By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-56389-828-4
This second collection of Dark Knight adventures in monochrome is gathered from the back of the first sixteen issues of the Batman anthology title Gotham Knights, a showcase feature that derived from the success of the original miniseries collected in Volume 1 (ISBN 1-85286-987-9). Also included are five never before printed mini classics.
Kicking off proceedings is the incongruous ‘Case Study’, with Paul Dini’s Joker origin oddly over-rendered by Alex Ross. Much more satisfying is the hilarious ‘Bats, Man’ by Ty Templeton and Marie Severin, one of the most under-rated cartoon humorists of all time, which is followed by the charming and insightful ‘A Matter of Trust’ by Chris Claremont, Steve Rude and Mark Buckingham. The powerful reverie ‘Night After Night’ by Kelley Puckett and Tim Sale is followed by a classic duel of detective wits in ‘Fortunes’ by Steven T. Seagle and Daniel Torres.
Warren Ellis’ cynical procedural ‘To Become the Bat’ is sparsely illustrated by Jim Lee, whilst John Byrne returns to a simpler time in nostalgic ‘Batman with Robin, the Boy Wonder’. ‘Broken Nose’ is a sharp and visceral Paul Pope memory poem, and John Arcudi and Tony Salmons’ ‘Greetings from… Gotham City’ is an engaging caper yarn.
‘Hide and Seek’ is a moody tale with a twist, courtesy of Paul Levitz and Paul Rivoche, and an obvious arch foe comes off second best in Walter Simonson and John Paul Leon’s ‘The Riddle’. Arcudi returns to script the sadly lack-lustre ‘A Game of Bat and Rat’ for John Buscema to draw, but Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are on top form with the dark and sinister ‘Scars’. Howard Chaykin returns Batman to a wartime era for some Bund-busting with Catwoman in the superbly illustrated ‘Blackout’, drawn with glorious dash by Jordi Bernet, and José Luis GarcÃa-López does the same with Eisenhower’s mythical America in ‘Guardian’, as Alan Brennert scripts the first meeting between the Caped Crusader and Gotham’s first protector, the original Green Lantern.
Bob Kanigher and Kyle Baker unwisely resurrect the Batman Junior concept in ‘Snow Job’, Dave Gibbons graphically recalls simpler times in ‘The Black and White Bandit’ and Harlan Ellison and Gene Ha combine brains with brawn in ‘Funny Money’. Tom Peyer reunites Gene Colan and Tom Palmer for the pocket horror story ‘Stormy Nether’, while the runaway best tales are the utterly brilliant story of a wager between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, and the chilling psycho-drama duel of will between Batman and the Scarecrow. ‘The Bat No More’ is by Alan Grant and the astonishing Enrique Breccia, whilst ‘The Bet’ is written by Paul Dini and captivatingly depicted by the hugely under-rated Ronnie Del Carmen.
Batman is a character of seemingly unlimited flexibility and gifted with enough discrete history to provide apparently endless reinterpretation. These short tales, ignoring their gimmick of colour, show what Batman needs more than anything else is a venue for brief, complete tales as well as convoluted, over-long sagas.
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