Batman: Bad Seeds – Streets of Gotham #1 Review
Batman: Bad Seeds – Streets of Gotham is one of those event one-shots that should just be standard across the board. It’s not the first of its kind, my introduction to a book like this was the Civil War: Front Line miniseries, which focused on journalist Ben Urich on the ground while all the superheroic stuff goes on in the other titles. Similarly here, Matt Fraction (writer on the main Batman title) and Mariko Tamaki (former writer on Detective Comics) have teamed up with a range of artists for a series of vignettes that look at the civilians of Gotham City during Mayor Ivy and Commissioner Savage’s war for the future of the city during Bad Seeds.
Having both Fraction and Tamaki on Streets of Gotham is great, given that both their runs had such a focus on Gotham throughout all of it. Similarly, Fraction’s stories maintain the macro visual language present in Batman with the location cards and the Bat-Symbol at the end of every story which is a very cool touch. Tamaki’s letterer throughout all of this is Ariana Maher, who lettered the back half of her Detective Comics run, while Fraction teams up with Clayton Cowles, who is also currently doing letters on Batman.
Mariko Tamaki does “The Party” with Bruno Abdias and Pedro Estouco, ‘The Stand” with Gretel Lusky, and “The Pitch” with Steve Lieber and Lee Loughridge. Meanwhile, Matt Fraction does “The Long Walk Home” with Rossi Gifford and Miquel Muerto, “Primaries” with Jorge Fornes and Dave Stewart, and “Balladeers” with Brian Ching and Adriano Lucas.
Each of them focus on a specific tone which really sets them apart neatly. On the Tamaki side, “The Party” focuses on two thieves trying to take advantage of the blackout while a building tries to form community. “The Stand” very much reads like a kids tale about them trying to do their best during a situation like this. “The Pitch” is about a newsroom trying to find a new name for their publication. Fraction’s half of Streets of Gotham has “The Long Walk Home”, where a woman takes a young boy back home across the city, “Primaries”, where The Signal (Duke Thomas) faces off against Savage’s Tactical Urban Combat Officers squad, and “Balladeers”, which focuses on people trying to evacuate the city.
Out of all these, the character that shows up on most of these is Duke Thomas, The Signal, but “Primaries”, in which he is the main character, is my favorite story of the whole thing. It seems to be inspired by the collapsed building sequence from Batman: Year One – a trapped building, the hero and the cops (and some civilians, in this instance). Fornes and Stewart are so incredible together, with very structured layouts and great use of lights and shadow. I really hope this team works together on an arc of Batman at some point.
Streets of Gotham is a great addition to Bad Seeds, with every story highlighting a corner of Gotham which fits with the structure of the main Batman title, and on the better side of the tie-ins for this event (maybe my third favorite).
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