Credit: Spotify, DC Comics
Cycling through my Spotify playlists to get me through a week of OT at work, I saw an add that suggested I try DC Comics latest outing. With the boom in popularity of podcasts & audio books, it comes to no surprise that comic publishers would want to test the waters in providing content of our favorite heroes in a likewise manner. What is a welcomed surprise is how they went about doing it!
Credit: Lee Bermejo and DC Comics
Gotham City is plagued, yet again, by another deranged criminal that leaves GCPD puzzled. The killer, nicknamed by the press as “The Harvester,” shows no real pattern as to how they choose their victims. But the M.O. is the same. Each new casualty is found missing organs and, believe me, the details only get more gruesome!
Credit: DC Comics
Enter Bruce Wayne like you’ve never seen him before as a Forensic Pathologist at Gotham Hospital! Having examined the bodies of every Harvester victim and performing well beyond regulated hours of surgical time, Bruce catches heat from the head doctor himself, Thomas Wayne! That’s right, Mom and Dad are along for the ride on this one!
Credit: Showtime
Having been a huge fan of the Showtime series “Dexter,” I feel like “Batman: Unburied” is DC's homage to the show. Bruce Wayne reimagined as a medical examiner speaks from the victim’s perspective as he inspects the body while his assistant, a medical student, is asked to read the police report out loud. His interpretation of the police findings alongside his own is so reminiscent of the Showtime antihero!
Credit: Warner Brothers Studios and DC Comics
The killer himself develops a fondness for Bruce after propagating recordings of his latest examination. So much so that he follows him home and describes a visit with his mom! In this particular scene we also are treated to a tease of what seems to be a PTSD response to Martha’s pearl necklace accidentally bursting from it’s string and spilling to the floor, almost hinting to a memory that “never happened?!”
Credit: Warner Brothers Studios and DC Comics
With creative team Alex Kemp as Director and David Goyer as lead writer, “Batman Unburied” is really starting out in stride! Goyer having already been at the writing helm on the DC/WB front as screenwriter for the “Nolan Trilogy,” including “Batman Begins,” “The Dark Knight” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” he truly brings the feel of a veteran Batman storyteller to the project! The 4 episodes so far also features newer guest writers that add their own spin to the newly spawned epic that has left me foaming at the mouth for the next one!
Credit: David Higgs and dccomics.com
The biggest impression on me is the voice of the leading role, Bruce Wayne himself, played by Winston Duke. His take on one of my favorite characters of all time is haunting and methodical. He lends a powerful yet vulnerable voice that creates a very relatable character with obvious layers to be explored.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Also a veteran in superhero portrayals on the big screen, Duke was casted as M’baku in “Avengers: Infity War,” “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Endgame!” He must have left a good impression with someone else as well seeing as he is tied to another Black Panther spinoff that we are waiting to hear more about soon!
Credit: Spotify
The entire cast executes their performances masterfully and the writing is perfectly paced for what is primed to be a 10 episode thrill ride! With a little over half the story left to be told, don’t wait a moment more to join in on the excitement! If you enjoy it even a fraction as much as I have, it’ll be worth the listen! Spotify and DC Comics have definitely outdone themselves and I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
Hope you tune in and, as always,
Mahalo for reading,
Kk