Review #32: "Gotham Emergency" (Legends of the Dark Knight #200)
Writers: Eddie Campbell & Daren White
Artist: Bart Sears
What a strange, odd little story this is.
What it attempts to do is show us the mad, crazy world of the superheroes through the eyes of an ordinary Gothamite.
This can be a wonderful device when done well. It serves to throw into relief just how surreal this world in which we all frequently immerse ourselves in truly is.
I wouldn't say this story has been done well. I'm not so sure I'd say it was done badly, either.
Certainly, the way the story is told, through recounts and flashbacks, is effective and interesting as a structure.
The main problem is the tropes are just a tad exhausted.
Essentially, we are following a young doctor on her first shift at Gotham General. It begins dramatically as Batman bursts through the doors, holding the Joker in his arms (tee hee), demanding he be given medical assistance.
And then she takes us back to the beginning.
The story is built up, first through a recount of her day as the hospital's computer systems are seized by a mysterious countdown virus. Then the patients start pouring in as elsewhere in the city, landmarks are being bombed. The tale is pieced together as a cop shares his experience, then a grinning victim is wheeled in and the whole sorry mess is revealed when one of the Joker's own henches is brought in for attention after a terrible tussle with the Batman.
Apparently, the Joker feels a little bit neglected by the citizens of Gotham and wanted to remind them who the real King Pin is. Except, things just don't go quite the way he planned...
The goon recounts the epic battle in colourful vernacular as Batman foils the Joker's scheme.
No sooner has he finished his story than Batman bursts in and we've caught up to where we began.
The Joker has inhaled his own toxin, it's killing him and there is another bomb somewhere in the city - and only the Joker knows where.
DILEMMUH!
Batman insists all medical staff drop everything they're doing and revive the Joker. Oh noes!
But the Joker is a monster - and he's responsible for all the injured people flooding through their doors - and they need attention do! But - but - more people will be killed if the Joker dies! WHAT DO THEY DO?
Well, for starters, everyone turns the page, pauses and then violently inhales as they come face to face with this image:
After they've finished staring at that centerfold for a while (seriously, a splash page of uber-buff Joker lying half-naked on a bench?), they move on in their efforts to bring him back to life.
Of course the anti-toxin Batman had whipped up and which the hospital kept in stock (sensible in Gotham!) doesn't... dun dun duuuun... work on Mistah J. His physiology is all screwed up.
We'll ignore the fact that physiology is also meant to make him immune to his own toxin... (actually, is it? They seem to chop and change on that)
But never fear! Working together with Batman, the young doctor and her team bring the Joker back to life - and kicking! He immediately takes himself hostage, gets very twitchy when he finds out he's at Gotham General, and then takes off throughout the hospital.
Have you already guessed the ending? If you didn't guess it on the first page, then wow, I wish I could see the world through your eyes, everything must be so shiny and new!
Frankly, things get a little confusing then. Somehow Batman has managed to set up some sort of weird sting throughout the hospital. So he knew the bomb was there all along? So why waste so much time reviving the Joker instead of just finding the bomb or evacuating the hospital?
Ok, ok, we all know the real reason why - at least you had a convenient excuse at hand, Batsy. ;)
Overall, this story is pretty bland. I don't know that I'd say it's bad so much as it's just kinda ordinary. One perk: the Joker spends the better part of it with his shirt dangling open. But while I like my Mistah J lean and defined, he really shouldn't look too buff. The artists way overdid it. Still... *coughs*
The contrivance of the ending is simply irritating and confusing, although the final exchange between Batman and Joker is kinda fun - with the Joker's body decoy being suitably grotesque, hehe. Isn't the question 'what kind of sick mind would do this' kinda redundant when it comes to the Joker, though? Especially when you work in a hospital that keeps a stock of the cure for his toxin ever onhand??
The writer's efforts to make the lead character well-develop largely fail and it is all too obvious she is simply a stock character trotted out to observe Batman and the Joker. This can work well, and it doesn't work badly here, it's just not a device used to the best of its ability. Seeing the battle through the eyes of the goon was fun and interesting, but again fairly shallow.
We're supposed to be getting a sense of the wonder and excitement of an ordinary person working alongside Batman to save the city - how these two lives intersect for a brief period of time, how they all play their part to contribute to their city - but it's clumsily and unconvincingly handled.
The story is laden with exposition and cardboard characters - almost like there's too much story for this single issue. You don't particularly care about any of the characters and maybe you're not supposed to - maybe it should all just be about Bats and Mistah J. But I got the feeling it was striving to be something more. That it wanted to show us a different perspective of the heroes and villains of Gotham through a regular individual's eyes - and it did - just without any of the wonder and awe and engagement you would expect - that you want to experience. In these stories you should be able to feel as though you could step into that ordinary person's shoes, experience the true exhilaration and fear and intimidation of being face to face with these people - you should be able to relate to their experience. I don't feel that it happens in this story. It's all far too cookie-cutter, too exactly-what-you-would-expect in every way.
The Joker himself - well, his dialogue is pretty middle-of-the-line. He has some fun, on-point moments but others are plain out and out awkward and don't ring true. Writing the Joker is hard. It's very hard. There's a very fine line to walk with his dialogue between sparkling and funny and just plain corny and lame. This writer doesn't quite hit the mark but doesn't altogether miss it either.
As for the Joker's actions... really? Bombing a hospital?
It's a bit... old hat, isn't it?
Just in case we don't think so, Batman makes sure we know how hackneyed this plot device is: “evil, even by your standards”. Oh, yawn. C'mon, he's the Joker! Yeah, bombing a hospital is evil, but DOES IT HAVE STYLE? It must have style. This does not have style. It's just a run-of-the-mill dastardly plot dressed up in the most shaky of motivations for our Clown Prince.
I do hold the artist partially responsible for how this story fails to emotionally engage in its basic set-up of ordinary-person-extraordinary-encounter. He could outdraw me any day of the week, but on the whole it's a very ordinary, if glossy, 'comic book' style without enough character expression, definitiveness or dynamism. That said - his Joker's got a fair bit of flair, excepting the super-buffness. I do like the colouring though I'm torn on whether the inking is too heavy or if it suits the timbre of the tale itself just fine.
Overall, this one isn't on my 'essential reading' list, but as it has now been collected in TPB with the absolutely brilliant Going Sane, it's easy to get - and Going Sane is absolutely a must-have.
At this point I'm supposed to mention that Eddie Campbell worked on From Hell and that's supposed to make this story more important but eh, facts are facts.
(Also: I need new icons. Anyone got any suggestions?)
Artist: Bart Sears
What a strange, odd little story this is.
What it attempts to do is show us the mad, crazy world of the superheroes through the eyes of an ordinary Gothamite.
This can be a wonderful device when done well. It serves to throw into relief just how surreal this world in which we all frequently immerse ourselves in truly is.
I wouldn't say this story has been done well. I'm not so sure I'd say it was done badly, either.
Certainly, the way the story is told, through recounts and flashbacks, is effective and interesting as a structure.
The main problem is the tropes are just a tad exhausted.
Essentially, we are following a young doctor on her first shift at Gotham General. It begins dramatically as Batman bursts through the doors, holding the Joker in his arms (tee hee), demanding he be given medical assistance.
And then she takes us back to the beginning.
The story is built up, first through a recount of her day as the hospital's computer systems are seized by a mysterious countdown virus. Then the patients start pouring in as elsewhere in the city, landmarks are being bombed. The tale is pieced together as a cop shares his experience, then a grinning victim is wheeled in and the whole sorry mess is revealed when one of the Joker's own henches is brought in for attention after a terrible tussle with the Batman.
Apparently, the Joker feels a little bit neglected by the citizens of Gotham and wanted to remind them who the real King Pin is. Except, things just don't go quite the way he planned...
The goon recounts the epic battle in colourful vernacular as Batman foils the Joker's scheme.
No sooner has he finished his story than Batman bursts in and we've caught up to where we began.
The Joker has inhaled his own toxin, it's killing him and there is another bomb somewhere in the city - and only the Joker knows where.
DILEMMUH!
Batman insists all medical staff drop everything they're doing and revive the Joker. Oh noes!
But the Joker is a monster - and he's responsible for all the injured people flooding through their doors - and they need attention do! But - but - more people will be killed if the Joker dies! WHAT DO THEY DO?
Well, for starters, everyone turns the page, pauses and then violently inhales as they come face to face with this image:
After they've finished staring at that centerfold for a while (seriously, a splash page of uber-buff Joker lying half-naked on a bench?), they move on in their efforts to bring him back to life.
Of course the anti-toxin Batman had whipped up and which the hospital kept in stock (sensible in Gotham!) doesn't... dun dun duuuun... work on Mistah J. His physiology is all screwed up.
We'll ignore the fact that physiology is also meant to make him immune to his own toxin... (actually, is it? They seem to chop and change on that)
But never fear! Working together with Batman, the young doctor and her team bring the Joker back to life - and kicking! He immediately takes himself hostage, gets very twitchy when he finds out he's at Gotham General, and then takes off throughout the hospital.
Have you already guessed the ending? If you didn't guess it on the first page, then wow, I wish I could see the world through your eyes, everything must be so shiny and new!
Frankly, things get a little confusing then. Somehow Batman has managed to set up some sort of weird sting throughout the hospital. So he knew the bomb was there all along? So why waste so much time reviving the Joker instead of just finding the bomb or evacuating the hospital?
Ok, ok, we all know the real reason why - at least you had a convenient excuse at hand, Batsy. ;)
Overall, this story is pretty bland. I don't know that I'd say it's bad so much as it's just kinda ordinary. One perk: the Joker spends the better part of it with his shirt dangling open. But while I like my Mistah J lean and defined, he really shouldn't look too buff. The artists way overdid it. Still... *coughs*
The contrivance of the ending is simply irritating and confusing, although the final exchange between Batman and Joker is kinda fun - with the Joker's body decoy being suitably grotesque, hehe. Isn't the question 'what kind of sick mind would do this' kinda redundant when it comes to the Joker, though? Especially when you work in a hospital that keeps a stock of the cure for his toxin ever onhand??
The writer's efforts to make the lead character well-develop largely fail and it is all too obvious she is simply a stock character trotted out to observe Batman and the Joker. This can work well, and it doesn't work badly here, it's just not a device used to the best of its ability. Seeing the battle through the eyes of the goon was fun and interesting, but again fairly shallow.
We're supposed to be getting a sense of the wonder and excitement of an ordinary person working alongside Batman to save the city - how these two lives intersect for a brief period of time, how they all play their part to contribute to their city - but it's clumsily and unconvincingly handled.
The story is laden with exposition and cardboard characters - almost like there's too much story for this single issue. You don't particularly care about any of the characters and maybe you're not supposed to - maybe it should all just be about Bats and Mistah J. But I got the feeling it was striving to be something more. That it wanted to show us a different perspective of the heroes and villains of Gotham through a regular individual's eyes - and it did - just without any of the wonder and awe and engagement you would expect - that you want to experience. In these stories you should be able to feel as though you could step into that ordinary person's shoes, experience the true exhilaration and fear and intimidation of being face to face with these people - you should be able to relate to their experience. I don't feel that it happens in this story. It's all far too cookie-cutter, too exactly-what-you-would-expect in every way.
The Joker himself - well, his dialogue is pretty middle-of-the-line. He has some fun, on-point moments but others are plain out and out awkward and don't ring true. Writing the Joker is hard. It's very hard. There's a very fine line to walk with his dialogue between sparkling and funny and just plain corny and lame. This writer doesn't quite hit the mark but doesn't altogether miss it either.
As for the Joker's actions... really? Bombing a hospital?
It's a bit... old hat, isn't it?
Just in case we don't think so, Batman makes sure we know how hackneyed this plot device is: “evil, even by your standards”. Oh, yawn. C'mon, he's the Joker! Yeah, bombing a hospital is evil, but DOES IT HAVE STYLE? It must have style. This does not have style. It's just a run-of-the-mill dastardly plot dressed up in the most shaky of motivations for our Clown Prince.
I do hold the artist partially responsible for how this story fails to emotionally engage in its basic set-up of ordinary-person-extraordinary-encounter. He could outdraw me any day of the week, but on the whole it's a very ordinary, if glossy, 'comic book' style without enough character expression, definitiveness or dynamism. That said - his Joker's got a fair bit of flair, excepting the super-buffness. I do like the colouring though I'm torn on whether the inking is too heavy or if it suits the timbre of the tale itself just fine.
Overall, this one isn't on my 'essential reading' list, but as it has now been collected in TPB with the absolutely brilliant Going Sane, it's easy to get - and Going Sane is absolutely a must-have.
At this point I'm supposed to mention that Eddie Campbell worked on From Hell and that's supposed to make this story more important but eh, facts are facts.
(Also: I need new icons. Anyone got any suggestions?)