By d. emerson eddy — “The void yawns. It cannot be filled.”

This is Batman musing on the nature of depravity that plagues Gotham City and the abyss that he's devoted his life to cleaning up in Batman: Night Cries by Archie Goodwin, Scott Hampton, and Tracy Hampton-Munsey. I'm a firm believer that you can tell just about any kind of story with Batman. Horror. Crime. Fantasy. Comedy. Light or dark. Off-the-wall bizarre or real to life, even if the idea of a millionaire playboy dressing up as a bat might be patently absurd. I find, though, that Batman and Gotham City make themselves a very good vehicle for some of the darker aspects of society, examining the horrors that we cause to one another with the relative comfort of a protector in the darkness.

And we don't get much darker than Night Cries. This story is set at the very beginning of Commissioner Gordon's career as Commissioner and delves into a series of extreme murders that at first give a hint of a drug war across Gotham, but develop into much more as a connection to abused children is revealed. These kinds of stories often come off as either heavy-handed or too simplistic, risking making light of the problems, but that doesn't happen here. Through Goodwin's narration and dialogue and Hampton's beautifully dark painted artwork, there's a serious and respectful tone achieved, giving the story the right gravity that it needs to be effective.

Goodwin makes this a fairly personal story for Jim Gordon, getting inside Gordon's brain with a condescending voice of narration that I'm led to believe is his interpretation of his father. That added element of Gordon dealing with the cycle of domestic abuse, and the ramifications on his marriage and young James Jr., really get to the heart of the damage that child abuse can cause and continue to cause without dealing with the root issues.

The personal stakes that Gordon has in the case makes you look at what's going on, and how people deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, in a multi-faceted light. How otherwise good people can do horrific acts, not just Gordon. It gives the entire story a sense of tragedy as you empathize ultimately with the villain. Even when juxtaposed against how Batman dealt with his childhood trauma. It's a kind of dark mirror where we see a greater depth to Gotham's flawed heroes.

Hampton's soft, dark and atmospheric artwork takes the story to a different level. There's a kind of ephemeral, almost fable-like nature to his artwork that makes just about everything feel like a dream or a nightmare. Like you're seeing through a fog what might be and it works perfectly for Batman. Child abuse is a nightmare, but there's something comforting about how Hampton's Gordon and Batman stand against the darkness.

There's a tenderness when Batman takes off his cowl to comfort a hurting child, made with a greater impact due to the realism that Hampton presents in his characters and facial expressions. It's truly beautiful work, bathed in swaths of blue and black. Tracy Hampton-Munsey's lettering standing out nicely against the artwork, with the different narration boxes taking on different styles to match the voices that Goodwin gives them.

There's an argument to be made that realism in superhero comics can render them ridiculous, I think that's often true, but if you approach it in the right way, with the right characters and the right creators, you can create something truly magical that gets to the very heart of the real life problems and issues. Batman: Night Cries from Goodwin, Hampton, and Hampton-Munsey does that incredibly well, presenting a touching, disturbing, and thoughtful exploration of the horrors of child abuse with a captivating mystery.

Batman - Night Cries

Batman: Night Cries
Writers: Archie Goodwin & Scott Hampton (co-plotter)
Artist: Scott Hampton
Letterer: Tracy Hampton-Munsey
Publisher: DC Comics
When a series of crimes involving child abuse shocks the citizens of Gotham City, Batman and Commissioner Gordon embark on a quest to find the immoral perpetrator. But when Batman is accused of being the enraged killer of the child abuser, it is up to a young battered girl to come forth and clear his name.
Release Date: August 13, 1992
Price: $5.99 | Also collected in Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin ($11.99)
Buy It Here: Batman - Night Cries; or Tales of the Batman: Archie Goodwin