Batman: Arkham Unhinged #49

Slough of Despond

I’ve lost all hope in Arkham Unhinged. It seems the original narrative of Arkham City has too many holes for any of the inexperienced writers of this series to patch up. Though the Bookbinder aspect of this current narrative is quite interesting, the halfhearted justification of Arkham City does not work for me. The displacement of crime ridden neighborhoods is a fun and logical concept, but that the city council has come up with the genius idea of paying the criminals to leave hurts my head. That idea is so stupid, it almost seems like an actual politician could have thought it up. Does this issue improve Arkham City, or is it the same old crap?

In this issue, James Gordon coordinates a city wide curfew while Batman attempts to track the Bookbinder.

Bind Me a Book

Bookbinder really is the saving grace of this story arc. We are in the arc’s sixth issue, and it has just now provided a suspect. I like the concept behind this potential killer, but I thought Commissioner Gordon said he already suspected the identity of the killer, and if Gordon was suspecting this guy, it makes little sense that he would not have already busted the potential murderer. Regardless, I think Bookbinder has an interesting motivation, and I hope he sticks around for awhile and perhaps even makes an appearance in the mainstream universe.

The only other thing I can say that is particularly positive about this issue is the depiction of Batman and Gordon. They have the kind of working relationship which I think is much more appropriate and satisfying than Batman’s typical way of only giving Gordon the time of day when he feels like it.

Anger

Honestly, I think the way Gotham is portrayed as going towards anarchy is poorly handled in this issue, but the martial law aspect of this story bugs me in more ways than one. The day our government starts telling citizens when they can be outside is the day we should throw a revolution. It bugs me that more and more people are perfectly fine with the government telling them what they have to buy, what they can say, and what they can drink. When are people in real life going to say enough?

Conclusion

This is an okay issue because it focused less on Arkham and more on the Bookbinder.