Bad Seeds: Streets of Gotham #1: Bad Seeds Week 8 Part 1 Review
Writers: Mariko Tamaki & Matt Fraction
Artists: Bruno Abdias, Rossi Gifford, Gretel Lusky, Jorge
Fornés, Brian Ching & Steve Lieber
Colorists: Pedro Estouco, Miquel Muerto, Gretel Lusky, Dave
Stewart, Adriano Lucas & Lee Loughridge
Letterers: Ariana Maher & Clayton Cowles
Cover Artist: Javi Fernández
Variant Cover Artists: Dustin Nguyen & Javier Rodríguez
Editors: James Reid, Ben Meares & Rob Levin
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $5.99 US | Variant $6.99 US (Card Stock) | Variant
$8.99 US (Foil)
Release Date: October 14, 2026
Batman has battled Vandal Savage’s TUCO squads to prevent
the Police Commissioner from killing untold thousands of Gotham’s citizens.
Along the way, he detected a way to defeat Poison Ivy’s superbloom. As Batman
seeks to end the world-threatening crisis, the Bat-family goes to work.
Batwoman helps keep the Bat-coms operating. Batgirl
Cassandra Cain, her brother Tenji Turner, and her friend Jaya Jayesh protect
the patrons of Bà Bao’s Noodle Shop. Officers Jim Gordon and his partner
Espinoza protect Dr Annika Zeller from a psychopath who escaped from Arkham
Towers. And Nightwing races through the night to prevent a grieving father from
becoming what he hates.
What of other members of the Bat-family? And how do the
residents who remain in Gotham fare? Let's leap into Bad Seeds: Streets of
Gotham #1 and see!
Story
In "The Party," Lenny's friend doesn't want Lenny
to think. The thief wants him to follow instructions. But as they split up to
burgle empty apartments, someone else draws Lenny into her web. In "The
Lock Walk Home," Beth's date has ended in disaster. As she stumbles home,
Beth meets someone who distracts her from her troubles. In "The
Stand," children await their mother's return. With monstrous plants taking
over the streets, two of them battle over who best embodies their inspiration.
But when they hear a scream, the girls rush off to see who they can help.
In the second trio of stories in Bad Seeds: Streets of
Gotham #1, "Primaries" takes readers into the mind of a TUCO soldier.
It demonstrates the qualities Vandal Savage sought for his private army and how
they protect the city. "Balladeers" shows how an aspiring newsmaker
can inspire a disillusioned veteran. The story also shows how, when people's
lives are in danger, heroes prioritize protecting others over their happiness.
Finally, after Gotham’s Police Commissioner urges the inhabitants of a free
society to become informants and Mayor Pamela Isley forces a news anchor to
follow her script, “The Pitch” introduces readers to the people who shape the
news.
As Mariko Tamaki and Matt Fraction hand off storytelling
duties, their stories highlight our need for friends to help us through tough
times. The writers also muse on what makes a society function. While selfish
people prey on their neighbors or commit seemingly victimless crimes, Gotham’s
inhabitants help and protect others. Some people look down on anyone who
doesn’t share their values and outlooks. These groups even use the emergency to
cleanse the city of corrupting influences. Gotham may be suffering through its
latest catastrophe. Still, people reach across the generational divide to help
their elders, protect children, and guide lost young people in Bad Seeds: Streets
of Gotham #1.
Art
In “The Party,” residents light candles and activate
flashlights. A glow surrounds them as they gather food and gravitate toward the
roof. While Lenny looks up to his friend with a bandaged nose, the man swats
his head and points at him. As Bruno Abdias portrays Lenny's unhappiness, Pedro
Estouco links Lenny's balaclava with the red night.
Rossi Gifford opens “The Long Walk Home” with a close-up of
Beth’s heels navigating dense plant life. An overhead shot reveals how vines
and foliage have taken over a playground. But as Beth trips and falls, a boy
perches atop a jungle gym covered with plant growth. Miquel Muerto imbues the
air with a magical quality, as purple, pink, and yellow-green fill the sky.
While Beth's red blazer and green blouse link her with the surrounding greenery
and red flowers, the boy's lavender hoodie ties him to the sky.
In "The Stand," Martha displays her bat-gear on
the coffee table. Amid Gretel Lusky's round, expressive faces, Martha's brother
Lenny wears square glasses. Compared with the darker colors and fluorescent sky
of "The Long Walk Home,” Gretel Lusky lavishes pastels on her art. Lenny's
green shirt links him to his sister's bat-gear, while her yellow gloves and
shirt emblem bind her to hanging-loose Corp's yellow mohawk.
Silhouettes frame the soldiers. Lightbars fill the air with
red-and-blue. Vandal Savage's black suit and white shirt link him to his
black-clad TUCO squads. In "Primaries,” Jorge Fornés’ art suggests that
the voracious plants have moved on after damaging buildings and vehicles. But
amid Dave Stewart's green, gray, and orange, people hang in green webs in Bad
Seeds: Streets of Gotham #1.
In a liquor store, two men and a boy gather around a radio.
A candle in a bottle illuminates the batteries surrounding the radio. As Brian
Ching fills “Balladeers” with action, Jack Dean and Huston Gray take to the
streets wearing jackets and balaclavas. But amid Adriano Lucas’ blue, green,
and red palette, orange intensifies the action, while yellow signals a person
in need.
“The Pitch” begins outside, as Steve Lieber portrays the
damage-strewn street, then repeats the scene after the streetlights go out. A
branch moves through the air, spewing yellow-green liquid, and suggesting how
the plants damaged buildings and vehicles in “Primaries.” Lee Loughridge paints
an office in beige and tan. Among the men, James' orange shirt links with their
leader's hair. But as the three men struggle to get along, Sarah keeps the
peace in a violet dress with pink dots.
Lettering
While Ariana Maher places black uppercase letters in Mariko
Tamaki's stories, offscreen dialogue fills white and colored narrative boxes.
Enlarged dialogue pierces the night in "The Stand," while sound
effects accompany the plant attacks and Lenny's burglar friend.
While Clayton Cowles also fills white balloons with black
uppercase letters in Matt Fraction’s stories, white letters in colored
narrative boxes reveal thoughts and off-camera dialogue. Larger words in white
or black boxes proclaim time and space. Balloons grow spikes amid heightened
emotions and intense situations. But only in "Primaries" do sound
effects enhance the TUCO's battles with plants and their targets. Thanks to DC
Comics for sharing this story with us.
Final Thoughts
Gotham is Batman's city. Yet it's a city in which he wants
everyone to flourish. While Mariko Tamaki portrays the inhabitants'
relationship with their city, the Bat-family looms large for children, while
adults take their protection for granted. Matt Fraction's stories let secondary
members of the Bat-family shine, while also training the spotlight on their
supporters. Yet in all six stories, both authors remind us why, despite all the
reasons to leave, we choose to plant our lives in imperfect places in Bad
Seeds: Streets of Gotham #1.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside see Bad Seeds: Streets of Gotham #1 Preview.
For more of the Bad Seeds Event, see
Poison Ivy #48: Bad Seeds Week 6 Part 1 Review
Batman #14 Bad Seeds Week 7 Part 1 Review
Batgirl #23: Bad Seeds Week 2 Part 2: Preview
