The closing chapter to the digital comic series based on the hit game Batman: Arkham City. In this volume, the Mayor of Gotham has rounded up the worst Gotham has to offer but that's still not enough. Thus, he's finding every way possible to incarcerate anyone who doesn't agree with his agenda. The hired police of the Arkham City project are rounding up the city's poor, political protestors, even city councilmen. Thinking they've a right to life, liberty, and freedom of speech, these new 'felons' find that they've now become Arkham City's newest batch of prisoners. Angered by this abuse of power in the corrupt corridors of City Hall, a new villain named the Bookbinder arises, quoting John Bunyan and punishing the morally bankrupt of Gotham. Now Batman must hunt down a serial do-gooder while getting to the hidden truth behind the Arkham project.
I've really enjoyed this series and the final volume doesn't nothing to dissuade me of any previous praise I've given it. The art was fantastic, but the real star of this book is the fantastic prose of novelist Karen Travvis. She does a masterful job crafting a tale that not only challenges the wisdom of the Bat, but the reader as well, with Bookbinder's riddles. This is even a tale in which the non-superhero aspects are just as good if not better than the scenes starring the Dark Knight and Catwoman.
I only wish that this series ended with a finalized completion. I guess since this digital comic is based on a video game, it's now up to the reader to become the player and to finish all the loose ends themselves through the virtual avatar of Batman. Regardless of how that plays out, I hope that this isn't the end of the Bookbinder and that he'll show up in the pages of the New 52! He's perhaps the freshest villain to challenge the Caped Crusader in years and DC would be insane if they didn't keep him around to plague Gotham City for years to come.
Lastly, I want to explore the overall theme of the abuse of power. It's really scary how much this book is reflecting the current societal issue of race and class discrimination and the militarization of our police forces. In this story, peaceful protestors are being rounded up for practicing their constitutional right to protest. The police are ordered by the Mayor to ramp up charges to get the protestors off the street because he considers them to be the dregs of society.
My wife and I recently watched a documentary about privatized prisons and how they look at prisoners as a commodity. That's how Mayor and the prison guards view the inhabitants of Arkham City.
It's funny that the average video gamer is playing a game thinking it's just that: something to escape from the troubles of the day. Yet secretly there's a hidden message with a moral in between leveling up! Remember that the next time someone says video games have no moral compass or benefit to society.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
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