sparrow flies far far away.
Enjoying streets of Gotham worth the read.
I hid my potato in the mud one day, along can a sparrow who wanted to take it away. No sparrow that's my potato I say, and the sparrow flies far far away.
Enjoying streets of Gotham worth the read.
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