Gotham Underground #1
Writer: Frank TieriArtists: J. Calafiore & Jack Purcell
This is the first issue of a nine-issue limited series about the Gotham Underworld after the death of Black Mask and with the villains dissapearing into Salvation Run. In other words, it ties into stuff in Countdown, or at least this issue does. Like any first issue, this one is all setup. Batman is undercover as Matches Malone, infiltrating the iceberg lounge as Penguin schmoozes with Two-face, wearing a really ugly suit. More villains show up, as does the suicide squad to cart them off to "Salvation." Robin talks to Jim Gordon, who judges Robin's entrances and exits as "passable at best", while Nightwing breaks up an illegal gambling bar, while Tobias Whale makes his move on the Gotham gangs. Frank Tieri doesn't really write anything here to make me praise or hate him, and J. Calafiore does the art with enough flair to make me pay attention to the panels. His art is certainly different than anything else in the Bat-books now, but there's nothing here to say that he's the definitive Bat-artist for this year (to me that's still Don Kramer). I'll try the next couple of issues to get a better feel of the story that Tieri is trying to tell, but I can't say that I'll definitely be sticking on for all 9 issues after reading just this one. So, to sum up and quote Commissioner Gordon, this issue is "passable at best." C
