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Geek Dad
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Review – Batman: Dark Patterns #8 – Curse of the Rookery
Batman: Dark Patterns #8 cover, via DC Comics. Ray: The second part of Paradoilea takes us deeper and deeper into the strange world of the Rookery, the Gotham shantytown that makes up its darkest corners. Batman has been obsessed with the case of the dead woman he found in a dryer – only to run into dead end after dead end. He's been tearing his way through the Rookery, beating up every shady figure he finds in search of answers about the killing and the Red Hood Gang, only to come up empty. It's even making him paranoid and snappish towards Gordon and Dr. Sereika – the latter of whom isn't finding any clues in the body. You know Batman's unraveling when he shows up at the home of the gossip columnist who has been writing negative stories about him to intimidate him – and instead gets a disturbing story about the good doctor that hints that he had a twisted past before he came to Gotham. Rage. Via DC Comics. From there, Batman doubles down on his mission to find the truth – and winds up catching the attention of two boys who hang out in the Rookery. He chases them and finds his way to a mysterious empty grave – only for it to be a trap, leaving him wounded and leading him right to the Rookery's one remaining member of the Red Hood Gang. But it's an old man, on his last legs – and he has absolutely nothing to lose. There's no supernatural or horrific threat in this issue like there was in the first two arcs, but what there is is no less terrifying – a whole city within a city that has given up hope and with it mercy. This is a story about the depravity that happens when people are given up as less than human – and it ends with a young and less-trained Batman at the mercy of one of the darkest evils he's ever encountered. Each arc of this series has been completely different from the last, but no less compelling. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
Geek Dad
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Dad
Review – Batman: Dark Patterns #7
Batman: Dark Patterns #7 cover, via DC Comics. Ray: This has been a fascinating series, tying together three diverse and creepy cases early in Batman's career. First, Batman faced off against a mysterious villain named the Wound Man, who was a horribly scarred victim of a terrible chemical leak caused by corrupt businessmen. Then, he went up against the residents of a condemned tower who seemed to all be in thrall to Scarface – who had taken over the whole tower. And now, as he grows increasingly paranoid, Batman heads into the eeriest place in Gotham – the Rookery. This new location is fascinating – a Gotham shantytown that was built out of temporary supplies after an earthquake, and has become the permanent home for the city's most downtrodden and disturbed. It's easy to get lost in there – and even easier to be completely forgotten, as happened to a mysterious woman who was found deceased inside a dryer in a burned-down laundromat. Haunted. Via DC Comics. This kicks off an intriguing mystery, as Batman is called in by Gordon and discovers that even the police largely fear to tread here. There's a darkly funny segment involving a down-on-his luck man in the shanty, but it's not long before the evidence starts to pile up that this wasn't a standard murder. In fact, it may have been committed by the very first incarnation of the infamous Red Hood Gang – known for its colorful execution methods. As this unfolds, Bruce becomes increasingly paranoid as he starts to see odd connections between the cases that may or may not be there. This is peak classic Batman content, and it's elevated to the next level by the brilliant Hayden Sherman art – their style always had an eerie and surreal edge, and it's perfectly suited for bringing Gotham City's darkest secrets into the light. It might not be as immediately disturbing as the first two arcs, but this is a great start to the finale. To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week. GeekDad received this comic for review purposes. Liked it? Take a second to support GeekDad and GeekMom on Patreon!
