Written by Scott Snyder, Nick Derington, Elsa Charretier,
Pierrick Colinet, John Arcudi, Brandon Thomas
Art by John Romita Jr., Nick Derington,
Elsa Charretier, James Harren, Khary Randolph
Published by DC Comics
Who is Batman in society?
Batman fights a war on crime in Gotham City.
Who else, again and again, has thwarted such
But is he a crusader for social justice? Is he truly a hero, or is he a reflection of the very villains he claims to save Gotham from? He takes on a horrific array of killers, thieves, villains, psychopaths, freaks and monsters, yes. But does he take down the same monsters in Gotham’s boardrooms, courtrooms and police squad cars?
I think this thread runs through Batman Black and White #6. This collection of stories deals more with how Batman interacts with society, and how he is perceived.
“The Second Signal” by Brandon Thomas and Khary Randolph, sets the tone.
A pair of brothers build their own Bat-signal in an attempt to bring Batman to their neighborhood. But, see, these are Black boys in the Hill section of Gotham, a world away from downtown where the real signal sits at police headquarters. Police don’t come to the Hill, at least not to protect and serve.
People are disappearing in the Hill, not that anyone outside the community has noticed. Including the Caped Crusader. As the boys explain the mystery to Batman, Thomas naturally crafts their dialog to reflect how society shows indifference to the community’s plight while also blaming them for it.
But why would the boys call Batman? It’s what you do when you find a circuit board with a 10/6 written on it.
Perception is reality in Batman’s case. He operates by instilling fear in criminals, but making yourself into a scary dude while hiding your face can draw all kinds of reactions from people. A hero to some is a monster to others.
“The Abyss,” by Pierrick Colinet and Elsa Charretier, brings together several witnesses from a tussle between Batman and Man-Bat to discuss their interactions with Batman through a therapist. They look at the Rorschach ink blots and draw different conclusions.
During the fight, Man-Bat crashes into a balcony, which collapses, and Batman saves falling bystanders. Some blame Batman for the collapse, while others see it as collateral damage that occurs when trying to heel a homicidal monster. Some see a prodigious savior, and others see a sweaty action junkie.
A young boy is reading a cute Batman comic book when Man-Bat and the real Batman crash through his window. When Langstrom returns to human form, the boy sees a bloodied man and the Dark Knight. The man is now the monster.
Listening to all these people is Hugo Strange, whom these good people must see as a learned expert, and not the monstrous villain lurking beneath the surface. For now.
Batman rarely is out of his depths with monsters. Just ask Clayface in “Like Monsters of the Deep” by John Arcudi and James Harren. Clayface has entered an uneasy truce with Batman for a sting operation regarding abducted women.
But Clayface is emotionally compromised by the aging showbiz mogul behind the abuses. The same mogul who brought him fame and fortune at the expense of turning a blind eye. In this story, we see monstrosity of many kinds, from indifference to abuse of power to the pursuit of bloody vengeance.
Those underpinnings of Batman, as man or monster, come together in the closing story, “A Thousand Words” by Scott Snyder with art from John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson.
The story follows a photojournalist who made his living taking pictures of Batman. It’s Jimmy Olsen without the whiz-bang of life in the gleaming city of tomorrow.
What starts out as a man telling us the story of his life through pictures of the Dark Knight becomes a meditation on perception, on framing narratives. For one paper, Batman is heroized. “Made my pics angelic,” he said. Another paper sold Batman as a terrorist and monster.
The unnamed photojournalist is a Black man, nicknamed Shutterbat, and Snyder hits on themes of racism as the photojournalist describes how the press handled his Batman photos over the years.
Shutterbat discusses media vilification, economic pressures and conflicting narratives, all centered around images. When he notes that one paper would darken his photos to sell “Batman the villain,” it alludes to the Matt Mahurin photo illustration of a darkened O.J. Simpson mug shot on the cover of Time.
“I told myself, ‘I took the real picture. Whatever it becomes … out of my hands.’ But it’s amazing how one image can take on so many different meanings, often at odds with each other.”
Through Shutterbat eyes, Snyder delivers a psychologically complex meditation on what Batman means as a social agent, and how his status as a social agent is so heavily influenced by mass media.
Romita and Janson deliver strong art that is up close with Batman. But the panels are the photos, shot at a remove. Such is Shutterbat’s life, until the moment he has his own interaction with the Dark Knight.
Once again, this book brings something new with Batman.
