I started reading through Dark Patterns the other day, not realising that it was actually something that's still ongoing. I have a lot of ongoing comics at the moment that I'm reading through and each of them are a blast in their own ways. This Batman story has been a really great surprise. I mentioned previously that I'm not usually a big fan of the Batman comics, but I really enjoy them when they have elements of supernatural, horror, or actual detective themes. I don't care all that much for Batman fighting the same few villains over and over with no conclusion. And that's where Dark Patterns has been a great read: instead we're seeing Batman forced to explore and investigate the corruption of corporations that have been hiding their harmful endeavors, and how they've impacted families beyond repair. Gotham is a city riddled in crime, always finding its way into some form of chaos, though these events have been small murders rather than unfolding within the streets of Gotham. A strange being roaming through the streets and killing people in horrific ways using nails and sharp objects. The being conducting these acts being one that has also been subjected to near death through the same acts. This is a story that features body horror. And I absolutely love it for that! It's unsettling, gory, and downright strange. One thing that really helps is its art style, being quite nostalgic and relying on shadow details rather than stronger individual details.
Dark Patterns starts off with some strange mystery to it, where the being we see is hardly human at this point. Covered in nails and with various sharp objects sticking out of him. His teeth always visible and his eyes a glowing red. What was a huge surprise in this issue is how Batman manages to capture him and we get a bit more information into who he is and what his goal is. It takes us out of Gotham and into the suburbs, which was a surprise given that's the last place you'd think the foundations of a crime would be. It unravels a bit of context behind our caught individual. The live he lived in the past as a doctor, which tells us the reasons as to how he's managed to survive this whole time despite torturing himself to near death with the nails. Missing his vital organs but being close enough to try to give him some sort of feeling. I was surprised that he was caught so early on in the story, though we soon realise that he's not necessarily the main villain of this story, and that he's actually a victim that was driven to harsh acts under the pursuit of revenge.
Now, I love a good revenge story. And once we learn more information about this character, we start to not just feel sorry for him, but actually want to see him succeed. A man that lost his love, a man that lost his ability to feel. And now aims to get his revenge while constantly trying to find a way to feel something again through self-torture. Known as the wounded man, appreciated by locals while also considered a hero in the town. It was quite an interesting thing to see within the story, a little bit of subverted expectations even if it did slightly ground itself by removing the more mythical and supernatural elements that were found within the first issue. A lot of this information comes to us in the third issue, though here it sets up the story a little more into how Batman captures him, while also setting the stage for more conflict later on as we see the corporate side meddling with the situation directly, kidnapping the wounded man and trying to kill him to remove him from the equation entirely. This issue was a bit more detective oriented, more on Batman talking to people and discovering some of this context, realising the corporation's interests and what they may have been up to to have not just caused someone to want to hunt them down one by one, but also creating a monster of such strange nature.
I quite liked the mystery that remained here, the fact that the wounded man became less of a strange entity and more human suddenly. Pulling our interests in seeing him fight Batman away and instead making us feel something. To the point where Batman himself doesn't consider him to be someone of evil, or causing great harm to just anyone. It's clear there's an agenda towards who he attacks, and tying him to the doctor's table wasn't necessarily for the doctor's own safety, but the wounded man's in the event that he wakes up. This really had me curious about where the story was heading, whether the wounded man would continue to have any importance within the story, and whether there were actually more like him as a result of the corporation's actions. Their pollution and corruption leading to the town itself being exposed and equally suffering from an inability to feel. Though reacting in their own various ways. I really liked this setup, and the way it worked things into the following issue that really pushed the context into a new level. A great issue over all, and really nice to see Batman's actions as an investigator more than caped crusader in the night.
The body horror here was just starting, though. It would soon pick up and grow even more disturbing. The following issue is where the story really picks up and gets a bit gory. I'm really looking forward to writing about that one and all it had to offer.