I just love the darkness of "Batman Vs. Bigby!: A Wolf In Gotham 1." The story begins with Robin receiving a tip from an informant about dead bodies that are inside the old Sinclair Building. With non-police backup on the way, Batman enters the building to check out the situation before Gotham PD can be called. What the caped crusader finds appears to be an animal attack. He needs this information first because many of Gotham's finest are on the take. Among the squatters and junkies that were found dead was an Investment Banker.
Meanwhile, a retirement party is being held for Mr. Austen across town. Not everyone is on board with the retirement of Austen due to his knowledge of all the criminal activity that has taken place through his company. In a secluded room, a Mr. Salinger is preparing to torture and kill a Mr. Ostergard, who claims to have no idea as to what's going on. The apparent head of this organization joins Mrs. Stacks for some cake immediately after giving Salinger the execution order.
Lieutenant Molly Grace is introduced to Batman by the Commissioner as the newly transferred lead detective in charge of these homicides, now known to be referred to as the Wolf Homicides. Batman ends up taking down a suspect, who ends up waking in a strange room in front of a dinosaur. We have been teased that some incident is about to take place three days after these events. We also know that an Operation Alexandria is being prepared by the criminal organization. I immediately ran to Conquest Comics in Bayville, New Jersey, to pick up the next two issues of this story, which will be reviewed another time.
Bill Willingham is the mastermind behind this tale. I love these issues with the variant covers because it seems to add something to the dark feel that this story maintains for the DC Black Label. The book is rated to be read by those age 17 and above. Brian Level, Jay Leisten and Lee Loughridge worked well together in getting across that dark theme. In conclusion, this book really hit me and it reminds me of The Dark Knight series that I absolutely loved on the big screen!
