I was really excited to see Tynion takeover the main Batman book (I was not a fan of Tom King’s overly long run). While I don’t think this hits the highs of his other work at DC, there is a lot to like here. Especially when it comes to his new creations like Underbroker and The Designer. Underbroker fills a nice niche among the criminal underworld that wouldn’t feel out of place in something like John Wick and the lore of The Designer is a compelling explanation for how Gotham’s rogues transitioned from Silver Age shenanigans to the more sinister and cruel Dark Age. I don’t find Punchline all that interesting in this story, but she makes a decent foil for Joker to bounce jokes off of and the character really finds her footing in other stories (namely her own one-shot which is fantastic).

A complaint I have is the sheer amount of characters in this book. Tynion does well with the Bat-Family and his regular villains, but the assassins for hire like Cheshire, Gunsmith, and Merlyn don’t last long enough to make a good impression. Their small stories at the end of the volume alleviate this somewhat, but I wish they were placed throughout the story instead of at the very end. Overall, Dark Designs is a decent romp through Gotham that has some interesting ideas, but is ultimately just a set up sets up for the next volume. Hopefully Joker War sticks the landing.