This review contains some spoilers for Batman #3, on sale now from DC
As I noted a while back, Mister Freeze was a fairly generic villain for decades. One notable change occurred in the mid-1980s when he was part of the Super Powers action figure line, so he received a costume revamp for that series (yet another Follow the Path moment for Mister Freeze that is unrelated to the main one we’re talking about here). Still, his new costume did not really raise his profile much and he once again was just a relatively rare Batman rogue.
Heck, he was even KILLED OFF in 1992, but luckily for him, that same year saw the release of the Batman: Animated Series and in the third episode of the series period, Paul Dini wrote “Heart of Ice,” which revamped Mister Freeze and now revealed that he was driven by the love for his wife, Nora Fries, who he had place in cyrogenic storage to try to save her life (Bruce Timm directed the episode. It was the first episode Timm directed and Dini wrote)…
Image via Warner Bros.
The episode was a major critical success, as it won one of the (if not THE) first Emmys for the series. Mister Freeze was now a symphathetic villain, and those are ALWAYS the best kinds of villains. I bring this up because it appears that we might be on the way to a brand-new sympathetic villain in the Batman mythos, but one that, well, Bruce Wayne is kind of sweet on…
Image via DC
Batman #3 is from writer Matt Fraction, artist Jorge Jiménez, colorist Tomeu Morey, and letterer Clayton Cowles, and it continues the storyline of Gotham City’s police department being turned against Batman, but we also see that something very wrong is going on with Batman’s rogues, and Batman’s newest love interest might be the one behind it!
What is the problem with Gotham City?
Image via DC
In the opening of the story, we see a teenager interview a local Gotham City resident to get her take on life in Gotham, and it is always fun to see how “normal” citizens view their crazy city, especially the guy who runs around dressed as a bat! Denny O’Neil, for the longest time, tried to run with the concept of Batman being considered an “urban legend” in Gotham City, and I always found that to be a bit silly, but at the same point, I think there’s probably a nice thin line between Batman being an “urban legend,” and Batman being a guy that, like, does press conferences, and has to wear a different-colored costume every day to distract reporters from the fact that Robin is wearing a cast so that no one will put two and two together and realize that Robin and Dick Grayson both suddenly started wearing casts at the same time, and I think Fraction has mostly hit on that line. Batman should be mysterious, someone that “good kids” shouldn’t even use his name unless they’re in trouble, while still, you know, acknowledging that he EXISTS.
Jorge Jiménez is famously good at action sequences, and he shows off those skills a bit in this issue, as well, but I think it is important to also give him his flowers for how well he does character-based scenes, like the interview with the neighbor lady. This is very important later in the issue when Batman begins to deal with Riddler.
First, though, our young citizen will suddenly see his views on his civic duties challenged by the fact that he witnesses (and records on his phone) Vandal Savage, the commissioner of Gotham City, planting evidence against Batman!
That puts this young boy against the law, but also on the side of justice. Can he live up to that? We see that he goes to a reporter with the video, so it will be fascinating to see Gotham City “justice” through the eyes of a teenager.
Speaking of “through the eyes of a teenager,” there’s a great plotline in this issue that reminds me of an old bit that one of the Batman writers of the 1990s did (Alan Grant? Doug Moench? Chuck Dixon?) where Tim Drake’s dad was concerned about Tim getting injured while hanging out with Bruce. Here, it is Tim’s boyfriend, Bernard, who is very suspicous of Tim’s adopted father. It’s a good plot point because, well, COME ON, it TOTALLY looks SUPER suspicious!
Beyond Vandal Savage, what is the problem with the Riddler?
As established last issue, Vandal Savage has turned the Gotham City Police Department against Batman, and there’s a good bit where Batman, Harvey Bullock, and Commissioner Gordon all get together via a “Bat signal” that Bullock put up in his window, and discuss the Savage problem.
However, while that is notable problem for Batman, I think an even BIGGER issue arises when Batman finds the Riddler, who is really going THROUGH it. As it turns out, it appears as though he is being experimented on by Dr. Zeller, the psychiatrist we first met in Batman #1, who Batman obviously has a major crush on. In that issue, we saw that she obviously VERY much cared about Killer Croc, and that her love for her patients very much impressed Batman. He thinks that she is an awesome lady (and, spoiler alert, Bruce Wayne will take her out on a date in a future issue), but it appears that she is, indeed, experimenting on patients with her new device that sure sounds a bit like shock therapy. She is doing this for the best reasons, but, again, noble villainy is still, you know, VILLAINY.
And it will be fascinating to see if that IS the origins of a new sympathetic villain, or if Batman will get Zeller to avoid falling into that realm. I’ll certainly be following to see what happens next!
Source: DC