A review by kellygorman
Batman: The Cult, by Bernie Wrightson, Jim Starlin, Bill Wray

dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I’m slowly working my way through a list I found online of the best Batman comics and this one was definitely a departure from the others I’ve read so far. This was such a weird premise but it was actually pretty well executed and had a lot of commentary on heavy issues like crime, politics, religion, and what should guide our morals. 

I feel like a lot of times Batman gets written off as just a guy in a costume that punches people but so far he’s the most psychological superhero character I’ve encountered. There was a lot of moral issues he faced, like whether or not he should kill and why he does his job (which is pretty much in every single one of his stories) but also why his villains do what they do. 

One thing I didn’t like was that he makes pretty much no effort to solve the actual issue. At one point, the main villain alludes to the fact that many of his followers (who are mostly homeless and poor people) were brainwashed into joining him, just like Batman was at the beginning. However, all Batman does through this entire story is beat up the followers. The homeless people just end up homeless again at the end of the story. I had hoped that at the end he would try to do something to help those vulnerable people, but he doesn’t. 

I also didn’t like that he was totally okay with Gotham being overtaken and him just ditching. The only thing that makes him decide to go back is the dream he has about his parents. What about the 4 million people that are still there and supposedly being murdered in the streets, plus all the brainwashed homeless people! Honestly I thought that was a little selfish and he never really amends that.

It was a cool story with great art and I did really like a lot of aspects of it. I think it was trying to do something really interesting. However, when I think about some aspects of it for more than a few minutes, I don’t like it as much.