Posted By Dan Greenfield on Dec 9, 2024 | 1 comment

NO SPOILERS: If you’re a Bronze or Golden Age fan, the new miniseries that debuts this week deserves your attention…

Our general focus here at 13th Dimension is comics history and the retro. But it’s not like I don’t read today’s comics. It’s just that they need to hit me at a certain level, to tell a compelling story on their own terms but also trade in a kind of timelessness.

It helps if they’re a self-contained limited series; I’m not big on ongoings anymore. Too many threads to follow, too many crossovers, too many events to track.

No, give me a bubble. Give me a good yarn. Give me something that feels “right.” Something that feels, say, Bronze Age or Golden Age, even if the subject matter is darker and the style more modern.

So it is with Batman: Dark Patterns, a 12-part, monthly maxiseries by writer Dan Watters, artist Hayden Sherman and colorist Triona Farrell that kicks off Dec. 11.

Dig 13 REASONS TO READ DARK PATTERNS:

1. It’s a Detective Story. It’s not a Batman-busting-heads adventure. In fact, the Dark Knight gets his rear kicked himself. No, it’s a mystery with Batman and Jim Gordon trying to track down a particularly sadistic serial killer: piecing together clues, chasing leads, working sources.

2. The Art Is Startlingly Good. Hayden Sherman is pretty new on the scene, especially when it comes to the major comics publishers. Their technique is reminiscent of Eduardo Risso and Tim Sale (with echoes of Marshall Rogers) without being a rip-off of any of them. The page layouts are compelling and easy to follow. Sherman is going to be a big star; they’re also getting major kudos for their work on Absolute Wonder Woman. Farrell’s flat colors are perfectly suited to the tenor of the series.

3. If You’re a Fan of Early ’70s Batman — or the Golden Age — This Is For You. This is the kind of story Denny O’Neil might have constructed in, I don’t know, 1972 or ’73, were he not limited by the mores of the day. The Batman of the early ’70s frequently veered toward the spooky and unsettling, typically dispensing with the Darknight Detective’s more colorful adversaries. Dark Patterns has that same feel, though it is definitely 21st century in its approach.

4. A Worthy New Villain. That’s not to say Batman’s foil here is bland and ordinary. Quite the opposite: the Wound Man is like a fever dream shared by Davids Fincher and Cronenberg.

Unlettered cover to Issue #2, by Sherman

5. The Wound Man Fits In. While the killer’s motivations haven’t been entirely spelled out, it appears he matches an archetype: his cause may be a sympathetic one — again, we don’t really know yet — but his methods are horrifying and heinous.

Unlettered page from Issue #1

6. There Are Lots of Classic Batman Nods and References. Batman ’66, Batman ’89, Batman: The Animated Series all get winks. The Shakespeare bust from the Adam West show is prominent in the opening sequence. There’s the obligatory comment about the Joker poisoning the water supply.

7. Canon Or Not? Who cares? I stopped paying attention to such things a long time ago. The baseline is this: It’s Batman’s third/fourth year, Gordon is a lieutenant, and the Joker, Killer Croc, and (presumably) the Penguin have already made appearances. There is no Robin in sight. (DC is also publishing right now The Last Halloween and Batman & Robin: Year One. Those two and Dark Patterns are essentially in the same rough time period but are on completely different rails. I am so thankful for that — I can enjoy each on their own merits. You can too.)

8. Batman Is Challenged. This is not the Always Has a Plan version of the Dark Knight. He’s fairly low-tech, despite a nifty Batcave and Batcomputer array, and he makes stupid mistakes. One example that I don’t consider a spoiler: His solution to cracking a lock is, shall we say, lunkheaded and invites low-rent trouble… that actually gives him trouble. Watters doesn’t dwell on it. He just presents it.

9. Batman Already Knows the Cause Is Lost. Gotham is a sick place but Batman knows there’s only so much he can do. Still doesn’t stop him. In fact, a surprising little grin tugs at the corner of his mouth as he floors the Batmobile. There’s a part of him that enjoys the mission.

Unlettered page from Issue #1

10. It Very Much Feels Like Matt Reeves’ World. I have no idea if this is intentional or not, but the story would be very much at home in Matt Reeves’ The Batman universe. The Masked Manhunter’s internal monologue apes the hard-boiled, nobody-actually-talks-like-that voiceover that opens the Robert Pattinson film. Which is to say, it’s quite entertaining and immersive; you can hear Michael Giacchino’s alternately moody and bombastic score in your head, as opposed to Hans Zimmer or Danny Elfman’s.

11. Gotham City Looks Exactly How It Should. I appreciate that the Burton (and Schumacher) films wanted to give Batman’s town a distinct, nightmarish fairyland look. But I will always prefer a Gotham City that tracks with New York. Marshall Rogers, who studied architecture, will always be the gold standard when it comes to depicting the city. Sherman has a similar sensibility, though with a much grander scope. He makes Gotham a realistic character, which is always how it should be.

12. This Is a Great Time to Be a Batman Reader. The Last Halloween, Batman & Robin: Year One and Dark Patterns are all first-rate stories, at least so far. They should appeal to readers who appreciate the Golden Age, the Bronze Age and the best of the Modern Age. (With some Silver Age thrown in.) Plus, we’ve got Hush 2 coming, as well.

13. This Is Only the Beginning. Similar to Matt Wagner’s 2005-07 Dark Moon Rising, which was two, 6-part stories, Dark Patterns will consist of four 3-parters, though the numbering will go #1-12. Each story is designed to be standalone but I imagine there will be connective tissue. Either way, based on reading the first two issues, I cannot wait to find out. (You can read a SNEAK PREVIEW of Issue #1 here.)

Sherman’s Issue #3 cover, unlettered

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MORE

— BATMAN Blows It In This Kinetic DARK PATTERNS SNEAK PEAK. Click here.

— New BATMAN Limited Series Recalls Earliest Days of DETECTIVE COMICS. Click here.