Batman: Gothic collects Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson's excellent 5-issue run on Legends of the Dark Knight. Morrison and Janson are of course no strangers to this character. Morrison gave us the acclaimed Arkham Asylum graphic novel, and Janson provided inks for Frank Miller's epic the Dark Knight Returns.

What the pair achieves with Gothic is perhaps the scariest Batman story you'll ever read. An undying evil with roots in Bruce Wayne's past is stalking Gotham's underworld, and has dark designs on the entire city. The term "villain" seems painfully inadequate to describe the ghoulish Mr. Whisper, a character so steeped in evil that he makes the rest of Batman's rogues' gallery look like amateurs.

Morrison is brilliant as always, and his Batman has never seemed so dark and terrifying. Janson's artwork takes some getting used to. He obviously learned much about visual storytelling from his long association with Frank Miller, but I think he is a far stronger inker than he is a penciller. He does an admirable job, particularly with the Gothic architecture that plays such a key role in the story. Still, you can't help but wonder what such a dark and creepy story would look like with someone like Mike Mignola providing the artwork.

Overall, this is one of the better Batman tales, and certainly one of the most frightening. I highly recommend it to all Batman fans, though it's not appropriate for children. I wouldn't be surprised if some adults started sleeping with the lights on after reading this one!

This short tale was very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed Klaus Janson's art style. One minor issue of note is that the paper the book is printed on is not exceptionally high quality, and I occasionally found it obnoxious.
As far as the story goes, I believe Morrison did an excellent job. He managed to tie the villain in to an extremely important incident in Bruce Wayne's pre-Batman, pre-death of parents life; an amazing feat considering how much of Batman's past has been accounted for. Morrison very much made this story monumental to Batman's life, instead of just another villain with another agenda.
My only quibble lies with the ending. I felt Batman got off too easily. I won't give anything away here, but I do not think the ending was worthy of the importance of the story itself.
Overall though, an excellent read. And the ending is not bad, per se, I just think Batman didn't have to try very hard. I would highly recommend this book.

Some people are of the opinion that the Batman genre, one that exemplifies modernism in so many respects, should never mix with anything of the superstitious or supernatural. I am not one of those. Even if I was, "Gothic" would have probably changed my mind.

Batman is drawn to a place from his past when men are murdered in a chapel. From this trail of destruction Batman is led to confront a terrifying evil that has existed for nearly 300 years.

Batman is himself the stuff of many legends and superstitions. He preys on the fear of criminals that he might be some monster or demon. How will he fare when he faces a being that is worthy of such fear?

Batman "Gothic" is actually an intriguing piece that is inspired by literary greats like "Faust." Morrison's title is very appropriate and for once, I actually enjoyed the foreword that explained the reasoning behind the storyline. This is good stuff.

Though Grant Morrison is best known for his wonderful multi year rampage on New X-Men, or the dark masterwork Arkham Asylum, Gothic is a match for either one of these. With gritty, haunting art by Klaus Janson, Morrison tells a remarkable tale of Batman, Mr. Whisper, and sinister evil that has burned across continents for more than 300 years.

Batman is still at the beginning of his crime fighting career, still coming into his own, when a mysterious madman named Mr. Whisper begins killing off mob bosses using poetry as a clue. Meanwhile, Batman is plagued by nightmares of his father with his lips sewn shut, trying to pass on some manner of clue to his son.

Soon Batman is horrified to learn that Mr. Whisper is actually his old headmaster from an all boys school that nearly killed him as a child, and the madman might be older than that.

Filled with occult lore, and mature topics, this Batman volume is more suited to older audiences, and parents might want to screen it before letting their children read it, but for those of us who have been Grant Morrison fans for a long time, please take the time to read and enjoy this lost treasure.

This volume collects Legends of the Dark Knight #6-10.

I personally consider the earlier stories in the "Legends of the Dark Knight" ongoing series the better ones, and this one (which collects #6-10) is no exception. Bruce Wayne is being plagued by a lot of nightmares about when he was a young boy lately. Each night he wakes up from a nightmare about his father to which he can relate no meaning. Meanwhile a man who calls himself 'Mr.Whisper', a man with no shadow, is rapidly killing off underworld members in brutal ways. The crime-leaders are heavily frightened and ask Batman for help, trying to make a deal. Batman refuses and tells them they're getting what they deserve. Back home he puts some things together for himself and realizes there may be a connection between Mr.Whisper and his nightmares. Because of that he decides to do some detective work after all to find out who this Mr.Whisper is. From there on a highly paranormal (which is quite extraordinary for a Batman book, but quite a trademark of Grant Morisson) story unfolds which leads Batman through memories of his days in private school and even to an eerie Austrian monastry, which he learns is the subject of an occult Austrian legend.

People who are into listening to scary 'true' stories by the campfire will probably like this a lot. It's like one of those stories you heard of which you just KNEW they weren't real, but gave you the chills anyway. That's also the case here. You go through the story asking yourself if what's going on is the legend being forfilled or if there's a more down-to-earth thing going on. Grant Morisson does what he does best, he's giving clues without giving it away, keeping the reader on his toes. Klaus Jansons art is suitable for the story and especially the way he draws the architectural backgrounds deserve some credit. I don't think many people who are into Batman comics will feel disappointed after reading this.