Over at DC, there’s always a plethora of Batman books running at any given time. While I do love Batman and Detective Comics, the two flagship titles, sometimes they get caught up a bit too much in ever-shifting continuity for my taste.
The recent Absolute Batman has circumvented this concern by existing at the beginning of a new universe, but sometimes the best instances of Batman are miniseries that pick and choose when in Batman’s history they want to set their story in order to ignore whatever status quo is in place at the moment. This gives the story a timeless feel without allowing you to get distracted by trying to figure out who the mayor is or which Robin is active at the moment.
The strongest example of this in the past few years is Dark Patterns, a 12-issue miniseries written by Dan Watters and drawn by Hayden Sherman. In addition to excellent creator-owned books from Watters like The Seasons Have Teeth, Coffin Bound, and Home Sick Pilots, he had a great foray into the Batman corner of the DC universe with Arkham City: Order of the World, a creepy miniseries that had echoes of Grant Morrison’s classic Arkham Asylum: Serious House on a Serious Earth. Sherman has also been on a hot streak, drawing both the Annihilation-inspired Into the Unbeing and the Eisner Award-winning Absolute Wonder Woman. It’s a dream team that comes together to tell a moody series of tales that give me that classic Batman feel.
While Dark Patterns is a 12-issue miniseries, its greatest strength is that it’s divided into four distinct three-issue story arcs that each stand on their own. It feels like modern comics have become so focused on long-form storytelling, so it’s refreshing to see a title that’s telling a focused tale that doesn’t overstay its welcome. Not only are they bite-sized stories, but they are ones that focus on my two favorite aspects of Batman: creepy villains and street-level detective work.
The story’s stakes definitely do rise by the end, but it never gets to the point where a supervillain and their army hold the city hostage through fantastical means. Dark Patterns has that level of groundedness associated with the Christopher Nolan films, making for a refreshing counterpoint to the often grandiose scale of the main Batman books.
Hayden Sherman’s Art Gives Gotham a Distinct Visual Identity
Before delving into the plot of each of these arcs, I have to give Sherman their props on the art, which is consistently a highlight of the series. Not only are the designs of the villains, new and old, great, but they have some of the most interesting page layouts to bring the action to life. Their unique panel shapes bring to mind the J.H. Williams-drawn run of Detective Comics that focused on Batwoman, one of my all-time favorites.
The character illustrations themselves bring to mind the style of Tim Sale‘s The Long Halloween, with a bit of Batman: The Animated Series mixed in, but presented with unconventional angles and extremely human poses that emphasize Batman as a man rather than the near-supernatural being he’s often portrayed as. I came to the book as a fan of Dan Watters, but ended up being just as blown away by Hayden Sherman.
While each story can stand on its own, with only the final story somewhat building on events from the previous three, there are throughlines throughout the entirety of Dark Patterns that make it feel like a cohesive piece. Right from the beginning, we see a city that’s gone feral. Kids playing deadly games. Wild dogs roam the streets. A building on fire. In the opening narration, Batman, who at this point is three years into his career as the Caped Crusader, acknowledges that “there are heinous things in Gotham I can do nothing about.”
The stories focus on forgotten people, individuals the city has left behind to fend for themselves, with Batman trying to sort out how to find some form of justice for them in whatever way he can. One thing I love about this Batman is that he is fallible, often taking quite a beating over the course of these stories. None of these elements is new to Batman, but Watters uses them as a solid foundation for very contemporary stories.
Meet One of Gotham’s Creepiest New Villains in “We Are Wounded”
The first story, titled “We Are Wounded“, introduces a terrifying new villain. It all starts with a horrific crime scene. Pathologist Dr. Sereika presents Batman and the reader with the body of a man found stabbed in every major nerve cluster, done with precision to keep him alive as long as possible. As Batman investigates, it leads him on a collision course with the killer, who has nails, rebar, and spikes stabbed through his body in a way that narrowly misses all his vital organs. Not only is he a ghastly sight, but he presents a huge challenge for Batman: there’s no place to strike him that won’t cause the many pieces of metal to kill him.
Dubbing him the Wound Man, named after the famous medieval medical manuscript drawing, this case takes Batman to an area outside Gotham known as the Town Without Screams, where corporate neglect resulted in a chemical spill that caused the entire town to no longer be able to feel pain. With the help of reporter Nicky Harris, who becomes a recurring character in the miniseries, he uncovers a tragic tale of greed and coverups, leading to a surprisingly sympathetic origin story for such a monstrous-looking villain.
“We Are Wounded” shows us a perfect blueprint for what this series is going to be going forward. The mix of horror and detective work is on display from the beginning, and the writing and art contribute to both of these elements equally. The Wound Man is a conceptual nightmare, a numb man looking to make people feel pain for taking away his ability to feel it, that’s brought to life with one of the most striking visual designs I’ve seen for a new villain since the Court of Owls. Just the sight of all the nails and spikes in him is enough body horror, but it’s clear that their placement was designed with care by Sherman for maximum effect, including a pattern of nails embedded in his face that almost mimics a mask.
The detective vibes of the story are not only conveyed by the intriguing legwork that Batman does to hunt the new villain, but also through the noir-esque locations and framing that Sherman uses to portray the action. The first arc is so important to a comic run to both hook readers and give them a taste of what’s to come, and “We Are Wounded” is a masterclass in opening chapters.
“The Voice of the Tower” Turns Gotham Into a Haunted House
After introducing a new villain in the first story, the second arc, “The Voice of the Tower“, decides to reinvent an old one by cleverly working with Ventriloquist and Scarface, an antagonist pair that always feels a bit like a cheap punchline. At the beginning, it doesn’t even seem like a Scarface story, introducing us to the soon-to-be-demolished Bledin Towers, where residents have refused resettlement packages and holed up in their homes, refusing to leave. The situation has escalated to the point where they’ve killed a police officer, so Batman infiltrates the apartment complex in an effort to save another cop that’s being held hostage by unknown forces within.
Once he gets inside, he finds Scarface, not accompanied by his normal Ventriloquist Arnold Wesker, and breaks the villainous dummy, only to hear Scarface’s voice reverberate through the tower. At this point, several residents armed with Tommy guns don Scarface masks and attempt to kill Batman.
The mystery of what’s going on in Bledin Tower is a compelling one, forcing Batman to question if the building itself is perhaps possessed by the spirit of Scarface. It’s one part haunted house, one part The Raid, seen through the lens of Batman, making for a compelling arc that feels unlike any other Scarface story I’ve read before. Batman feels truly out of his element and overwhelmed here, with Sherman’s panel layouts emphasizing the labyrinthine nature of the tower as he tries to untangle the truth. Action. Horror. Mystery. “The Voice of the Tower” has it all, balanced perfectly to set itself apart from “We Are Wounded” while still maintaining the previously established mood.
The Rookery Explores Gotham’s Cycles of Violence in Unconventional Arc “Pareidolia”
The third arc, “Pareidolia“, begins with a battered Bruce Wayne talking to Gotham, trying to make sense of the rash of fires that have been plaguing the city, theorizing that it’s the city itself trying to burn him out as though he were an infection. From his window, he sees another blaze and decides he’s had enough and will deal with this one. Police aren’t rushing to this fire because it’s in the Rookery, a neighborhood in Old Gotham that’s been decimated and neglected by the city at large.
It’s a maze of ramshackle houses rebuilt out of temporary materials with several places that have no running water or proper electrical wiring. When Batman finally gets to the husk of a building left behind by the blaze, he finds a body left in a dryer, which resembles a macabre method of execution used by the Red Hood Gang decades ago.
“Pareidolia“, as the book tells us, is the name for how we perceive patterns where there are none, and Batman spends this arc trying not to go down a rabbit hole as he attempts to find the killer. His descent into the history of the Rookery brings him back to both Dr. Sereika and Nicky Harris, all while the neighborhood violently rejects his presence. It’s a story that doesn’t turn out exactly as you, or Batman, expect it to, with a tragic conclusion that is far more intimate than anticipated.
There are some real standout pages here from Sherman, particularly the series of pages that are topped with headlines of Batman’s desperate campaign in the Rookery paired with striking panels of his actions. It’s the most unconventional story in the collection, both in content and in structure, but it’s effective in driving its point home about the forgotten people of Gotham.
“The Child of Fire” Delivers a Haunting Finale
The final arc, “The Child of Fire“, reveals the titular new villain as the source of the city’s rash of fires. After the conclusion of “Pareidolia“, Bruce is completely spent, with Alfred helping him as he recovers from a fever. As the blazes continue, Batman attempts to push past his sickness and chase down this new villain, who seems to be trying to recreate the Great Fire of Gotham, a 1835 blaze that originated in the financial district and reshaped the city.
This is definitely the highest stakes that the book reaches, but it still remains grounded in detective work as Batman attempts to figure out the identity of this unsettling villain.
The Child of Fire’s image is almost the exact opposite of the Wound Man. Rather than spiky and horrific, they look soft and comforting, wearing a fireproof suit that looks comparable to the Michelin Man’s body. The doll mask they wear gives them an off-putting child-like visage, especially creepy when seen peering through the flames. The arc incorporates the classic Batman villain Firefly in a way that immediately allows you to see the difference between the two villains, with the Child of Fire being more philosophical and high-minded. There’s an almost mythological aspect to this story, something many Batman tales like to play with, but it still feels rooted in reality, even when it’s at its most dreamlike.
There’s a phenomenal sequence in the second issue of the arc where Batman, still suffering from his fever, is swinging through Gotham, seeing and hearing flashbacks of the Great Fire. Sherman’s layouts do an amazing job of alternating between the past and the present, with a strong visual variation provided by excellent work from colorist Triona Farrell. It’s a harrowing scene that not only delivers exposition about the history but also sets high stakes for Gotham. “The Child of Fire” is a wonderful finale, feeling like a culmination of everything that’s happened in the three previous, disparate tales, doubling down on the strengths of the entire series in a big way.
Batman: Dark Patterns feels like an audition for Detective Comics, one that the team passed with flying colors. It’s both classic and experimental, feeling old-school in structure but forward-thinking in execution. Not every story needs to shake the foundation of Gotham City forever, and Watters understands how to make smaller-scale stories that resonate on a more personal and existential level. He’s currently still in the Batman corner of the DC universe, writing the ongoing Nightwing series, while Sherman continues as the regular artist on “Absolute Wonder Woman“.
Both of those series are excellent in their own right, but I can’t help but hope these two will be back together again writing Batman, because Dark Patterns demonstrated that this team will go down as one of the finest to write the character.
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