Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso; Clem Robins; Patricia Mulvihill; & Dave Johnson
SUMMARY:
Collecting Batman # 620-625 (from 2003-2004), this 144-page paperback was published by DC Comics in 2004. Suspected of setting up Killer Croc’s vicious murder-for-hire of his own sister, elusive Angel Lupo is Batman’s latest obsession. Shaking down the likes of Croc, the Ventriloquist, and the Penguin, the Dark Knight’s judgment is further impaired by the gunshot double-homicide of two parents in an alleyway, leaving a catatonic young boy behind.
Haunted by nightmares of his own childhood tragedy, Batman is convinced that Lupo will kill to escape, despite some evidence to the contrary. Not only must the Dark Knight survive the bloody onslaught of new Gotham thugs, ‘Fatman’ and ‘Little Boy,’ he is hard-pressed to hunt down Lupo first before others gunning for him do. Chance clues from Gotham City police detective/pre-Spectre Crispus Allen and even The Joker may convince Batman that he has made a fatal series of misassumptions
REVIEW:
Gritty and grimy, Broken City justifies its bleak title — Batman’s Gotham City is depicted as an urban noir cesspool (complete with murky deluges of rain). Justifying deliberately grotesque artwork, Brian Azzarello’s vile storyline is even uglier. Beginning with Batman’s heavy-handed narrative, it’s evident that Azzarello is pushing Bat-noir far too hard.
For instance, Azzarello’s Dark Knight spends excessive time conversing with his sleazy informants (that is, when he isn’t beating intel out of them). There’s a hint of dark humor re: Croc’s ruined dentures, but it isn’t sufficiently explained why Batman defeating Croc is so utterly routine. Also, Batman endures some bloody poundings from rookie tag team, ‘Fatman’ and ‘Little Boy.’ What isn’t satisfying is Azzarello’s failure to reveal exactly how an outmatched Batman reciprocates.
Without divulging a total spoiler, one plot twist involves a partially-eaten homicide victim who was pregnant. While this grisly detail supposedly sends Batman after the right suspect, Azzarello’s creative indiscretion is what readers should find highly suspect. Let’s just say another late twist re: why Scarface and The Ventriloquist want Lupo dead makes one ponder how a highly implausible ‘love connection’ could have ever occurred. Even as an intriguing development for a regular Bat-villain, Azzarello hardly makes a convincing case justifying another icky sub-plot.
One final twist, however, is worthy of a Law & Order TV episode. Despite all the unrepentant sleaze leading up to this shocker, it still achieves a haunting effect. The problem is that Azzarello doesn’t necessarily give Batman enough clues to make this last deductive leap. Instead of peddling an unnecessary Joker scene, Azzarello should have indicated that Batman’s personal insight finally kicks in. Sadly, this chilling double-homicide sub-plot is an all-too-realistic allusion to domestic violence (and easy access to guns).
Hence, what’s intriguing re: Broken City is how Batman’s erroneous investigation has other players game his incorrect suspicions into a killing spree. The storyline’s only worthy contribution to the Bat-mythos is a variant on Bruce Wayne’s traumatic nightmares over losing his parents.
To Azzarello’s credit, he ingeniously doesn’t reveal the three hurtful words that young Bruce shouts at his parents shortly before their tragic deaths. Any parent who remembers childhood can likely deduce what spiteful words are coming out of a child’s crushed feelings. Otherwise, Batman-Meets-Law and Order: SVU is the closest approximation one can make to Azzarello’s sleazy effort to meld the Dark Knight with gritty Mickey Spillane-style noir.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
Former Batman Editor Bob Schreck provides a single-page introduction. Another single page gives biographical synopses for Azzarello; Risso; Robins; Mulvihill; and Johnson. Although not acknowledged as a cover gallery, all six of Johnson’s stylishly noir, full-length covers conclude this book.
BRIAN’S ODD MOON RATING: 2 Stars
