In this review of Batman: Dark Patterns #10, as Batman nurses his wounds, Gotham is ablaze. Can James Gordon do anything to stop the flames?
Batman: Dark Patterns #10 main cover by Hayden Sherman (DC Comics)
BATMAN: DARK PATTERNS #10
Written by DAN WATTERS
Art and Main Cover by HAYDEN SHERMAN
Variant Cover: STEVAN SUBIC
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 9/10/25
This review contains spoilers
Our next arc is titled “Child of Fire”.
Batman: Dark Patterns #10 begins as a couple is walking down the street on a cool Gotham night and come across a fire in a building. While looking into the building, they see a doll figure standing there and the doll grabs them and brings them into the fire.
Bruce is unable to stop this because he is laid up in the Batcave nursing his injuries from the previous issue. Alfred is tending to him while Bruce is unconscious but is mad at himself for letting Bruce push himself so hard.
Gordon goes to see Garfield Lynns AKA Firefly in jail to see if he has any information on the arsons that have been happening. Lynns says that he has to ask him for help because Batman is gone.
Gordon goes to see Dr. Sereika who is studying one of the burned bodies. As he opens the door he sees a dummy in a bat costume and the room on fire. He tries to get the fire extinguisher but it wont work. Meanwhile, someone locks the door on him. Gordon sees the man in the doll mask looking back at him while the lab burns.
As it looks like all hope is lost, Batman crashes through for the save. Batman was only there because he put it together that Sereika might be the mystery arsonist. Gordon asks him where he has been and Batman responds with “My city has been burning up but the fever is about to break”. Holy quips, Batman!
Batman: Dark Patterns #10 ends with not Dr. Sereika as the arsonist but….. Newspaper reporter Nicky Harris who plans on burning Gotham to the ground.
Analysis
Batman: Dark Patterns #10 is a new arc so there is a lot of set up but a great bait and switch by Watters at the end.
I thought that Bruce would have been out of commission more. Might have been interesting to see Gordon and the GCPD handle the dark patterns of Gotham without the help of the Dark Knight for a while. Bruce did dream that Sereika was the arsonist (or so he thought) while in his mini coma and woke up when he pieced it together. A trope that I don’t really care for but it is what it is.
The art remains strong. I do love the way that Sherman deals with Batman and the shadows. The way the big, yellow oval pops off the page is awesome. Credit to the colorist as well.
I have only been reading this series for a few issues but it seems like some characters and plot threads are coming together. Harris has been a help to Batman so to see him turn like this is unexpected. Serieka seemed a little off so it made sense that he was evil but perhaps he is an eccentric doctor who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wonder how Batman will react to being betrayed by an ally of his. I could see him cutting off Gordon and being jaded by the whole thing.
Strong start to this new arc.
