Review of Batman:The Dark Knight #18

“This is who I am.”

***Contains Spoilers***

Review of Batman: The Dark Knight #17

“And when I told you I wanted to move operations to an abandoned missile silo…you all said I was crazy.”

***Contains Spoilers***

If you read my reviews of the last story arc of Dark Knight, than you know that I love how Gregg Hurwitz presented the origin of the Scarecrow while showing us a chilling tale at the same time. Well, now Mr. Hurwitz has decided to tackle the Mad Hatter and he does not disappoint. We did not get to see much of the Mad Hatter in the last issue, however in this issue we get to see some of his past and that tells us more of his plans in the present.

Jervis Tetch(the Mad Hatter) is many things, hat maker, crazy as a loon, cursed with an unfortunate name, but he is also very intelligent. This is something that many of Batman’s villains share, they are crazy, but intelligent. It is a VERY dangerous combination. What this means is that Batman is having a hard time tracking down Jervis, even though he has plenty of leads. Although I must say that I think Batman would know of the location of an abandoned missile silo near Gotham City.

We now see what Jervis is “casting for”. He is kidnapping people in the attempt to recreate his “perfect day”. I can only imagine the horror that set Jervis on his path to become the Mad Hatter. In the flashbacks we see a boy who is loved by his parents, has plenty of friends at school(who protect him from a bully), he even goes on a date with a pretty girl who seems to like him. If all you showed me were the flashback scenes with no other context I would assume that this kid has a great life. I can truly see why this was his perfect day. However, something must have happened. I am going to guess that either Alice did something or something was done to her.

On another sad note, Alfred attempts to talk to Bruce about Natalya and her absence of late. Bruce of course blows him off, as usual. It’s not easy being Batman, I suppose.

As far as consistent, quality storytelling anf great artwork I think Dark Knight is one of my favorite books right now. If you haven’t read the previous issues I recommend you look into reading them.

Review of Batman: The Dark Knight #16

“They have me from every direction…seventeen to one…I call that a fair fight.”

***Contains Spoilers***