Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1

Overall- This comic book basically consisted of 4(very)short stories, which focused on 4 different Gothamites. The first story looked at Vikki Vale, who was writing for the Gotham Gazette newspaper again. Vikki wrote a story about Batman's sudden disappearance, but was more interested about where Bruce Wayne had disappeared to. Vikki begins to hunt for Bruce, but comes up empty at every turn. Finally, after a long day and a fruitless search, Vikki returns to her apartment and finds some roses, champagne and an invitation to a fancy ball, signed by Bruce.

The story then moves on to Stephanie Brown(Spoiler). Steph wants to help fight crime in Gotham, but is still pining for Robin. She watches Robin stop a crime from a distance and thinks back on their rocky relationship. After she gets home, she stares at her Spoiler costume.

Next, we focus on Dr. Leslie Thompkins, who is returning to Gotham after spending the last year in Africa. After checking in to her hotel, Leslie takes a walk around town to get a feel for Gotham now that Batman is gone, and winds up witnessing some of Two-Face's goons springing a couple of inmates from a prison van. Leslie looks to help any injured people and winds up coming face to face with an injured inmate called the Cavalier.

Finally, we look at Harvey Bullock as he attempts to solve a case where a man was decapitated and the wound was cauterized. After returning to the station house, Harvey gets reprimanded by Captain Sawyer, talks to his new partner, Jamie Harper, and then thinks he may have figured out who the perpetrator of the crime was.

And that was it... Was this comic book really necessary? This comic didn't really accomplish anything. First off, putting 4 stories in a regular size comic book is a huge mistake, because the writer, in this case, Fabian Nicieza, doesn't have any time to develop ANY of the stories properly. By the time you blink, you're reading the next story. I really didn't like this comic book, which kind of surprised me, because I like Fabian's work alot, and I'm also partial to Spoiler. For a score, I'll give this comic a 2 1/2 out of 10. If anyone is on the fence about picking this comic up, save your money, it had NOTHING to do with the upcoming "Battle for the Cowl" storyline.