I asked for Templesmith Spectre and Templesmith Spectre I got. I shouldn’t have asked for so much. Giant Spectre deciding whether or not to judge Gotham City. It seems like it should be okay, but it’s not. Maybe because the giant monster is just a blob of ghosts or something. Maybe because Batman figures into it and Templesmith can’t bring the cinematic scale to a Batwing attack and it just doesn’t work.

Or maybe because the drama of the issue is whether or not the boss of the unit is going to shoot Corrigan in the head to stop the Spectre. Worse, Fawkes feels the need to go with a shock soft cliffhanger. There isn’t much personality to the issue either.

It’s a disaster issue by a couple guys who don’t seem to know how to scale one out.

The art’s nice, the writing’s okay enough; it just doesn’t connect.

CREDITS

Judgment on Gotham; writer, Ray Fawkes; artist, Ben Templesmith; letterer, Saida Temofonte; editors, Dave Wielgosz and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

Well, Templesmith gets to draw the Spectre and it mostly works out. He gets to draw big giant Spectre even, which I wasn’t expecting. And big giant Spectre is like a big giant monster, fighting another big giant monster. Gotham by Midnight is definitely distinct. Even if Templesmith’s Batwing looks like a Batarang. And his panel arrangement doesn’t change to accommodate a giant-size character.

As for Fawkes, he jumps around the cast but doesn’t give them anything important to do. Story arc is almost over, it’s time to hurry. There are a couple hints of character development, but nothing substantial.

There’s also some of the explanation for the arc’s supernatural events. It seems way too large scale for what Fawkes has been doing in the comic. I’m curious to see how he finishes it, but will keep coming back for the Templesmith art regardless. It’s always interesting to see.

CREDITS

We Fight What We Become; writer, Ray Fawkes; artist, Ben Templesmith; letterer, Saida Temofonte; editors, Dave Wielgosz and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

On second thought, maybe seeing Templesmith fully realize the Spectre isn’t a good idea for Gotham by Midnight. He has to handle big supernatural action this issue and it doesn’t come off. It’s too constrained and his style is no good for discerning the action without narration.

Templesmith’s regular action–in this issue, it’s a flashback to a hostage crisis of sorts–works out fine. The personality carries it, makes it worth figuring it all out. But the big stuff? Not so much.

As for the story, it’s Fawkes still building the B plot. The A plot has Corrigan and Drake (the names are good enough to be memorable, which is no small compliment–though, of course, Corrigan doesn’t count) heading to a hospital for a possession or something. And Drake’s flashback.

It all ties together in time for a haunting soft cliffhanger.

It’s consistently entertaining, with mostly good art.

CREDITS

We Become What We Fight; writer, Ray Fawkes; artist, Ben Templesmith; letterer, Saida Temofonte; editors, Dave Wielgosz and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

For a good fifth of this issue, which Templesmith paces out well, it seems like the Spectre might show up. He does, but Templesmith doesn’t show him. But for a while, it seems like Templesmith is going to show the Spectre. It’s really cool.

And Fawkes and Templesmith know what they’re doing with it. Fawkes constructs a whole flashback not just around the origin story of the nun, but also of the villains–and the Spectre gets to show up. Sort of.

The rest of the issue just isn’t long enough. Fawkes has the nun and another cop with a couple possessed kids at home, then Corrigan and the bean counter (who, surprisingly, isn’t regular cast yet) fighting the big bad of the issue. The action gets the emphasis, but one wants to see Templesmith do it all.

Fawkes has his bumpy moments, but Gotham by Midnight’s really compelling.

CREDITS

We Will Not Rest; writer, Ray Fawkes; artist, Ben Templesmith; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Dave Wielgosz and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.

Thanks to Ben Templesmith’s art, Gotham by Midnight works a lot better than it should. A lot of Ray Fawkes’s dialogue is generic cop show stuff, but Templesmith has a way of visually rushing some of the conversations through how he positions the characters. In other words, he makes the problem spots shorter than they’d otherwise be… and it helps immensely.

Some of this first issue plays like Templesmith’s famous, mysterious (and unfinished) cop comic Fell. It does not seem unintentional. The story beats for the first few pages read like a remake.

Fawkes introduces a bunch of characters and a lot of story. The final investigation sequence is a little rushed–in the script, not the art–because Fawkes has an idea for an effective cliffhanger. It’s a little forced, but once the comic switches into full procedural mode, a lot of the seams start showing anyway.

Not bad.

CREDITS

We Do Not Sleep; writer, Ray Fawkes; artist, Ben Templesmith; letterer, Dezi Sienty; editors, Dave Wielgosz and Rachel Gluckstern; publisher, DC Comics.