This city is your Nora...
I sense you now, demon! Your breath upon my back.
The smell of terror in shadows.
Your hands rest heavy upon my shoulders and I hear the pearls around your neck...laughing.
But you are hidden yet and I dare not look into the depths of my own soul.
Where are you, demon?
Answer me!
Where are you?
Gotham Nocturne is the name of an overarching 2022 Detective Comics storyline by Ram V. Following Mariko Tamaki's run, Ram V took over the Detective Comics title from issue #1062 onwards, and was joined by Rafael Albuquerque and Dave Stewart as artists. The run started following the events of Dark Crisis but isn't part of the Dawn of DC initiative.The series is described as a "quintessential Batman story with a gothic opera". The storyline itself runs parallel to Batman (Chip Zdarsky)
Something is terribly wrong with Batman. No matter the tests Bruce takes, nor the numbers he counts, the greatest detective in the world can’t pin down the source of this creeping dread—of his own inner demons and a looming mortality. He’s not alone in the grips of this terror, as it seems real demons are creeping through the shadows of Gotham City, answering the clarion call of a strange melody that’s haunting Gotham…and seems to be turning its denizens into something else.
The storyline is split up in a similar way to an opera
- Overture
- Act I
- Act II
- Intermezzo - Batman: Outlaw
- Act III
Gotham Nocturne includes examples of:
- Continuity Overlap: The series runs parallel to Batman (Chip Zdarsky), and the effects of that book spill over into this one, mainly the events of The Gotham War ostracizing himself from the majority of the Batfamily, but also Lian's inclusion and her interaction with her mother Jade is a lingering plotline from Green Arrow (2023)
- Poorly Disguised Pilot: The Vigil, a title under the We Are Legends initiative that's also written by Ram V, appears in #1069 as an advertisement for their mini-series.
- Urban Fantasy: Gotham Nocturne leans more into this genre in a similar vein to Night of the Owls.
- Writing for the Trade: Since the series is split into different "Acts", the collected versions consist of the issues in each specific "Act".
