Batman: Bad Seeds - Gotham Central #2 Comic Review

In this review of Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2, prepare yourselves for an epic showdown inside the claustrophobic confines of a stranded subway train where an escaped killer might be the least of officer Jim Gordon’s worries. Luckily, help is on the way.

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 main cover by Jacob Phillips (DC Comics)

BATMAN: BAD SEEDS – GOTHAM CENTRAL #2
Written by CHRISTOPHER CANTWELL
Art and Main Cover: JACOB PHILLIPS
Variant Covers: MARTIN SIMMONDS, MIKE PERKINS, TAURIN CLARKE
Page Counut: 32 Pages
Release Date: 10/14/26

This review contains spoilers

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 begins as GCPD officer Jim Gordon attempts to apprehend Anarky inside a jam-packed subway train that is stalled underground. Gordon tells his partner Espinoza to radio the transit police for an update while they look for escaped killer, Victor Szasz. Anarky attacks Gordon and escapes with his stolen sack of cash. Meanwhile, the train conductor is killed by part of Poison Ivy’s mutant plants accidentally sending the train lurching forward on an out-of-control run.

Szasz reveals himself and kills a civilian without hesitation while threatening another. Elsewhere, Anarky loses hold of the cash and is knocked back inside the train car by Stephanie Brown (Spoiler…or a Batgirl). Steph disarms Szasz but he still manages to cut Espinoza. Harvey Bullock opens fire on Szasz but the shot hits officer Baker in the shoulder. Steph knocks out Szasz as the train finally stops thanks to Gordon’s transit cop friend, Garber.

Commissioner Vandal Savage orders the Tuco team to blow the subway tunnel and surprisingly Arnold Flass protests. Back on the train, Gordon is surprised and relieved to find Garber has arrived and is ready to help evacuate the passengers to the surface. Szasz makes a break for it and is trapped by a giant carnivorous plant in the tunnel. Steph and Bullock pull him free, and Doctor Zeller confronts Szasz about his fear of her new treatment.

Steph goes back for Anarky and frees him from another giant plant, and it appears that they have established a rapport before all hell breaks loose after the tunnel explodes.

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 ends as Anarky recovers from the blast and finds Steph unconscious amid the rubble. After a few attempts to revive her, Anarky decides to bail, leaving Steph injured and alone.

Analysis

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 maintains the high quality of the first issue while ramping up the tension, the stakes and plot twists as the micro-series ends on an unpleasant cliffhanger. Writer Christopher Cantwell amps up the paranoia amid the Bad Seeds event as Jim Gordon and various allies confront the dangers from giant carnivorous plants and serial killer Victor Szasz. Gordon’s a good cop, but the crowded underground chaos results in injuries and a couple of deaths before Stephanie Brown leaps onto the speeding train to help even the odds.

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 is truly a team effort with Gordon and his transit cop Garber pitching in to help save the civilians on the train, while Steph takes charge by disarming Szasz and freeing Anarky from a hungry plant, and endangering herself in the process. Cantwell’s taut script and plotting mixes gritty street level crime fiction with absurdist comedy of errors from Bullock, as well as some on point social commentary from Anarky.

It even appears that Lonnie (Anarky) and Steph have begun to bond before he ditches her after Vandal Savage orders his Tucos to blow up train tunnel. Meanwhile Szasz is more unstable than ever, killing a passenger for trying to calm him down and threatening another. His obsession with Doctor Zeller’s “Crown” drove him to escape Arkham Towers and almost into the maw of a hungry carnivorous plant.

Steph and Anarky take the spotlight in Bad Seeds: Gotham Central #2, but Jim Gordon still gets to show why he is Gotham City’s top cop. Bullock is less of a supporting character than a walking disaster. Shoehorning in GCPD officer Baker to the crowded proceedings limits officer Espinoza’s screentime where she was a highlight in issue #1. Likely most of these characters will get more focus in the upcoming Gangs of Gotham series.

Jacob Phillips proves that there is more to the artist than just clever slow boil crime noir by introducing dynamic action to the Steph’s various fight scenes in Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2. The confined quarters, facial expressions and use of shadow enhance the sense of claustrophobia and mood, working well with the horrific designs of the carnivorous plants.

Final Thoughts

Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham Central #2 wraps up the micro story arc by focusing on Stephanie Brown and Anarky, while setting up the rest of Bad Seeds and beyond. Cantwell’s script maintains the grounded, character-focused street level crime procedural energy, ably assisted by Jacob Phillips’ moody art and color.