![\"Batman:](\"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/batbroke.jpg\")
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By Brian Azzarello<\/strong> & Eduardo Risso<\/strong> (DC Comics) It’s something of a maxim in industry circles that if you do the slightly outr\u00c3\u00a9 titles (for which please read non-superhero) well enough you’ll be given your shot at the major properties. That usually means that if your writing\/drawing can generate enough attention, or shock-horror!, big sales on whatever the fan-base considers a no-hope proposition like a vampire, humour or even – gasp! – crime comic, editors will come begging for you to work your magic on Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Superman or the Bat. It happens all the time.<\/p>\n Broken City<\/strong> (reprinting issues #620-625 of Batman<\/strong>) is a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153quest story\u00e2\u20ac\u009d with a dark and gritty hero skirting the edges of his own unconventional morality in a hunt to catch the killer of a young woman. Angel Lupo butchered his sister. Everybody says so. The sister wasn’t no angel. There’s new muscle in town handing out beatings. And when the hero’s nearly got the do-er an innocent couple become collateral victims, just like the hero’s parents all those years ago. Another little boy gets to grow up alone, and the hero goes a little crazy, while he’s hunting.<\/p>\n All dark, moody stuff, and beautifully rendered by Eduardo Risso. Gotham has never looked better \u00e2\u20ac\u201c or is that worse? There’s a genuine mystery to solve (or is that two?) with a masterful eleventh-hour plotting stroke worthy of Rex Stout or Ellery Queen. The styling is classic Noir. Creeps, Bad-Eggs and dissimulating hookers abound, the hero gets lied to and kicked around a whole lot, and there’s even that tantalising double-edged vibe with a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pal on The Force\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that makes for a truly great Philip Marlowe yarn. The only really jarring aspect is that fruity weirdo in the tights and long-eared hat.<\/p>\n And that’s the real problem here and in a lot of these Hot Name\/Big Brand press-gangings. This wonderful crime story is wasted on Batman, just as this wonderful character is forced into the inappropriate and ill-fitting Gumshoes better suited to a Jonny Double or Jason Bard. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my Batman just as hard-boiled as the next guy, but Broken City isn’t Gotham City and here he’s completely out of place.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a9 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00c2\u00a0 By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (DC Comics) ISBN 1-84023-922-0 It’s something of a maxim in industry circles that if you do the slightly outr\u00c3\u00a9 titles (for which please read non-superhero) well enough you’ll be given your shot at the major properties. That usually means that if your writing\/drawing can generate enough attention, or … <\/p>\n
\nISBN 1-84023-922-0<\/p>\n