Batman, Vol 1: I Am Gotham

[BookTraveller]

My Rating: 4 Stars

I was a bit reluctant to request this comic. I’m from the 90s and I’ve read my fair share of comics both DC and Marvel but I have to admit that I really enjoyed the dark reality of I Am Gotham.

I don’t want to spoiler the story so I’ll try not to reveal too much. When a plane flying over Gotham is suddenly hit by a missile, Batman does everything in his power to save the lives of all its passengers. When hope seems lost, two mysterious heroes show up and save the day. Who are they? Two newbies called Gotham and Gotham girl with good intentions but with lack of experience in the crime-fighting business.

The first thing I noticed was the new persona of the Bat. Away with the secretive, cold and seemly detached character to a more openly caring man that has no problem in talking about his troubled past. His relationship with Alfred was always something I appreciated in the previous Batman comics, but on this one I could actually see and feel their unique relationship. It’s impossible not to like Alfred, without him, there would be no Batman for sure.
I would have enjoyed seeing more of Hugo Strange and the Psycho Pirate, to get a little more detail on them. I think they are characters that have potential to be something great in the future.

Like I mentioned before, I really enjoyed the dark Gotham feel in the comic. It’s just how it’s supposed to be: a city drowning in injustice and corruption where the rich and powerful enjoy breaking the rules and the poor live in fear of tomorrow.
The art is incredible: the details, the character’s expressions and the colours bring everything together very nicely. Definitely brought back memories to when I was younger.

I really enjoyed this Rebirth comic and I’ll definitely be on the look-out for future volumes, not just of Batman but other heroes as well!

This review was originally published on NetGalley.

[samuelle]

Is actually interesting

[shazaib baig]

Batman has always been a intresting personality for the young ones As alfred is the only person that knows batman from his childhood...

[Vscholz]

I didn't know how I would feel about the change from New 52 to Rebirth, and I continued to be hesitant about this particular story arc. I would have preferred it as a separate title than as Batman and I was glad to see the story return to him.

[HailKingEbi]

the rebirth reboot is amazing. I'm open to batman, in whatever form. can't wait to read this!

[cdhundley]

Tom King's current run on Batman has been pretty interesting. I can't wait for the City of Bane arc issues to come out and be collected in a TPB.

[habsfan212]

Is the City of Bane arc any good? I stopped reading in the arc before because I lost interest, even if I’m a huge Batman fan. The storyline with Catwoman kind of disappointed me, all that buildup for nothing...

[Dwaynedollar]

Batman has always been a good super hero

[morijin]

I recently read I am Gotham .The art style was a bit hard to get used to but the story line was so good. I like how it connects to Batman Rebirth

[Usma Khann]

My doubts were cleared in the first paragraph of your review. Might add it for a rainy day. Thank you for the great review.

[drwcroaker]

Batman has always been my favorite DC character. It’s been a while since I was current on the comic book scene. This story arc sounds fun. I especially like your mention of Batman being more approachable and less Dark Knight. Thanks for this review.