Grampa's 'Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham' - A Stylish Noir Revival
By Liam McGuire
Sep 14th 2023
Star artist Rafael Grampa is putting his own twist on Batman and Gotham City with his new Black Label miniseries, Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham. And for fans of The Dark Knight, the DC Universe, and a stunning, unique take on the superhero genre, you won’t want to miss it.
Grampa only started working on big-two comics over a decade ago, with his big breakthrough coming with work alongside Frank Miller in Batman: Dark Knight Returns - The Golden Child. The Brazillian artist’s work on the comic was acclaimed with his depictions of characters from the DC Universe, including Carrie Kelley’s Batwoman, his giant-sized version of Darkseid, and Supergirl captured the attention of readers, immediately putting Grampa on the map as an artist to keep an eye out. DC made the smart move and let Grampa’s style come to life in the Batman Universe again in a new miniseries, Gargoyles of Gotham, with the comic's first issue coming out this week. Immediately, the stylish, dark Batman tale is worth picking up.
The cover artists for the miniseries feature several all-star creators, with Grampa and Jim Lee (available as a 1:25 variant) providing standard covers for the book. Additionally, Frank Miller and Jock draw a third variant (available as a black and white 1:250 variant) featuring the Dark Knight, while David Finch draws a bloody action shot of Batman in a fourth variant. Priscilla Petraites and Frank Martin team up for a 1:50 variant, while Paul Pope and Jose Villarrubia illustrate a 1:100 variant. Additionally, the book is printed as a noir edition with Grampa doing his own take on Frank Miller’s style for the variant.
"When you chase your own shadow…it leads you into the abyss." In a Gotham City where every day feels darker and more irredeemable than the last, Batman makes a definitive choice—to kill off the Bruce Wayne identity for good and embrace the cowl full-time. But though he knows the streets of Gotham, Batman will soon come to find that he hardly knows himself. A serial killer is on the loose, and while the murder victims seem random at first, every clue draws Batman closer to the terrifying truth—that they are all connected, not just to each other…but to him… When an all-new rogues gallery of utterly depraved villains begins to emerge from the depths of the city, Batman will have to contend with the very nature of evil—including that which lurks inside in the darkest corners of his own heart—to face what’s coming for his city. Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham brings Rafael Grampá’s twisted vision of both the Dark Knight and the city of Gotham to life in a DC writing debut that will reach its icy black tendrils into the deepest and darkest corners of human nature and leave you gasping for breath—and for more!
Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham #1 is available at CaptCan Comics now. Don’t forget to pick up the debut issue and pre-order future chapters now!
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