If you want to know the answer to the the ultimate question; How did Gotham come to be so corrupt and crime-ridden? This book will take you there and the answer is in the past.
This is no doubt Snyder's best work when it comes to his historical side. He seemlessly ties in and sheds light on the history of Gotham as it morphs from colonial town to a metropolitan city and inevitably a refuge for the corrupt. The story focuses on 5 of Gotham's founding families, succesfully tying together the past of Batman, Penguin, Hush(Tommy Elliot) and even cleverly throwing in to the mix none other than the aptly named Kane family. This story of the Victorian past intertwines with the present day, in which we get to see an epic combo of Batman heroes work together to solve this ancient yet present mystery.
While the historical half of the book is near flawless the pesent day side is not entirely. My biggest gripe with it being the chemistry among Batman and gang definitely leaves something to be desired for. Dick Grayson is centerstage in the cowl and cape but his typically snark wit is strangely missing and the other characters are disapointingly toned down as well. I mostly blame this on the fact that, for whatever reason, Snyder is not handling dialogue duties here(he did story only) and the guys who filled in do not do justice to our favorite characters.
Although thankfully some character developement at least shines through, particularly on the part of Dick Grayson as he tries to cope with feelings of inadequacy, as he fills in for Batman while Bruce is out of town. It's an interesting side of Dick and to my knowledge, this is the first time anyone ever filled in for Bruce as Gotham's Dark Knight.
So, while the lack of fun dialogue among the heroes and the books brievity keep this work from reaching perfection, the historical side of the book is so well executed that I can't bear to give this book anything below 4 1/2 stars. I would consider this highly recommendable to anyone that enjoyed Snyder's run on New 52 or Batman fans who have an interest in the history of Gotham.
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Reviews with images
Expanding on Gotham's Current State by Looking at its Past
This trade takes place shortly after Bruce Wayne has returned from being "dead", so its after Final Crisis, Batman and Robin, and the Return of Bruce Wayne, yet before the conclusion of Batman Inc. Therefore, Bruce really only appears briefly. In the main story in fact you only see him talking to his successor, Dick Grayson, through a computer screen. This means that it's a Batman tale featuring Dick Grayson and dealing with him further stepping up to see if he has what it takes to be Gotham City's Batman while Bruce is off defending other parts of the world. He's aided by the current Robin, Damian Wayne, the former Robin, Tim Drake, and the former Batgirl who is now known as Black Bat, Cassandra Cain. This makes for a solid cast of characters and all of them are well written. It's a special treat to see Cassandra, as she disappeared for a while, with the mantle of Batgirl being passed to Stephanie Brown. Unfortunately, this is the last time she'll be seen in the Batman universe for quite a while, only just recently having been reintroduced into the new continuity in the Batman and Robin Eternal Series.Still nice to have her here though and the dynamic between her and Damian is an interesting one. Really makes you think of the opportunities missed by not having them interact more. You also get to see some of her relationship with Tim Drake, which was an important part of her time as Batgirl and Tim's time as Robin. Beyond that however, Dick Grayson's really the main character here, suffering from doubts as to whether or not he'll ever be as good as Bruce. I'll be honest, Dick Grayson is my favorite character in DC, but every now and again I find it annoying when they write him as being so doubtful of his own abilities, while then having him praise everyone else's, when he has personally accomplished just as much, if not more as said other people. But it doesn't detract from this story, in which a mysterious new villain is attempting to destroy Gotham City due to some terrible secret that the "royal" families of the city did in the past. These families consist of the Cobblepots (Penguin), the Elliots (Hush), and naturally the Waynes.The overall plot of the story is interesting, with a tale of the city's past being told concurrently with what's going on in the present, and it's revealed near the end that the past story was being read by Dick Grayson from a journal, which is a nice touch. The motivation of the villain is understandable, with a certain element of tragedy to it, along with a nice twist as well. It's then nice to see more of Dick Grayson as Batman. I think that the writers did a good job with the character during this period, really allowing him to grow up and spend some real time, in what I see as being the position that's rightfully his after Bruce passes on (If or whenever he does that is lol). The artwork however for this issue is the biggest flaw and i'm tempted to say is just plain terrible. IDK, it didn't work for me. When in costume it's not so bad, but outside of the costume I think that all that Bat characters look terrible.After the main story there's also a side story featuring the origin of the Night Runner, a member of Batman Inc based in Paris. It's short, but really only makes me think of further missed opportunities, because it's good! It's told completely through the Night Runner's point of view and his voice, origin, and background are all interesting enough that if DC had made a series based around him i'd pick it up to see where things went. Sadly they didn't, and Batman Inc came to an end not long after this. Nice to have it here regardless though and both Bruce and Dick appear as Batman. So it's a decent bonus.Being written by Scott Snyder it'd be impossible not to compare this to his current run in the New 52. Let me say, this is inferior to his current work, which is very solid for the most part. However, you can definitely see that this served as a kind of proving or testing ground for Snyder, as there are similar elements here that will appear in his later stories. So it's made more interesting for that if nothing else.I personally really wanted to like this, really wanted to give this story 4 stars, but I can't give it more than 3. The story itself wasn't bad, but it also wasnt amazing or even very good either. I don't consider it to be all that memorable or something that i'll be picking up every now and again to re-read down the line. However, it's also not a waste to purchase it and have it in your collection. If you're a fan of Scott Snyder or Dick Grayson, i'd say pick this up.
