“You should have filled up the gas tank before we left!”
Batman: Knightwatch Batman Day Special Edition #1
DC Comics (November, 2021)
“Cloud Of Bats” and “Black Ice”
WRITER: J. Torres
ARTIST: Erich Owen
COLORIST/COVER ART: Carrie Strachan
COVER CO-ARTIST: Marcelo DiChiara
LETTERER: Saida Temofonte
EDITOR: Michael McCalister
In the first story we get caught up by the narration: There’s been a breakout in Arkham Asylum (again), and the first villain locates is Clayface. Batman manages to hurt him but he escapes through the sewers. Batgirl and Penny-One (not sure if it’s Alfred or an AI because neither show up beyond a voice) are able to track “Sewer Man” through discussion on social media. Batman decides to use this to their advantage and form “Knightwatch” a sort of social media neighborhood watch for the whole city.
The second tale deals with a series of diamond robberies. Catwoman swears to Batgirl that she’s not responsible, but thanks to Knightwatch and a transmission from a captured Nightwing, Batman learns that Mister Freeze is. Upgrading his thermal Batsuit, he and Batgirl rescue Nightwing and take down Freeze.
What they got right: This is a pure crimefighting action story. No exploration of psyches or discussion of traumas or morality, just Batman and company taking on villains. Batman using social media to help him keep an eye on criminals is rather brilliant and I wonder if main comics Batman does this. Batman also is able to see through Clayface’s disguise and I guess this version was never part of the Bat-Family, while Freeze is smart enough to know when to shut down their base even when they just set it up.
What they got wrong: I thought Freeze stole diamonds to power his suit, not just for the black market. At times in the first story I can’t tell if Penny-1 is supposed to be narrating the story or if it’s just a narrator. If the latter, it’s nice to see the outside narrator make a return to comics to fill in the reader. Batgirl immediately suspecting Catwoman goes nowhere in the story.
What I think overall: I came to DC through a Batman story as a kid, so it’s nice to see a Batman comic made with kids in mind (rated for teens) that still feels like reading a normal comic instead of a dumbed down one. While some will be put off by the last of deep diving into Batman’s mind or a lot of the other stuff that would be boring for kids, I like seeing a superhero story that puts its focus on the superhero part, though I would hope later issues have a chance to do some character focusing from time to time. It’s a short miniseries but now I want to read the rest of it. I also thought it was a video game tie-in since the back cover mentions “knightwatch missions” for some DC: Batman app but it doesn’t appear to be connected. I haven’t had a chance to look into the app as of this writing though.
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