Overview: Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City is a prequel tie-in comic book for the hit videogame Gotham Knights.
Synopsis: The story opens with Batman (Bruce Wayne), Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), and Robin (Tim Drake) investigating groups of people who seemed to have been affected by Scarecrow toxin, which causes them to experience “FOMO” as Robin calls it. FOMO stands for Fear Of Missing Out.
Intercut with these moments are scenes from the past. Specifically, Gotham City in 1847. A young, Black couple is making their way into Gotham when they are troubled by men who don’t think they have proper papers to claim they are free. A vigilante called The Runaway appears and helps the couple get to Gotham safely.
Batman follows a lead to Bludhaven when Nightwing (Dick Grayson) shows up and tells Batman to get out because Nightwing doesn’t work for him anymore.
Nightwing and Batman battle it out and come to an understanding that there are different ways to bring justice to their cities. Nightwing, Batman, and Robin take out some Scarecrow goons while in Gotham, while Batgirl works with Leslie and Jade Thompkins to figure out how to combat the poison.
In 1847, The Runaway helps a man who is worried about his brother. The man suspects that the water that he has been drinking is laced with something and is doing more harm than good. The man’s brother died, and when they went to go visit his grave, the Runaway and the man are attacked by zombies. They get some help from someone who looks like he is from the Court of Owls and defeat the zombies, but then the Owl kills the innocent man and kidnaps the Runaway.
NIghtwing and Robin stop a FOMO outbreak at the old Gotham Carnival and are able to stop the rollercoaster from going off of the tracks. They spot a young boy recording the FOMO-ers on his phone and learn that he is the son of the Crime Doctor. Batgirl finds the Crime Doctor and sees that he has been studying a similar outbreak that happened back in 1847.
In 1847, the Runaway is held prisoner by the Court of Owls, and they ask for him to join them. Runaway refuses, but then Vandal Savage storms the Court to find what the Owls have taken from him.
Vandal reveals that the Court has stolen his meteor shard, which grants him immortality. Savage agrees to let the Runaway find it for him or else he will burn Gotham to the ground for it. The Runaway decides to look to see if the richest families in Gotham have it. Those families are the Kanes, the Elliots, the Cobblepots, and the Waynes.
In the present, a book shows up at Wayne Manor that tells a tale of the virus plaguing Gotham now and in the past, and Robin decides to go investigate a secret lab at an old mine shaft.
Robin is able to find out the name of the virus- The Golden Iris Virus. He takes some samples, so they can find a cure. Meanwhile, Red Hood (Jason Todd) is in Santa Prisca but is drugged by Vandal Savage. Batman flies to Santa Prisca to help, and Red Hood and Batman battle it out until Batman is able to free Jason from the mind control.
The Runaway is revealed to be a woman named Portia who becomes the Runaway after the Court killed her girlfriend. Savage and Runaway head to try to stop the Court once and for all.
Runaway and Savage make a move on Cameron Kane’s facility to find Savage’s shard but discover that Portia’s girlfriend, Vivian, is still alive. The Court was conducting experiments on her. The court stops Savage and his men from burning the place down and killing the innocent people.
In the present, Nightwing, Batgirl, and Robin go to a museum to find any meteor rocks that could help make a cure for the virus. Vandal Savage and his men show up, and Savage promises immortality to the FOMO-infected people. A fight breaks out. Batman and Red Hood join the fight, and just before Savage goes to kill Batman, the Runaway shows up and stops him.
Savage is shocked to see this, and the Runaway is revealed to be Vivian. She has gained immortality from the experiments the Court performed on her and took over Portia’s work. Together, they all stop Savage, and Vivian gives Batman and friends a cure for the virus.
Analysis: Movie and video game tie-in comics never really work for me, and Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City continued that trend. It was pretty basic throughout much of it, like Nightwing and Red Hood having problems with Batman giving them orders and Batman overworking himself and not asking for help. This is Batman 101 story threads that we’ve seen beaten in comics, animated adaptations, and elsewhere. To that end, it’s not very inspiring to see this kind of characterization, especially when there isn’t much follow-through to evolve those characters.
Writer Evan Narcisse and artist Abel do a fine job crafting the beats and action set pieces. I have never heard of them before, but if this leads to more from them, I’m happy for it. Abel is almost a Greg Capullo-lite, which is funny because Capullo did the main covers.
Editor’s Note: DC Comics provided TBU with copies of the original issues of this series as they were released but not of this new edition. You can find this collected edition and help support TBU in the process by purchasing this edition digitally either for Comixology through Amazon or as a physical copy in a hardcover form at Amazon or from Things from Another World.
