Batman: Gotham Knights - Gilded City #2 - DC Comics

BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS - GILDED CITY No. 2, January 2023

Opening with an adrenalin-fuelled confrontation concerning the Dark Knight and his former protégé Dick Grayson, as well as closing with artist Abel pencilling a genuinely shocking battle between some Wild West ‘super-heroes’ and a graveyard full of the undead, Evan Narcisse’s storyline for Issue Two of “Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City” probably delighted the vast majority of its audience in November 2022. But whilst these aforementioned action-orientated sequences are arguably well-penned, the writing behind the rest of this twenty-two-page periodical’s plot probably left something to be desired; “I’m sure some TV News producer at WGBS thinks they’re so clever.”

To begin with the motivation between the original Dynamic Duo furiously going ‘hell for leather’ at one another isn’t particularly convincing, considering that both combatants essentially want the same thing, and it is only the manner in which their mission is accomplished which the pair disagree upon. Of course, Nightwing’s move to Bludhaven to rid himself of the Caped Crusader’s shadow is certainly shown to give the former Robin a sizeable chip on his shoulder, especially when an incredibly arrogant Batman unapologetically tells the already irate costumed acrobat that he will go wherever he wants when an operation demands it.

But frankly neither character comes away from this fracas in a good light, with both appearing egotistical, self-righteous and unwilling to compromise – at least until Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego supposedly submits to taking “that hit from my Escrima stick so you could figure out what was happening”. Furthermore, the two protagonists settle their differences with such suddenness, that it is debatably difficult to comprehend just what all the fuss was about in the first place. Indeed, within moments of trying to batter the Dark Knight half to death, Grayson is next shown bemusingly telling him how good it is to see his old mentor again.

Much more enthralling is the secondary narrative concerning poor Abraham’s investigation into the disappearance of his brother from a nearby coal mine during the Wild West. Crammed full of shady characters, brain-hungry zombies and some truly sinister shenanigans, these scenes are much more riveting, and definitely provide this comic with a sensational cliff-hanger as the clearly distressed labourer shockingly loses his life just as it appears he’s discovered a clue as to the dreadful demise of his sibling.

The regular cover art of "BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHTS - GILDED CITY #2 by Greg Capullo