Review by Frank Plowright
Anyone who picks this up without having read Memento is going to have a hell of a time figuring out what’s going on. Batman has been affected by hallucinations somehow connected to the revival of a killer called Memento whom he believes long dead. Robin was on the verge of quitting when apparently convinced by Memento to turn to the dark side, having already concluded the presence of Batman contributes to Gotham’s problems, rather than alleviating them. It wasn’t greatly convincing, but as this is a continuation Phillip Kennedy Johnson has the opportunity to deliver greater sense.
He opens The Gotham Cycle with pages from Thomas Wayne’s elegantly illustrated diary (the work of Hugo Petrus), before moving to a disoriented Batman (Miguel Mendonça) and then Damian Wayne’s comic strip diary (Juni Ba). It’s visually stimulating, but confusing.
While the opening chapter is planned that way and works as such, this is another volume where DC can’t arrange for a single artist to draw the remainder. Javi Fernández draws more pages than anyone else in his busy impressionistic style, with the colours of Marcelo Maiolo adding considerably to the atmosphere. As before, Carmine Di Giandomenico illustrates scenes from the past affecting the present, gradually building a picture of torment. Fernández is excellent in building Gotham’s undercity (sample art), but it’s left to Mendonça to complete the story. His art is more direct, but equally good.
These are for some while the most successful elements of The Gotham Cycle as Johnson’s versions of Batman and Robin aren’t greatly recognisable. Both have been leaning heavily on the assistance of a new character, a French police detective who acts here as a sort of go-between transmitting feelings from the missing Robin to a strangely uncertain Batman, although that could be down to hallucinogenic gas. Johnson is revisiting the old argument of Batman deliberately endangering the children who help in his fight against crime. The problem is that any pulling of that admittedly illogical thread opens the door to questioning so much else about Batman’s world, and it sits ill alongside a plot of Batman not entirely being able to trust himself.
However, the more discoveries about Memento come to light, the more interesting The Gotham Cycle becomes. Johnson has planted a clue about what Memento is in plain sight for those familiar with the DC universe, and his seemingly random motivations make sense in light of that. It’s followed by a good reveal, well concealed, and everyone having to reconsider their certainties. Even with what’s revealed here the previous set-up still relies too greatly on the unconvincing, but this eventually works well.
