Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate have infected the minds of the new heroes Gotham and Gotham Girl!!! As Batman attempts to track down Gotham and bring him in, Alfred helps take care of the mentally broken Gotham Girl in the Batcave. As Batman searches for answers — he might not like what he finds — and just how is the government involved?
The Positives
“I Am Gotham Part 4,” written by Tom King and penciled by David Finch, throws us right into the middle of a bloodbath from the start of the book! Picking up from the conclusion of “I Am Gotham Part 3,” we find that the criminals Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate have taken control of the heroes Gotham and Gotham Girl. Strange plans to use Psycho Pirate to unleash a crazed Gotham and Gotham Girl upon the city to cause chaos and destruction–and in these few pages Strange delivers. I’ve always been a fan of Hugo Strange who despite having no superpowers is probably one of the most deadliest enemies in Batman’s own rogues gallery. As Batman attempts to solve the case of just why Gotham is doing all of this– he finds that Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate have some connections to the government. Not to spoil too much for you but King nails this story by taking it’s conclusion to a whole different direction than what I expected! I never saw a tie with this specific character coming but I’m glad to did it King!
The Negatives
I don’t really have any complaints about this book except it’s absent its two main villains Hugo Strange and Psycho Pirate. They’ve already done their damage and manipulated Gotham and Gotham Girl severely, but now I’m interested to see what’s next in Strange’s plan? King did a whole story here where we saw the fallout from Hugo Strange’s actions–yet there was no Hugo Strange here. This is making me think that Strange is simply back in the shadows planning something worse and I’m excited to see what it is for the next issue. I’m eager to see exactly how Batman confronts and stops the combined talents of Strange and especially the Psycho Pirate who mentally broke Gotham Girl and left her in tears against the wall!!!
The Verdict
“I Am Gotham Part 4” is a great read! King makes up his lack of action in the previous issue and gives it to us here in spades! Finch makes every page look fantastic as we finally see Batman confront Gotham who has superhuman powers himself. I’m looking forward to see how Batman actually handles this situation from all fronts, with Strange and Psycho Pirate, then also having to deal with a crazed and emotionally broken Gotham. Then to make matters worse, what does Batman do when he figures out the government is involved? It seems that the plot really got thick in issue 4 and it definitely makes me excited for number 5!!! Check out Batman #4!!!
