Anarky Is No Match For Capitalism — Reviewing ‘Gangs Of Gotham’ #1

Gotham City isn’t pretty. Various neighborhoods and people fight to survive the dark and dank corruption on a daily basis. They are left to fend for themselves in spaces designed to be where people go to die or be forgotten.

At the mercy of the corruption at the top, the masked figured known as Anarky must unite the organized masses of the East End before time runs out. A new look at the streets of Gotham begins in Gangs Of Gotham #1 from Christopher Cantwell, Mike Henderson, Trish Mulvhill, and Becca Carey.

Lonnie Machin, the aforementioned Anarky, is one of those characters I know about but barely care for in the Batman pantheon. What sold me on this series was the creative team and the fact that it also stars Stephanie Brown. She is one of the three major Batgirls of DC Comics, now undercover as the figure known as Clu.

I found myself beyond intrigued before turning the issue’s final page.

Largely that comes from Cantwell, a terrific writer who’s work I can’t help but want to delve into. He presents a collection of characters of every stripe — mired in the muck of the dark world — trying to find their place. Each stroke of characterization is rich with depth, precision, and passion, from the struggling, too-smart-for-his-own-good Lonnie to begrudgingly-on-a-mission Stephanie to the outcast-beat-cop James Gordon.

It all works, and feeds into the greater picture that the Bat-line of comics has been building for most of the past year.

Rougher textures are key to eliciting the correct tone here, and Henderson nails that easily. He illustrates figures with power and poise as they move through the two-dimensional world. Paneling choices amount to a thicker sense of chaos and life coming at you quickly. It allows the streets of Gotham’s East End to feel wide, but also tight and constraining at the same time.

This is not a space were good things are going to happen. It’s felt not just in the pencils, but the color palette which has been chosen and applied. Mulvhill taps into colors that feel uniquely colorful and naturally washed out. Again, it feels tangibly familiar to the world at large and tonally accurate to the theme of the series.

One of the last books with Stephanie regularly appearing was Batgirls from a few years ago. It, too, was very street level with the two Batgirls living and running through the rough-and-tumble space known as The Hill. There voices and sounds were given a whimsical-but-sharp edge thanks to the lettering work of Carey.

Therefore, it’s beyond fitting that Carey is here now continuing to help create sound where Stephanie Brown happens to be, leaning more into the rougher side of things this time around. She gives every bubble, font, SFX, and more their own wholly incomparable profile and focus.

Gangs Of Gotham #1 is now available from DC Comics.