The Infected: The Commissioner #1 Review

Bury a Friend

Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Jack Herbert
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 18, 2019

It looks like Jim Gordon is one of those first in, last out kind of guys as we saw him get infected before we knew how big a thing that was and now he's bringing up the rear with his own one-shot.  So, does that affect the issue at all and was it worth the wait?  Let's find out...



The issue opens in Arkham and instead of getting Gordon here we get a pretty good facsimile of Han in the Death Star right before telling Luke to hurry because they are going to have company.  We then get to Gordon as he is waxing poetic about Gotham while we see some pretty iconic, albeit awful sites.  When a Detective Conley meets him up on the rainy rooftop, Gordon says he's been sick, but he is downright insane!  The dialogue here goes between somewhat interesting and kind of a bore, but the ending is worth it and again, it's insane!

We then get to see a little behind the scenes of Batman/Superman #1 before going off to see Batgirl call 911 because the National Guard are in Gotham right before she gets attacked by Anarky and his crew.  I wish Paul Jenkins would clue us in to what he's doing here and who he is doing it with because more than halfway through this issue I was still just confused by most of what I was reading.

We continue with more of the crazy poet rantings of Gordon and then switch off to a solo fight between Batgirl and Anarky.  After arguing a bit, Batgirl runs off and Gordon takes off his glasses but instead of a witty quip followed by Roger Daltry screaming, we see he is infected...something we knew for six months now!

I really wish I had more to report here, but this issue is a complete waste of any time and money you would put into it.  It does nothing at all to further the Infected story, comes out the day the main story closes out in Batman/Superman and is just a bore.  The art is good, I will say that, but even that is not good enough to make me recommend this.

Bits and Pieces:

If you are looking for a confusing and seemingly random issue with the Infected name slapped on it, then this is for you.  The rest of us who have known that Gordon has been infected since the middle of last summer can just pass it on by because you will learn nothing else except that Gordon might be able to give Billie Eilish a run for her money if he can get some of his new, dark ideas on wax.

3.0/10