Batman: Streets of Gotham #4 Review

BATMAN: STREETS OF GOTHAM #4
Written by Paul Dini
Co-feature written by Marc Andreyko
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs
Co-feature art by Jeremy Haun

+ That's Mister Zsasz to you. Zsasz's character has never been this good.
+ The Broker is a great new (I assume he's new with him just recently being introduced by Dini) addition to the Bat mythos. He's a broker that sells unused themed properties to villains. He doesn't like these people, but it's a job and his character was fleshed out a great deal in this issue.
+ Origin of Gotham City's villain hideouts. With a focus on the Broker, we were told the origin of why there are so many rundown theme parks and other obvious villain hideouts in Gotham. Very fun and interesting sidestory.
+ Batman isn't Batman. Dini did a good job showing Dick as Batman with how he and the Broker intereacted. Was a subtle, but nice touch.
+ Hush is still interesting as Bruce Wayne. Hush story was pushed to the side a bit this month, but was touched upon and I'm still enjoying the dynamic.
- No Zsasz-o-Vision. It was a unique dynamic introduced last issue that I even featured in the Moments of the Week. Was disappointed we didn't see it in action again this month. I don't want every panel with Zsasz in it to have this in it, but was expecting to see it again throughout this story arc.
- Not much happens. Despite enjoying the Broker and origin of Gotham City's rundown villain hideouts, not much happens in this issue. It's all setup for Zsasz getting his own abbatoir and "livestock", but, outside that, the story really stagnated for so early on in the title's life.

Verdict - Buy It. I really enjoyed this issue. Even if you aren't following the title, it's a great done-in-one that still has threads that tie into past issues and lead into future ones. Worth picking up just to know the origin of all those crazy amusement parks and rundown villain hideouts.

Related Posts