Writer: Christos Gage / Artist: Raffaele Ienco / DC Comics
If you have not played at least the first season of Batman: The Telltale Series:
- You are being warned now that there will be some spoilers for the video game series immediately after I’m done with this list.
- You should really play the aforementioned video game series because it’s a really solid entry in the Batman mythos.
Batman: Sins of the Father is an “interquel” of sorts, taking place between the first season of Telltale’s Batman and the current The Enemy Within sophomore season. The title refers to the sins of this version’s Thomas Wayne. To recap (and outright spoil for anyone who hasn’t heeded my warning), in the Telltale universe Thomas Wayne was a ruthless mob boss. He was in deep with the Falcones and the Hills, and not above using his medical degree and access to drugs to make folks clinically unstable. We’re talking straight up super villain territory. The video game series deals with Bruce discovering that his father and, to a lesser extent, his mother were the opposite of philanthropic and the resultant aftermath.
The comic picks up shortly after the events of the first season. Batman’s relationship with Gotham PD is still tenuous at best, and Bruce is dealing with the aftermath of the city finding out his family history. It follows up similar beats to the first season which isn’t bad and does reiterate a fundamental truth that deep conspiracies don’t just disappear into thin air. The last act is where the source material deviates and opens up for some really interesting storytelling. Gage captures the voice of the characters and you can almost hear Troy Baker’s voice in your head as you read the chapter.
Special mention needs to be given to Ienco and Major for adeptly replicating the Telltale aesthetic. The background settings are a perfect match for the game and the character designs have a distinctive cell-shaded-esque look that really blends the video game and comic worlds. It marries the mediums perfectly, and you’ll find yourself mentally mashing buttons during some of the action sequences.
All in all, if you need more Telltale Batman in your life, you really should pick this up. And if you don’t know if you do, well, play the game and realize that you do need more.
Batman: Sins of the Father #1 gets 8.2 “Quick Time Events” out of 10
Reading Batman? Find BNP’s coverage of the Dark Knight here.
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