Villains take control of Gotham City in this Batman #75 exclusive

By Oliver Sava | July 15, 2019 | 4:00pm

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Villains take control of Gotham City in this Batman #75 exclusive

All images: DC Comics

Tom King’s run on Batman has been a wild ride of twists and turns, an unpredictable series that veers from meditative introspection to bombastic action as it dismantles and dissects Bruce Wayne’s character. King’s run on the main Batman series concludes with “City Of Bane,” the culmination of Bane’s gradual takeover of Gotham over the past 74 issues. The villain’s intricate plot to break the bat has worked, and he’s replaced the Gotham City police force with Batman’s rogues gallery. Former enemies, The Joker and The Riddler, are now police partners, working for Commissioner Hugo Strange. Gotham still has a Batman, but it’s an alternate version of Bruce Wayne’s father from a dimension where Bruce died that fateful night in Crime Alley.

The art team of Tony S. Daniel and colorist Tomeu Morey is at its best when depicting superhero spectacle, and this exclusive preview of this week’s Batman #75 kicks off the book’s final arc with a rush of excitement as it introduces the new Gotham City status quo. Daniel has leveled up considerably on this series, particularly when it comes to character expressions, and The Joker and The Riddler’s distinct facial features spotlight how his work has become more specific. Morey’s lush coloring elevates Daniel’s linework, doing beautiful work with light sources to add dimension to Daniel’s forms and heighten the atmosphere. This oversized issue also includes an epilogue drawn by King’s frequent collaborator, Mitch Gerads, offering two different visual perspectives on Bane’s city of chaos.