Steve Niles & Kelly Jones - Batman: Gotham After Midnight No 1

SUPERHERO

In the arena of American superhero comics, Batman and the X-Men’s Wolverine are probably the most over-saturated characters. It can be a minefield trying to guess which titles featuring either character on the cover are actually worthwhile, although the fact that Steve 30 Days of Night Niles is the writer of this new 12-issue limited series will swing a lot of people towards it.

The emperor’s new bat-cape, and all that. If you don’t object to a line of dialogue like ‘my tolerance for poison is high . . . and my tolerance for petty crime is at an all-time low’ (no, seriously), then this bland and exposition-heavy first chapter could be for you. From the Scarecrow stealing a mysterious artefact to a bunch of Tommy gun-brandishing hoods meeting at a dockside bar, this is a torrent of Bat-clichés. Read Grant Morrison’s current, superb run on the Batman monthly to see how it should be done.