Warning: This contains SPOILERS for Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded CityIt’s all hands on deck for Batman and the Gotham Knights when an investigation into a mysterious virus-like outbreak uncovers a link to a similar epidemic that occurred in Gotham nearly 200 years ago, which was also investigated by a masked vigilante prowling the city’s shadows.
In Evan Narcisse and Abel’s six-part limited series Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City, Gotham City is overrun by scores of people suddenly overcome with a violent impulse to get what their hearts desire from food to fashion to designer sneakers. Deployed around the city to maintain security, the Batman Family initially believe the Scarecrow is behind it, but when they find he’s still locked up in Arkham they’re forced to rethink their conclusion. Unbeknownst to them, this is not the first time the illness has attacked the city. Back in the mid-1800s, the city suffered a similar bizarre outbreak. While there was no Batman nor Gotham Knights at that time, the mystery was covered by another crime-fighting vigilante known as the Runaway.
The introduction of the Runaway, a pre-Civil War era, Batman-like protector of an emerging Gotham City is likely to catch many fans off guard. This is due to the fact that he’s a new character introduced into Batman canon largely as a “special comics’ vehicle” to link the series to the storyline in the Gotham Knights video game, which starts with the revelation that Batman is dead, and it’s up to the Gotham Knights — Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, and Robin to fill the crime-fighting vacuum his absence creates. Practically speaking, since this is an area in canon that has rarely been explored before, it gives Narcisse and Abel a huge opportunity to “world build” early Gotham history, and its connection to the Waynes and ultimately Batman.
Gotham’s ‘Runaway’ is Still Shrouded in Mystery
Owning to the fact that the series just debuted, not much is known yet about the Runaway other than he’s a tremendously skilled finger, and that at a time when racism is still backed by the law, he’s willing to fight against that system. However, in an interview with Screen Rant, Narcisse sketched out what he hopes to accomplish with Runaway in the Gotham Knights series. According to Narcisse, while the Runaway and Batman might share the same ultimate goal of achieving justice, their approach is completely different. While Batman can harness the wealth, power, and influence of the Wayne name, the Runaway is not from the city’s elite. Rather he’s from the same class of people who he and Batman normally put in jail. He knows them viscerally, whereas Batman only knows them tangentially.
As a result, the Runaway’s perspective on crime-fighting will be significantly different from Batman’s as will the tactics used to achieve a crime reduction campaign. Not only will this present a chance to provide an alternative example of crime can be fought in Gotham, but also begs the question whether Batman‘s cold-hearted “shoot first” philosophy is appropriate, or whether Runaways’ kinder, gentler approach is the best. For the Gotham Knights video game, figuring out which approach is the best might be the difference between winning and losing.
Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City is now available from DC Comics.
