Impressed By Awesomeness

And I think an issue that a lot of the movies have is underemphasizing how important Gotham is as a setting. Like, Gotham is nearly a character in itself. There is something about Gotham that is so distinct, so unsettling, so heightened, but also so beloved by the people in it that depicting it as just any other city will always inherently fall short.

And beyond that, Batman is so distinctly a product of Gotham that if Gotham is depicted as an average city, then Batman and the rogues that accompany him cease to fit within the setting. You could put Superman anywhere in the world, and he's still fundamentally Superman, same with Green Arrow, Flash, Wonder Woman, etc. But you can't take Gotham away from Batman because Gotham being Gotham is what made him.

I think my favorite depictions of Gotham by far are in The Court of Owls and Batman: The Audio Adventures.

Court of Owls starting with the "Gotham is..." column answers is probably my favorite opening to any comic I've read, especially because it becomes a running thread in the comic, but also because it immediately puts Gotham and the people in it as this living, singular, evolving beast.

Then, The Audio Adventures, because it only actually focuses on Batman like 1/3 of the time, just does a fantastic (and often hilarious) job of fleshing out the rest of Gotham and what's generally going on when Batman and co aren't around. The whole podcast feels like its built more on Gotham as a city than Batman as a character.