BatWatch Review: Li'l Gotham #9

April Showers

Li'l Gotham has been, on the whole, a delight, and this issue promises the return of Mr. Freeze who has starred in one of the best issues to date. With Mr. Freeze attempting to kill Batwoman and Hawkfire with a shard of ice through his leg in Batwoman and manipulating Black Canary's team in Birds of Prey, Victor Fries has been anything but cute in the DCNU, but hopefully, this issue will remind us of Freeze's softer, if nor warmer, side.

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Does Li'l Gotham #9 shower readers with delight or does this April shower turn into a drizzle of disappointment?

In this issue, Mr. Freeze is released to the world and finds everything to be perfect, so what would make him want to freeze Gotham under a layer of ice?

I Heart Mr. Freeze

Mr. Freeze is by far my favorite character out of the rogues put forth in Li'l Gotahm thus far. Something about the way Dustin Nguyen (former cover artist for Batman Beyond and Batgirl, artist on Detective Comics, penciler of Streets of Gotham and artist on Wildstrom's Wildcats Version 3.0 and current writer and artist of Li'l Gotham) draws him makes him look somehow fragile yet he still maintains the loneliness so clearly established in the character from Batman: The Animated Series.

Almost every panel of this issue is pure heart, and the one time it tries to veer off and do a little action is the moment where things briefly stumble. Nguyen has a niche, and though it's hard to look down on the guy for trying to expand the scope of Li'l Gotham, his stories do best when they stay on the light hearted subject matter. Leave air battles to other titles.

Bat Droppings

1. We see a ton of villains and heroes in this issue, and they are all well represented. Some of the other issues felt like they were trying to force in appearances, but this felt completely natural.

2. Every time I read an issue of Li'l Gotham, I become incredibly nostalgic for the DCU. Just seeing Tim in two panels wearing his old Red Robin costume and not acting like a douche gives me a sense of peace as if all is right with the world. Seeing Damian alive, making mischief, and being hassled by Grayson is also a delight.