I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for a good Batman mini-series. Batman: Knightfall? I was all in. Bruce Wayne: Fugitive? All in. Batman: War Game? I have every volume of the trades. So, when I see a Batman mini-series called Gates of Gotham and a tag at the bottom of the cover, “The Secret History of Gotham City Begins Here”, they had my attention.
The opening salvo of this story, “A Bridge to the Past”, kicks off in 1881 with three wealthy men riding in a coach through Gotham arguing over how uncivilized it is to be meeting outside of a proper office. The three men, a Wayne, a Cobblepot and an Elliot (no, it is not the start to some bad joke), are all on their way to meet Mr. Nicholas Anders. Mr. Anders and Alan Wayne are looking to show Mr. Coblepot and Mr. Elliot their grand plans for Gotham City. A city in need of men with a vision.
We are then promptly dropped into Gotham’s present where Dick Grayson (or Batman, if you will) and Tim Drake (Red Robin) are searching for who ordered up a whole mess of explosive. The two are racing to find out not just the who, but the when, where and how the explosives will be used.
Now as we all know, you can’t save everyone. Tim and Dick learned this the hard way when the 22nd Street (Cobbleopot), Madison (Elliot) and New Trigate Bridge (Wayne), or as they used to be known “The Gates of Gotham”, were all blown up at the same time.
Now our heroes have a real mystery on their hands, a regular old who dunnit! This issue also featured the welcome return of Cassandra Cain, the former Batgirl and now Batman Incorporated Far East Representative, to help the boys out when they need it most.
Well, this is certainty a solid way to kick off a mini-series, with good writing and excellent artwork (Dick’s acrobatics on page 9 are a perfect example of how good the art is in the book). I know I can’t wait for Gate of Gotham #2, “The Four Families of Gotham”, so check back next month to see how this story continues.
