I don't know how i never noticed the parallels this issue has with the 1st one, or how many clues it leaves for the rest of the series, this is something truly impressive, Jeph Loeb is a very inconsistent writer but when he does his best, he swings really high.

I love how Tim Sale can portray Batman in so many ways with his style, we see Batman as a mysterious figure where we only see his eyes and silhouette, we see Batman fully, we see only his eyes, his cape, there is so much dynamism and emotion in his art. Take page 13 to 14 for example, after Mickey implies that Harvey might have Killed Johnny Viti we only see Batman in 3 panels and in all of the panels we only see his silhouette and his eyes. In the 1st panel he doesn't even speak, but we know what he's feeling, we know those words stayed on his mind. Because of that, in the 2nd panel despite saying to Gordon that neither of them should believe that, that they can't believe that, we know he's unsure if they can just rule that possibility out, and at the last panel we have this beautiful close shot of his face, and the combination of the way he's eyes are draw with the dialogue tells us that he has realized(or is starting to) that this might be bigger than they thought, god bless Tim Sale.

Just like the 1st issue and the rest of the series, it's beautifully paced and has a lot big and small advancements in every front happening, i love the way each of them spend Thanks Giving because it tells so much about each of them, Gordon arrives home late, Harvey is with Gilda in the hospital, worried about her and thinking about how the system allowed the guys who tried to kill him bail from prison in less than an hour, and we see Batman doing his patrol, alone in the middle of all of that emptiness of Gotham ceilings, and pondering if there is anything to be grateful for in the coming year.

The moment with Grundy is such a joy to see, i love when Batman has moments like this, as tragic as his story is i love how he is still capable of caring for people, specially to people who just like him are victim of tragedy, his empathy is one of my favorite traits and i would love to see more moments like this in other stories, so many creative teams tend to focus so much on the dark and cold aspects of him(not complaining) but in the middle of all of that sadness there is a man who, despite his traumas and imperfections, at his core is a beacon of hope, of goodness, a fighter, a light shining in the middle of darkness, a darkness that he chooses to be surrounded with, not just by trauma but because it's his choice. It makes me appreciate even more a lot of the stuff Tom King did in his run. Another stellar issue, what a joy it is to always reread this series. more