Gotham City is a busy place, with a lot going down each and every week. In this monthly column, Joshua Lapin-Bertone helps you stay on top of it all by letting you know what you should be paying attention to within the Bat-Family…and why.
The final chapter of Rafael Grampa and Matheus Lopes’s Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham is here, and it was worth the wait. I previously wrote about the DC Black Label comic when Book One dropped in 2023, and I noted that it was easily the most violent Batman comic I’ve ever read. The rest of the series has continued to push the envelope, delivering some of the most brutal moments I’ve ever seen in a Batman comic.
For example, Book Three contains a scene where a villain beheads over twenty people in one panel. There’s also a child version of the Joker, which is one of the more interesting twists on the character I’ve ever read. Grampa really cut loose while he was crafting this story, making it feel like a Batman comic with no guardrails.
One of the most interesting things Gargoyle of Gotham does is play with the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Batman. In Book One, Batman tells Alfred he’s going to kill off Bruce Wayne permanently, which will allow him to focus more on his life as the Dark Knight.
Over the years, there have been a lot of different ideas on how essential the Bruce Wayne identity is. Some creators and readers see Bruce Wayne as a mask and Batman as the real person. Some take things a step further, stating that Bruce Wayne died (metaphorically) the moment his parents were killed and Batman was born. Others play with the idea of Bruce Wayne as a fully realized person, with a separate life from Batman. It all depends on the writer. I personally prefer the latter idea, as it grounds Batman and his world, giving the character more stakes.
Gargoyle of Gotham plays with this idea, as Batman and Alfred argue over how necessary Bruce Wayne is. It doesn’t help when Bruce Wayne learns he spent time in the children’s wing of Arkham Asylum after his parents died. This was a memory Bruce had blocked out, and learning the truth causes him to question everything, including the idea of Batman. Was the Dark Knight really his idea, or was it something the corrupt Arkham doctors planted in his mind?
The recently released Book Four ends with Batman realizing that Bruce Wayne is one of his greatest weapons. Bruce is able to go places in Gotham that Batman can’t, infiltrating the corrupt elite circles and taking them down from within.
“The answer wasn’t killing Bruce Wayne, but discovering who he really is,” Bruce says in Book Four. “A cancer on all evil, destroying it from within. Bruce Wayne has always been my greatest weapon. There are things only he can do for this city. For the traumatized children of Gotham’s worst night.”
Notice how Batman still refers to Bruce Wayne as if he were a separate person? While the series ends with him embracing the Bruce Wayne identity, the Dark Knight still seems to be somewhat detached from it and it’s hard to blame him. Batman confronts a lot of inhumane things throughout Gargoyle of Gotham, and I believe it’s causing him to disassociate himself from his core humanity. While he ends the story with a more favorable view on his Bruce Wayne life, it’s still a work in progress.
Another interesting thing the story plays with is the duality of Batman and the Joker. The Dark Knight and the Clown Prince’s relationship has been explored in many different ways over the years, and I’ve tried to make sense of it myself. Gargoyle of Gotham reimagines the Joker as a young child drawn to violence and chaos, and Grampa uses this to draw a parallel between him and Batman.
In Book Two, we learn that hours after his parents’ murder, Bruce brutalized and crippled a man he believed to be their killer. The image of young Bruce bludgeoning the man is horrifying, and the panel is recreated in Book Four when young Joker attacks Batman. The panel is framed the same way, with Joker in young Bruce’s place. Make of that what you will.
If Grampa’s point wasn’t clear, Book Four even has Bruce note their similarities.
“This one…it’s like looking into a mirror,” Bruce says. “He’ll require special care. He needs me. I can teach him.” Oh my lord, is Bruce going to try to make Joker into one of his Robins? If Grampa ever does a sequel, that would be a mind-blowing idea.
As you can see, Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham is a comic that doesn’t play around. Grampa asks some hard questions about Batman, Bruce Wayne, Gotham and the relationship they all share with one another. It’s violent, it’s provocative, and it will challenge the way you think about the Dark Knight.
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #4 by Rafael Grampá with Mat Lopes is now available in print and as a digital comic book. Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham can also be read on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.
Joshua Lapin-Bertone writes about TV, movies and comics for DC.com, is a regular contributor to the Couch Club and writes our monthly Batman column, "Gotham Gazette." Follow him on Bluesky at @joshualapinbertone and on X at @TBUJosh.
NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Joshua Lapin-Bertone and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.
