dkrael's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
raj_page's review against another edition
5.0
When Batman asks "Is this a good death?" while sacrificing himself in order to save thousands of people, you realize how awesome a character Batman is.
He's willing to face any situation if it means he could save a life. He goes to every extreme as he knows the value of life. He is a Hero.
He's willing to face any situation if it means he could save a life. He goes to every extreme as he knows the value of life. He is a Hero.
amy_da1sy's review against another edition
3.0
This was not one of the better Batman comics I’ve read.
mymessytbr's review against another edition
2.0
I am not really a fan of Gotham Girl and her brother. We have Batman and the whole Batfamily...I don’t think we need any more heroes in Gotham.
dominicangirl's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
legge_la_bomba's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
cpalmerpatel's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
misterintensity's review against another edition
2.0
Tom King's first Batman storyline has an intriguing premise, Batman expanding his reaching by training two Superman power level heroes to protect Gotham, but failed in the execution. Decompression reared its ugly head again. This was a six issue story but there was just enough to fill an Silver Age Batman or Superman 13 pager. In addition to this story being painfully slow, it seems like "I Am Gotham" was more a collection of cool moments than a cohesive story. Yeah Batman trying to save passengers on an airplane with no superpowers and whatever he has at hand is cool but that's something that should have taken a page or two at most not an entire issue. Plus some of these moments just strained suspension of disbelief. It is hard to get invested in what's going on plus Gotham and Gotham Girl have no real personality, which makes it hard to care what happens to them. Overall this is one big step down from Scott Snyder's run.
colin_cox's review against another edition
4.0
Batman, Volume 1: I Am Gotham is, well, not particularly good. To be fair, the narrative builds and evolves competently if a little predictably. Readers of past Batman comics will find several recycled tropes from the robust canon of Batman comics. For example, there is a sequence early in the trade when Batman, convinced of his imminent death, offers a clumsy meditation on the nature of death (yes, he references his parents because, well, Batman comics). Of course, Batman lives, saved at the last moment by two new superheroes.
However, the value of I Am Gotham arrives in the trade's coda. In it, Batman consoles one of the two new superheroes, Gotham Girl, whose brother, Gotham, dies earlier in the run after breaking bad and attempting to destroy Batman, The Justice League, and Gotham City. In the coda, she appears unstable. She speaks to her dead brother while teetering on the precipice of physical, emotional, and psychological ruin. Batman confronts her, but instead of institutionalizing her (which happens far too often to mentally unstable characters in Batman comics) or fighting her (which also happens far too often to mentally unstable characters in Batman comics), he consoles her. He reveals his secret identity, confesses that he too speaks to his dead mother, and hugs her.
This is an important development for the character because, too often, Batman's pathologies function as a synecdoche. Batman's multiple pathologies represent a classic liberal ethos that values the power and agency of the individual over the collective. While Batman may have a stable of heroes he works with, he is the quintessential loner hero. He does not work well with others, as characters like Alfred and Commissioner Gordon are inclined to say. But it is precisely Batman's ability to transcend or at least compartmentalize those pathologies that marks him as a hero of the highest order. This narrative choice has several lamentable consequences. It creates the conditions for characters like Batman to see their pathologies as weaknesses to defeat; therefore, a character like Batman cannot actually identify with his trauma or his pathologies. The situation is zero-sum, which drastically limits what any one writer can do with a character like Batman. He remains fiercely independent because doing so is a subtle rejection of the weaknesses he associates with his pathologies.
But Batman is a contradictory character in this respect because his very existence bears witness to his trauma. He is an existential manifestation of trauma. However, Batman engages with his trauma in terms that reinforce a particular liberal ethos, one, that again, prizes the power of the individual over the power of the collective. So why is this moment with Gotham Girl so revelatory? It is because Batman identifies with his trauma collectively, not individually. What Batman embraces when he embraces Gotham Girl is something closer to a universal trauma. When Gotham Girl speaks to her dead brother, she speaks to a representation of the lack that is foundational to existence in the symbolic order. At this moment, Batman realizes something similar about himself. Instead of retreating from it, punching it, or institutionalizing it, he embraces it. By affirming this collective gesture, he takes a step toward asserting real individuality because the only way to realize one's individuality is through the collective, not outside of it.
Something as simple as a hug represents growth for a character who seems so regrettably one-dimensional, so maybe I Am Gotham is better than I thought.
However, the value of I Am Gotham arrives in the trade's coda. In it, Batman consoles one of the two new superheroes, Gotham Girl, whose brother, Gotham, dies earlier in the run after breaking bad and attempting to destroy Batman, The Justice League, and Gotham City. In the coda, she appears unstable. She speaks to her dead brother while teetering on the precipice of physical, emotional, and psychological ruin. Batman confronts her, but instead of institutionalizing her (which happens far too often to mentally unstable characters in Batman comics) or fighting her (which also happens far too often to mentally unstable characters in Batman comics), he consoles her. He reveals his secret identity, confesses that he too speaks to his dead mother, and hugs her.
This is an important development for the character because, too often, Batman's pathologies function as a synecdoche. Batman's multiple pathologies represent a classic liberal ethos that values the power and agency of the individual over the collective. While Batman may have a stable of heroes he works with, he is the quintessential loner hero. He does not work well with others, as characters like Alfred and Commissioner Gordon are inclined to say. But it is precisely Batman's ability to transcend or at least compartmentalize those pathologies that marks him as a hero of the highest order. This narrative choice has several lamentable consequences. It creates the conditions for characters like Batman to see their pathologies as weaknesses to defeat; therefore, a character like Batman cannot actually identify with his trauma or his pathologies. The situation is zero-sum, which drastically limits what any one writer can do with a character like Batman. He remains fiercely independent because doing so is a subtle rejection of the weaknesses he associates with his pathologies.
But Batman is a contradictory character in this respect because his very existence bears witness to his trauma. He is an existential manifestation of trauma. However, Batman engages with his trauma in terms that reinforce a particular liberal ethos, one, that again, prizes the power of the individual over the power of the collective. So why is this moment with Gotham Girl so revelatory? It is because Batman identifies with his trauma collectively, not individually. What Batman embraces when he embraces Gotham Girl is something closer to a universal trauma. When Gotham Girl speaks to her dead brother, she speaks to a representation of the lack that is foundational to existence in the symbolic order. At this moment, Batman realizes something similar about himself. Instead of retreating from it, punching it, or institutionalizing it, he embraces it. By affirming this collective gesture, he takes a step toward asserting real individuality because the only way to realize one's individuality is through the collective, not outside of it.
Something as simple as a hug represents growth for a character who seems so regrettably one-dimensional, so maybe I Am Gotham is better than I thought.