Following on from that, I started reading Batman comics seriously around the time of RIP and Final Crisis. Because of the dense nature of these stories, with references to the entire career of Batman (in some ways a fictional version of what I'm trying to do here) I found myself looking into each reference and from that I found new stories to read.
In short, I love Morrison's take on the character - and the idea that EVERYTHING happened. I love how he made Batman into a mythological entity as Bruce Wayne made his way back through time after defeating a god.
Onto 'Gothic' then, which in hindsight shares many elements with the six year run that would come later. Even the title is loaded with reference - to the gothic architecture of the monastery/cathedral, to the gothic literature with its ghosts and ghouls and in the links Morrison makes to the word 'goetia' (the invocation of demons).
Opening with three men in a darkened room, one of whom is hanging upside down and being tortured by the other two, we immediately get a sense of the twisted nature of this story. A recording begins to play, and one of the mobsters goes to investigate. The recording - Oranges and Lemons - is attributed various meanings such as child sacrifice and public executions. All very loaded with foreshadowing considering what comes later on. Not to mention the references to the bells ringing, bringing about a change from the status quo.
When his partner in crime doesn't return, the second mobster (O'Rourke) goes to investigate, finding a record player with a note attached. The note is a quote from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner - again linking to later events where the mobsters who were complicit in the murder of 'Mr Whisper' are punished for their crime. This Mr Whisper emerges from the shadows, murdering O'Rourke and then setting fire to the hanging man.
The colour fades into black and white, and we join a conversation between Bruce Wayne as a child and another child. In the next panel Bruce is a grown man, still in uniform - perhaps suggesting he is still that grieving child on the inside? The dream begins to unfold and collapse from there - having started in an old school it becomes a cathedral, before Bruce discovers his father, whose lips have been sewn up.
One element of 'Gothic' which is similar to Morrison's later run is the exploration of the relationship between Bruce and his father. This story provides some background which we haven't seen before - including Thomas Wayne coming to Bruce's rescue when he thinks his son is in trouble. This is mirrored later on when Thomas visits Bruce in his dreams, offering him hints as to where he can find information about Mr Whisper.
Another element that is similar is the exploration of the devil, of demonic pacts and of past mistakes coming back to haunt you. There is the pact between Mr Whisper and the devil for 300 years of immortality. Then the pact between the mobsters who, in a rare moment of heroism, take action to end the child serial killings of Whisper. We learn that this action by the mobsters saved young Bruce, as he was to be the next victim of Whisper. Finally, in order to try and stop Whisper from thinning their ranks, the mobsters try and forge a pact with their own 'devil' - Batman.
As is often the case with Morrison, there are motifs which run throughout the story - roses, nursery rhymes and Faustian pacts being just three. The roses link in with the plague, and the somewhat hackneyed supervillain plot to expose Gotham to a lethal virus. Secrets are also associated with roses - sub rosa describes a secret hidden under a rose in Roman times.
Nursery rhymes are associated with childhood, but often have a darker undertone to them. This echoes the revelations of Bruce's dark childhood at his boarding school - where his friend was murdered and his severed head left in a bin. Also, the dark events that are hinted at when Bruce is taken out of the boarding school by his parents.
As he terrorises the mobsters who tried to kill him 20 years ago, Whisper taunts them with quotes from Faust, the Rime of the Ancient Mariner and even kills one of them at a performance of Don Giovani.
This was an interesting story from the early career of Batman. Not my favourite so far, nor my favourite by Morrison, but still an intriguing look at how different Batman is at this early stage. His terror at the 'ghost' he sees in the submerged ruins of the monastery are something that later Batman wouldn't do. Although there are hints of the Batman from later incarnations written by Morrison - when he escapes an elaborate death trap with ease, it foreshadows the Batman of Morrison's run on JLA who is almost too good at what he does.
Next up - Going Sane.
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