Batman: Dark Patterns #3 Pg 15 - Batman & Jim Gordon Compare Notes

In a crowded field of high profile Batman titles currently on comic stands, the clear standout in my mind is Batman: Dark Patterns. Absolute Batman is a great alternative take on the character but if you are looking for a book that feels more like a classic Batman detective story, Dark Patterns is it. This 12 issue series is currently on issue 7 and is on its way to be one incredible collected edition that I look forward to recommending to anyone looking for a great Batman story.

The art on the series is by Hayden Sherman (Absolute Wonder Woman) and is striking in so many ways. With dynamic layouts throughout...I had to grab at least one example from the series.

With my love of the character of Jim Gordon, it was easy to zero in on this classic type scene of Batman & Jim Gordon comparing notes, often set in Gordon's office, here was see them at a hospital, Jim sipping on a coffee and after the next steps become clear, the conversation abruptly ends with Batman disappearing leaving Jim talking to himself.

One thing to note about the production process of this series, with many things on Sherman's plate and to expedite the production process, many of the large black areas on pages from the series have preprinted black areas on them. You can see some examples of this along the borders of this page. On some pages, you can see a bit of a two tone look which represents areas where Sherman cut into the preprinted areas with traditional inks. Knowing that this was the process, I really wanted to grab a page that had all of the figural work done in traditional inks, and thankfully that is the case here.

I don't fault Sherman at all for needing to find the proper balance for them to meet deadlines on multiple titles, and I credit Felix for noting the process in his announcement for this art drop. We are in an era where processes vary from artist to artist, and sometimes questions arise as to what that process might be so I figured it best to share what is known about the process on this series. Some might not be bothered by it, and some it may be a deal breaker. For me, it came down to finding the right page for me, with minimal preprinted blacks on it.

I'm thrilled to have been able to add another Batman/Gordon page to the collection, while also adding a really nice example from rising star Sherman!