I’m a comic artist, and I’m reading the OG Legends of the Dark Knight run, issues 1-100, and writing about each issue on Substack Notes. 

Legends of the Dark Knight #6 kicks off a new miniseries. And it’s arguably the most famous story arc from this era. Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson’s “Gothic.”

Try to put yourself in the shoes of someone picking up this book in April of 1990.

Morrison was certainly a known quantity by now. But, many of his* best-known works were still in front of him in 1990.

A now-prolific contributor to the Batman mythos, “Gothic” was only his second major outing with the character (following the essential Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth just the previous year).

Janson was also well-established. Though, as some surprised LOTD readers will indicate in the letters section of future issues, most people thought he was Frank Miller’s inker and not much else.

(The truth is that Janson is responsible for a lot more of the art on Miller’s Daredevil run than most people think. Hard to put a number on it, but it’s a fair guess that he’s responsible for at least half of that run, though he was only ever credited as the inker).

Anyway.

“Gothic” is billed as a “romance.” I don’t know what makes it a romance, but I can tell you what “Gothic” is about.

“Gothic” is about expectation setting.

It’s an editorial statement about the kind of book LOTD is really going to be.

“Shaman,” the inaugural arc, gave us time, place, and tone, delivered by Dennis O’Neil, who was probably the most famous Batman writer alive at the time.

That’s who you call to establish a book and to get longtime readers to show up.

Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson are who you call to take a risk.

Recognizable names. But in 1990, they were still, for all intents and purposes, up-and-coming.

And unproven on a book like Batman.

What do you do if you’re Grant Morrison and Klaus Janson, and you’re handed this assignment?

To follow the most famous Batman writer alive on the hot new book that everyone is talking about — a book where you don’t have to worry about continuity, just tell the best Batman story you got?

I can tell you what Morrison and Janson did.

They fucking brought it.

“Gothic” continues the LOTD trend of leaning into the mythical quality of Batman’s early career with a straight-up horror story.

The plot setup is simple.

Mobsters are being targeted and killed by a guy named “Mr. Whisper” who is basically avenging his own death.

That’s right. This guy is supposed to be dead.

And he has a very preternatural way about him. This wasn’t just an attempted murder that didn’t take.

Something’s off. And the mob is panicking.

So, they do something… pretty desperate.

They ask Batman for help, getting his attention with an inverted Bat signal.

Meanwhile, Bruce is having nightmares about his father. They are very symbolic, with Batman following Thomas through a cathedral, and slowly devolving into 8-year-old Bruce as he gets closer.

When Thomas turns around, we see his mouth is sewn shut.

That’s about it for this issue. There’s bog standard Morrison, dropping poetry into dialogue, and doing foreshadowing with Don Giovanni, an opera about a hedonist who gets dragged to hell at the end.

And then there’s Klaus “I’m definitely not just Frank Miller’s inker” Janson who, for my money, ends the issue with one of the top 5 greatest Batman splash pages ever etched into a dead tree.

“Gothic” is off to a strong start.

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Credits:

Writer: Grant Morrison

Art: Klaus Janson

Letterer: John Costanza

Colorist: Steve Buccellato

Asst Editor: Kevin Dooley

Editor: Andrew Helfer

* I am aware that Grant Morrison uses gender-neutral pronouns. However, he has since clarified that he does not mind being referred to with masculine pronouns, so I use those instead for grammatical clarity. I also ask that you infer precisely nothing about my political views concerning sex and gender from this purely editorial choice (rest assured, whichever “side” you are on, said views will probably disappoint you anyway).