Review: ‘Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War — Scorched Earth’ Falls Flat

Gotham City is one of the most violent and tumultuous places in comics. Thankfully it also has a fantastic family of protectors. Unfortunately, The Gotham War may have torn a rift within the Bat-family in a way that there may not be a way forward from, especially as it concludes in this giant-size one-shot.

Tini Howard, Chip Zdarsky, Mike Hawthorne, Nikola Cizmesija, Mark Morales, Wade Von Grawbadger, Arif Prianto, and Clayton Cowles close out the crossover with a bang.

Vandal Savage has turned Catwoman’s army of thieves into marauders seeking fragments of the meteorite that turned him immortal. He’s unleashed a phalanx of Batman’s greatest enemies armed with the Dark Knight’s technology on Gotham to cause chaos. Now Batman, Catwoman and the entirety of the Bat-family have to put aside their philosophical differences to save their city.

I struggled for a while with this one. Simply put, Batman (the character) has been on a downward spiral for months. Through the course of this crossover, he’s attacked his family, abandoned one son, brainwashed another, and acted increasingly unhinged. It’s the sort of downfall that could be an interesting development, especially for a character like Batman. He’s driven his family away before, but never like this.

Instead of actually facing what he did, taking accountability for some very human mistakes, Batman just jumps back into action alongside Catwoman because now there’s a bad guy to punch. The philosophical debate isn’t resolved, the abuse isn’t absolved. It’s just over because Vandal Savage is there and everyone can agree they need to punch his lights out. That’s even ignoring the fact that there’s two fake-out deaths, unclear villain motivations (at least for the non-Savages), and multiple leaps of logic just to make the resolution work.

It’s not an all bad issue though. Tim Drake’s storyline is absolutely great. He has fallen out of the spotlight more than once recently. This issue shows why he’s a fan favorite character, and frankly, the best Robin — he’s smart, prepared, cool headed, and all-around the most competent hero in the room.

The art is solid throughout as well. Hawthorne’s pencils are solid, and Morales and Von Grawbadger’s inks and Prianto’s colors complement and enhances his storytelling. He’s a good storyteller, with some moments that are genuinely great- especially his pacing in the layouts and the flow to the action when Tim takes charge. The family following his direction was dynamic and exciting, and the villains got some great moments too (I especially liked the Venom-enhanced Professor Pyg). There was one point that I had trouble distinguishing Jason Todd from Dick Grayson, which was frustrating, but overall the art was strong.

I liked Cowles’ letters too. He made the villains’ dialogue look different in a way that distinguished their voices. He kept the narration and speech clear. It’s good work from one of the best letterers working today.

Batman/Catwoman: The Gotham War- Scorched Earth is available now from DC Comics.