Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham is a story under DC’s Black Label, and it definitely uses everything that umbrella allows. The language is more severe, the violence is intense as Batman literally blinds enemies with his fingers, and the art matches it. The first issue was released way back in September of 2023, the second issue was released in December of 2023, and the third issue was released in December of 2024. Rafael Grampa is both the writer and artist behind the series which seems to be why it suffered a huge delay: it was simply hard for him to keep up. I held off on reading the series because of it, but, not that it’s back, let’s dive into this fantastic first issue.
SPOILERS for Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #1 below.
Without a doubt, anyone who picks up this issue will be captivated by the art instantly, but that isn’t always a good thing. Grampa draws every scene and character in a style that is very unique, but it’s so different that it can be a bit off putting. Some insignificant side characters and other more important characters like Gordon are drawn with oversized red noses that resemble something you’d see on Rick & Morty a little too much. At other moments, the art is absolutely impeccable. This always applies to Grampa’s depiction of the city itself.
Right away, the reader is shown that this version of Gotham is a terrible, immoral place. The opening pages are reminiscent of Watchmen, as Batman monologues over the sins of Gothamites including domestic abuse, hard drug use, and pedophilia. Clearly, this Gotham is worse than others.
When we see Batman in action for the first time, for one panel only, he is depicted as a child Bruce Wayne beating on the criminals he faces. It’s a great way to show that the child inside Bruce never died, but simply became angry, and it plays into a later plot point.
Batman is investigating a string of murders in which every victim was paralyzed from the first blow, then had some sort of cylindrical item inserted into their body at spots that coincide with the human energy field. Other than that, we know almost nothing. One of those victims had traces of TNT on his body, which leads Batman to a warehouse where goons are forcing the homeless to manufacture TNT. This is where we meet the villain.
The villain in this issue is strange. He almost resembles Mr. Negative if Mr. Negative was only black. He is always crying when he kills or fights and he has an odd obsession with a specific cartoon of a crying child. He’s a talented fighter, so much so that he beats Batman twice. Once again, even though this issue is very long, we learn nothing else about him.
The design for Batman in this series is also jarring. Some of the changes work extremely well, while others are off putting, just like the rest of the art. Batman’s suit is designed to have layers of armor that realistically connect to each other instead of being just one piece of material. Most of the suit isn’t particularly high tech, other than the grappler blades that shoot out of the sides of his arms, but the cowl is. He’s able to increase how much of his environment he hears at any moment and has infrared vision that turns his eyes red. The most jarring part of the costume is the eyes. They’re strangely thin, but the idea that Batman relies more on his hearing than his vision, like a bat, works very well.
A downside to this issue was the focus on wealth inequality as a theme. Personally, this theme just feels tired. Absolute Superman tried to do it, it’s a theme in The Batman, and lots of other stories. This comic hits on the idea so hard for a few pages that it came very close to an argument for a socialist Gotham. Clearly, this version of Gotham city is massively corrupt, more so than most other stories, but I’m hoping that socialism isn’t the answer Grampa comes up with.
This issue has two major highlights. The first is that Batman is literally trying to kill Bruce Wayne. He is attempting to fake Bruce Wayne’s death so he is no longer under the public eye, then kill the personality and parts of himself that are Bruce Wayne. He doesn’t even want Alfred to call him Bruce anymore. His logic behind this is that, if he is to truly achieve his mission as Batman, he has to only be Batman. He cannot be Bruce at all. It's a great narrative element to explore the self imposed trauma that it takes to be Batman.
The second major highlight is the batmobile. This Batmobile is the epitome of the word awesome. Its name is the Blind Machine, the only thing I don’t like about it. The first few times I read the name, I interpreted it wrong. It’s supposed to be read, not as a machine that makes people blind but as a machine that is blind. The reason for that name makes up for the name itself. There are no windows in the whole batmobile. The entire thing is made out of “indestructible metal”, as Alfred describes it. I guess the name Blind Machine is a bit contradictory to the fact that it has cameras all along the outside of it, but it also has an autopilot system that runs on sonar, again, like a bat. On top of all that, the batmobile can transform into a speed demon with extended back wheels, and the thing can jump.
Overall, this comic is a great, violent, bloody read. The storyline, while it doesn’t go far in fifty four pages, is setting up something intriguing, this version of Gotham is brutal and uncaring, the conflicting personalities of Bruce and Batman is a fresh angle, and everything is perfectly weird. While the art is strange at times, it does very frequently complement the story. All things considered, I give this story an amazing 9.5/10.