My Cultural Diet

In a slightly retrofuturistic version of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne has decided to tear down one of the city’s most recognizable landmarks: a massive tower originally commissioned by his father. Although he hopes to reinvigorate the city, he also risks exposing corruption and secrets — and endangering a possible new love interest. Although the Joker makes an appearance, Batman: Death by Design is a nice change of pace from your typical Batman comic, with a greater emphasis on more mundane things like architecture, city planning, and union disputes. Dave Taylor’s artwork is the real draw here (npi). Done almost entirely in pencil, his work’s incredibly rich and detailed and adds to the book’s retro feel, and his cityscapes are simply breathtaking. (Indeed, it could be argued that Gotham City itself is the book’s true main character.) That said, his artwork can feel very static, which makes sense for a book that’s largely about architecture, but also means the action scenes lack a certain dynamism. Also, some of the frames are so small as to be almost unintelligible. Overall, Batman: Death by Design is proof that there’s room in Gotham City for all kinds of interesting stories, even niche ones like this.

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