As well as being an epic feat of wildly imaginative storytelling, Grant Morrison's post-millennial run on Batman (and short-lived sister title Batman & Robin)
accomplished two things that would shape the future of the caped
crusader's adventures in print. First, there was no longer any
limitation on where story lines could be drawn from; any obscure,
surreal subplot from the comic's dark and distant past was fair game
once Morrison had established a continuity which took account of all the
dark knight's past adventures, no matter how bizarre. Second, Dick
Grayson was established as a credible (and extremely likable) Batman.
Speaking as someone who had a strong dislike of the character during his
time as Robin and Nightwing, I personally feel that Morrison (with a
little help from Tony Daniel's surprisingly good Battle for the Cowl mini-arc)
utterly succeeded in recreating Grayson as a sympathetic and compelling
character, and the perfect fit for Bruce Wayne's successor as Batman.
What might have felt like sacrilege to many fans actually turned out to
be a much-needed shot in the arm which rejuvenated the comic and opened
the door to a whole new range of story-telling possibilities.
One such possible story is told by American Vampire scribe Scott Snyder in the Batman: The Black Mirror
story arc. Eschewing the more supernatural elements in which his
predecessor delighted, Snyder's tale is - at its heart - hard-boiled
crime fiction, albeit with a deeply disturbing edge. The story finds
Dick Grayson, still new to his role as Batman, investigating several
apparently unrelated crimes in Gotham city, each of which turns out to
have some sort of link to his - or his mentor's - past. The return of
James Jnr, Commissioner Gordon's estranged and possibly disturbed son,
to Gotham causes further complications for the dark knight, and as the
myriad threads draw together the real evil at the heart of the story is
revealed; an evil which may be part of the very fabric of Gotham
itself. Snyder's immaculate plotting ensures that the connections
between multiple story lines never feel forced or jarring, and as the
tale reaches its dramatic conclusion the reader becomes entangled in a
web of madness and horror which mirrors the cracked mind of the book's
ultimate villain.
The
richness of the story would be compromised without characters that
engage the reader, but fortunately this is an area in which Snyder also
excels. In his hands, Dick Grayson emerges as a rounded, flawed and
believable hero who puts his own stamp on the Batman legacy. He looks
and moves like Batman, but he quips like Spider-Man, and his motives are
not quite the same as his predecessor's; his lack of a pathological
drive to fight crime becomes both a weakness and a strength over the
course of the book. His is a different kind of Batman, one who can
allow some light to persist in a world of shadow, no matter how hard
Gotham tries to drag him into its murky depths and snuff him out. The
Gordons, too, are fully realised emotional beings, rather than just the
two-dimensional supporting characters that they might have been. The
Commissioner's weary perseverance in the face of overwhelming darkness
has never been more quietly powerful, and Barbara's bravery in the face
of danger and her unspoken, tenderly implied feelings for Dick are both
deeply affecting. James - the damaged, long lost son - is an enigma,
and Snyder keeps us guessing at his true nature right up until the
story's climactic confrontation.
As
for the villains of the piece, Batman's traditional rogues' gallery is
somewhat conspicuous by its absence, the one exception being the Joker,
who plays only a small role in the story. Snyder's Joker closely
follows Morrison's masterful reinvention of the character, and again
reminds us that he is the only one who truly understands the dark
knight, recognising immediately that Grayson is not "his" Batman. This
aside, Snyder's villains consist primarily of gangsters, arms dealers
and a group of wealthy Gotham socialites who attend a mysterious and
sinister auction at "Mirror House". But even these seemingly mundane
foes are given an unearthly aura by the ever-present and corrupting
influence of Gotham city - cast by Snyder almost as a villain in its own
right. The malign and shadowy presence of Gotham is present in almost
every panel, creating an atmosphere so palpable you can almost taste
it. The city is the titular Black Mirror, throwing up warped
reflections of all it encounters, bubbling far beneath Batman's
penthouse as an uninviting and ever-shifting sea of madness and
corruption. Snyder's masterstroke in Black Mirror is to give Gotham a mind of its own.
Special
mention must of course go to the artists, namely Jock and Francesco
Francavilla, for visualising and maintaining the dense atmosphere of the
book. Jock's rugged lines convey beautifully the gritty environments
and fluid action sequences that Snyder's story demands, and
Francavilla's art, while more cartoonish, bathes the characters in a
haunting, ethereal glow and weaves wonderful tapestries of flashbacks
and inner thoughts. Both prove themselves worthy successors to the
likes of Frank Quitely and Frazer Irving in portraying the glamorous
grime of Gotham and its inhabitants.
In short, Black Mirror
is a fantastic Batman story. By combining elements of crime, horror
and emotional drama, Scott Snyder had created a gripping tale that can
stand by itself as an excellent example of what Batman as a
comic can achieve, as well as acting as a worthy addition to the ongoing
saga of Dick Grayson's Batman. Although Grant Morrison's shadow still
hangs over the book, Snyder demonstrates that he's a strong writer with a
unique voice and his own approach to characterisation, while still
embracing key parts of the Morrison legacy.
