Batman: City of Madness - Book One

It's taken almost a week to get round to it (and even then, it's taken two nights to actually get through the whole thing), but I've finally read book one of Batman: City of Madness by Christian Ward.

Telling a story from multiple perspectives, city of madness sees the Court of Owls facing a crisis when one of their own attempts to open a mystical doorway to a hellish mirror Gotham. Meanwhile Batman is summoned (in his own unique way) by Harvey Dent when the duplicitous villain confesses to hear a third voice within his damaged mind. Finally, while all of that is going on, a young boy travels to Gotham, seeking Vengeance for the murder of his father.

I had not initially planned on buying this comic, instead being content to discuss classic wrestling toys with my LCS's proprietor. However, when his buddy shows me a copy and tells me it's by Christian Ward, whose art I absolutely loved during the Black Bolt series, it became less a case of 'interesting' and more one of 'just take my money.'

And, indeed, Christian Ward's art is once again the draw (pun not intended) here. Ward really imbues the chaos of this story as his equally bizarre visual style really gives the book a real signature ... well, madness (hence the name of the book). From first page to last, this art really gives of a vibe that feels like a successor to Arkham Asylum (the comic, not the game, the former of which is also reference in story).

Of course, this is helped by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou's lettering, which more than matches the artwork and helps give the story a very sinister feel.

As for the story itself, it's... interesting. Much like the art eludes to, Ward's writing of this plot feels chaotic and all over the place. That's not to say this is a bad thing, because Ward still manages to set up all of the pieces in order to get what happening across. However, it wasn't, for me, as big a draw as the art.

Don't get me wrong though, this is not a bad book by any means, it's just a case that while it lacks cons, it doesn't exactly landslide in pros. However, as we say in the English Football world, 'winning by a goal is still winning' (well, we don't say that, although I recall Joe Kinnear saying something similar once upon a time).

In short, while the story didn't wow me, it certainly piqued my interest enough to come back for book two, which is really just icing on the cake to let me see more of this awesome art!