Writer: Greg RuckaPlot: Within the bubbling Original Gothamite/Deezee cauldron, Jim Gordon must find the mystery bomber responsible for two murders and two buildings.
Sound like a Two-Face crime? Well, that was Jim's initial suspicion, as well. And this is much more the Commissioner's tale, than it is Batman's. Gordon goes around town, looking at evidence, talking to people that could give him info about the bombings, but basically, the story boils down to insurance fraud. There's zoning laws, expensive policies...it came across as more of your run-of-the-mill police work, than a page-turning murder investigation.
Batman showed up in less capacity this month. Fine! Call me a hypocrite - I know I've been itching for more GCPD stories, but a book without more Bat-presence isn't wholly a Bat-book. He bounces in early on, looking kind of strained in the face at the bottom of page 5, then disappears until the end of the story, where he jumps in to do something that the four other cops on the scene could easily have handled by themselves.
Rucka makes up for that with his character pieces of Bruce and Jim, and I do mean Bruce. The ol' boy billionaire decides to show up at work for the first time in, well, let's just say a while. He receives a discretely discreet message from the Crays back at the Cave, who decide to call themselves "Mindy" for today. This bimboic female persona provides Bruce with the cover he needs to download some information on the bombing suspect he's been searching for, while he's fending off an important discussion with WayneCorp CEO Lucius Fox.
Jim's character points begin to arrive through his reminder that he's not an Original Gothamite, since he used to live in Chicago. More importantly, he demonstrates that he hasn't gotten over his wife's death yet, and probably never will, after he clocks the construction culprit of the Coldwell And Ferris firm.
Dave Johnson's Tec covers continue to excite me, in all their silhouetted glory. Batman's image flanks the rear of the Bat-signal, as the emblem upon the beacon transposes itself onto his chest, where the costumed symbol would normally be. Most everything's dark or blue, save for Batman's piercing yellow eyes, and Gordon stands vigilant, anticipating the Dark Knight's arrival, even though as we see in the story, Batman's already there before the Commissioner has to bother to turn on the signal.
"The Jacobian, Chapter 4: Winds Of Fortune"
Writer: Jordan B. Gorfinkel
Artists: Jeff Johnson (p), Dan Panosian (i), Noelle Giddings and Wildstorm FX (c), Ken Lopez (l)
Editors: Frank Berrios, Joe Illidge, and Denny O'Neil
Plot: Jacob avoids a playful death lunge from Leelee, trying not to take advantage of her, as they continue to search for the female ninja's husband.
Finally, this backup story's on a roll! Gorf doesn't lay the hunches on thick this time around, because he's catering to some extremely needed character growth for his bald hero for hire.
Before learning that both he and Leelee are more than they appear - not that either of them know how they're capable of fighting the way they did in the previous chapter - Jacob thinks he's attracted to her in a really big way. He watches her sleep, ponders over the unfortunate fact that she's married, and admires her for being able to take out a dozen similarly clad ninja warriors, without seeming to be injured in any way.
He proceeds to lay down the law, letting her know that they have to be more open with each other, if she expects him to help her find her husband, without inadvertently walking into a trap.
Gorf hints at the possibility that Jacob could be the missing husband that Leelee's looking for, and with the double dose of The Jacobian in next month's issue, we'll see some interesting developments in their relationship there, should it come to that.
