You guys you guys you guys! This has been MY FAVOURITE Batman arc yet!
Several things make it very unique:
SPOILERS AHEAD!
1. Dick Grayson is Batman (not your usual Bruce Wayne)
2. There are several narrators: Dick, Commissioner Gordon, even Harvey Bullock (for a couple of pages)
3. The story covers a few different crimes: a black-market Dealer, mob hits, a serial child killer, a very cold case, and even the Joker makes an appearance!
Of course.
For me, the highlight of the book was learning about Commissioner Gordon’s son, James Gordon Jr. He’s alluded to in some other comics I’ve read, but he’s never been so fully realized as in The Black Mirror.
I think what I enjoyed so much about The Black Mirror was that the JGJr storyline held my rapt attention while there were multiple smaller stories happening within the book.
And these other stories? DARK. SUPER DARK. Disturbing stories of crime, corruption, child murder, dismemberment, and YET! The colour palette for the book is bright at hell! The drawings are almost…cute? And most pages are splashed with orange, pink, red, or purple. For how gritty and gripping the story is, it’s a very…um…pretty book!
And when I say “gripping” I mean it. I think I read this whole book in two sittings, only because I had to walk home before I could finish it. As a huge fan of crime procedurals and serial killers, The Black Mirror captivated my interest on so many levels, it really found the key to my heart.
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