Batman – Page 21 – Now Read This!

August 4, 2013August 2, 2013

Showcase Presents World’s Finest Comics volume 4

By Cary Bates, Bob Haney, Robert Kanigher, Denny O’Neil, Mike Friedrich, Curt Swan, Ross Andru, Dick Dillin, Mike Esposito & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3736-3

For decades Superman and Batman were quintessential superhero partners: the â€œWorld’s Finest teamâ€. The affable champions were best buddies as well as mutually respectful colleagues, and their pairing made sound financial sense since DC’s top heroes could happily cross-pollinate and cross-sell their combined readerships.

This fourth mighty monochrome compendium re-presents the cataclysmic collaborations from the dog days of the 1960’s into the turbulent decade beyond (World’s Finest Comics #174-202, spanning March 1968 to May 1971), as radical shifts in America’s tastes and cultural landscape created such a hunger for more mature and socially relevant stories that even the Cape and Cowl Crusaders were affected – so much so in fact, that the partnership was temporarily suspended: sidelined so that Superman could guest-star with other icons of the DC universe.

However, after a couple of years, the relationship was revitalised and renewed with the World’s Finest Heroes fully restored to their bizarrely apt pre-eminence for another lengthy run until the title was cancelled in the build-up to Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1986.

The increasingly grim escapades begin with ‘Secret of the Double Death-Wish!’ by Cary Bates, Pete Costanza & Jack Abel from #174 (cover-dated March 1968, so actually the last issue of 1967) wherein mysterious voyeurs seemingly kidnap the indomitable heroes and psychologically crush their spirits such that they beg for death.

Smart and devious, this conundrum was definitely old-school but the New Year saw subtle changes as, post-Batman TV show, the industry experienced superheroes waning in favour of war, western and especially supernatural themes and genres.

Thus 1968 saw radical editorial shifts to National/DC and edgier stories of the costumed Boy Scouts began to appear. Iconoclastic penciller Neal Adams first started turning heads and making waves with his stunning covers and a couple of spectacularly gripping Cape & Cowl capers in WFC beginning with ‘The Superman-Batman Revenge Squads!’, scripted by Leo Dorfman and inked by Dick from World’s Finest Comics #175.

The story detailed how the annual contest of wits between the crimebusters was infiltrated by alien and Terran criminal alliances intent on killing their foes whilst they were off guard.

Issue #176 then featured a beguiling thriller in ‘The Superman-Batman Split!’ by Bates, Adams & Giordano. Ostensibly just another alien mystery yarn, this twisty little gem has a surprise ending for all and guest stars Robin, Jimmy Olsen, Supergirl and Batgirl, with the artists’ hyper-dynamic realism lending an aura of solid credibility to even the most fanciful situations, and ushering in an era of gritty veracity to replace the previously anodyne and frequently frivolous Costumed Dramas.

Jim Shooter, Curt Swan & Mike Esposito also edged (but just slightly) towards constructive realism with #177’s ‘Duel of the Crime Kings!’ as Lex Luthor again joined forces with the Joker. This go-round the dastardly duo used time-busting technology to recruit Benedict Arnold, Baron Hieronymus Carl Friedrich von Munchausen and Leonardo Da Vinci to plan crimes for them, only to then fall foul of the temporally displaced persons’ own unique agendasâ€¦

WFC #178 began a 2-part Imaginary Tale with ‘The Has-Been Superman!’ (Bates, Swan & Abel) which saw the Man of Steel lose his Kryptonian powers and subsequently struggle to continue his career as a Batman-style masked crimebuster dubbed Nova. More determined than competent, he soon fell under the influence of criminal mastermind Mr. Socrates and wound up brainwashed and programmed to assassinate the Gotham Guardianâ€¦

The moody suspense saga was interrupted by #179 – a regularly scheduled, all-reprint 80-Page Giant featuring early tales of the team’s formative years and represented in this collection by its striking Adams cover – before the alternate epic concluded in #180 with the gripping ‘Superman’s Perfect Crime!’ by Bates and new regular art team Ross Andru & Espositoâ€¦

During the late 1950s when the company’s editors cautiously expanded the characters’ continuities, they learned that each new tale was an event which added to a nigh-sacred canon, and that what was printed was deeply important to the readers – but no â€œideas manâ€ would let all that aggregated â€œhistoryâ€ stifle a good plot situation or sales generating cover.

Thus â€œImaginary Storiesâ€ were conceived as a way of exploring non-continuity plots and scenarios, devised at a time when editors knew that entertainment trumped consistency and fervently believed that every comic read was somebody’s first and – unless they were very careful – potentially their lastâ€¦

Bates, Â Andru & Esposito also crafted #181’s ‘The Hunter and the Hunted’ wherein an impossibly powerful being from far away in space and time relentlessly pursued and then whisked away the heroes to a world where they were revered as the fathers of the race, whilst in the next issue ‘The Mad Manhunter!’ depicted a suspenseful shocker which found Batman routinely rampaging like a madman due to a curse. Naturally, what seemed was far from what actually wasâ€¦

Another massive con-trick underscored #183’s Dorfman-scripted drama as apes from the future accused the Man of Steel of committing ‘Superman’s Crime of the Ages!’ and Batman and Robin had to arrest their greatest allyâ€¦

In WFC #184 Bates, Swan & Abel concocted another bombastic Imaginary Tale which revealed ‘Robin’s Revenge!’, tracing the troubled sidekick’s progress after Batman was murdered and with Superman powerless to assuage the Boy Wonder’s growing obsession with revengeâ€¦

Robert Kanigher joined his old collaborators Andru & Esposito from #185 onwards, detailing the bizarre story of the ‘The Galactic Gamblers!’ who press-ganged Superman, Batman, Robin and Jimmy to their distant world to act as living stakes and game-pieces in their gladiatorial games of chance, before taking the heroes on a time-tossed 2-part supernatural thriller.

In #186 stories regarding Batman’s Colonial ancestor â€œMad Anthony Wayneâ€ prompted the heroes to travel back to the War of Independence where the Dark Knight was accused of deviltry as ‘The Bat Witch!’ and sentenced to death. Of course, it’s actually the Action Ace who was possessed and became ‘The Demon Superman!’ before all logic and sanity were restored by exorcism and judicious force of armsâ€¦

After the cover to World’s Finest #188 – another reprint Giant – Bates returned in #189 with a still shocking 2-parter beginning in ‘The Man with Superman’s Heart!’ as the Caped Kryptonian crashed to Earth from space and was pronounced Dead On Arrival.

As per his wishes many of his organs were harvested (this was 1969 and still speculative fiction then) and bequeathed to worthy recipients.

When Batman refused to accept any, Superman’s Eyes, Ears, Lungs, Heart and Hands (yes, I know – just go with it) were simply stored – until Luthor stole them and auctioned them to gangland’s highest biddersâ€¦

In the concluding episode, ‘The Final Revenge of Luthor!’ saw a combine of crooks running wild with the transplants bestowing mighty powers Batman and Robin could not combat, but the whole mess had a logical – if astonishingly callous â€“ explanation, and the real Man of Steel soon appeared to save the dayâ€¦

Bates, Andru & Esposito then explored ‘Execution on Krypton!’ in WFC #191, as impossible events on Earth led Superman (and Batman) back to Krypton before he was born to discover how his sainted parents Jor-El and Lara became radicalised college lecturers, and why they were teaching their students all the subversive tricks revolutionaries needed to knowâ€¦

Bob Haney then joined Andru & Esposito from #192 for a dark, Cold War suspense thriller as Superman was captured by the Communist rulers of Lubania and held in ‘The Prison of No Escape!’ When Batman tried to bust him out, he too was arrested and charged with spying by sadistic Colonel Koslov, who utilised all his brainwashing techniques to achieve ‘The Breaking of Superman and Batman!’ in the next issue. However, the vile totalitarian’s torturous treatment disguised an insidious master-plan which the World’s Finest almost failed to foilâ€¦

The popular public response to Mario Puzo’s phenomenal novel The Godfather most likely influenced Haney, Andru & Esposito’s next convoluted 2-parter. Issue #194 took Superman and Batman undercover ‘Inside the Mafia Gang!’ to dismantle the organisation of â€œBig Uncleâ€ Alonzo Scarns from within.

Sadly a head wound muddled the Gotham Gangbuster’s memory and Batman began believing he was actually the Capo di Capo Tutti, condemning Robin and Jimmy to ‘Dig Now, Die Later!’ Helplessly watching, Superman was almost relieved when the real Scarns showed upâ€¦

An era ended with #196 as ‘The Kryptonite Express!’ (Haney, Swan & George Roussos) detailed how a massive meteor shower bombarded America with tons of the deadly green mineral. After most decent citizens gathered up the Green K, a special train was laid on to collect it all and ship it to a place where it could be safely disposed of, and Superman was ordered to stay well away whilst Batman took charge of the FBI operation.

They had no idea that master racketeer and railway fanatic K.C. Jones had plans for the shipment and a guy on the insideâ€¦

After #197 – another all-reprint Superman/Batman Giant – a new era began as the Fastest Man Alive teamed up with the Man of Tomorrow.

DC Editors in the 1960s generally avoided questions like who’s best/strongest/fastest for fear of upsetting some portion of their tenuous and perhaps temporary fan-base, but as the superhero tide turned and the upstart Marvel Comics began making serious inroads into their market, the notion of a definitive race between the almighty Man of Steel and the Scarlet Speedster became an increasingly enticing and sales-worthy proposition.

They had raced twice before (Superman #199 and Flash #175 – August and December 1967) with the result deliberately fudged each time, but when they met for a third round a definitive conclusion was promised – but please remember it’s not about the winning, but only the taking partâ€¦

When World’s Finest became a team-up vehicle for Superman, the Flash again found himself in speedy if contrived competition. ‘Race to Save the Universe!’ and its conclusion ‘Race to Save Time!’ (#198-199, November and December 1970, by Denny O’Neil, Dick Dillin & Joe Giella) upped the stakes as the high-speed heroes were conscripted by the Guardians of the Universe to circumnavigate the cosmos at their greatest velocities to undo the rampage of the mysterious Anachronids, faster-than-light creatures whose pell-mell course throughout creation was actually unwinding time itself.

Little did anybody suspect that Superman’s oldest enemies were behind the entire appalling schemeâ€¦

In the anniversary issue #200, Mike Friedrich, Dillin & Giella focussed on brawling brothers on opposite sides of the teen college scene who were abducted with unruly youth icon Robin and â€œMr. Establishmentâ€ Superman to a distant planet where undying vampiric aliens waged eternal war on each other in ‘Prisoners of the Immortal World!’ Green Lantern then popped in for #201 contesting ‘A Prize of Peril!’ (O’Neil, Dillin & Giella) which would give either Emerald Gladiator or Man of Steel sole jurisdiction of Earth’s skies, and Batman returned for a limited engagement in #202.

The final tale in this compilation, ‘Vengeance of the Tomb-Thing!’ by O’Neil, Dillin & Giella, saw archaeologists unearth something horrific in Egypt as Superman seemingly went mad and attacked his greatest friends and allies. A superb ecological scare-story, this tale changed the Man of Tomorrow’s life foreverâ€¦

These are gloriously smart, increasingly mature comicbook adventures whose dazzling, timeless style has informed the evolution of two media megastars, and they still have the power and punch to enthral even today’s jaded seen it-all audiences.

The contents of this titanic team-up tome are a veritable feast of witty, gritty, pretty thrillers packing as much punch and wonder now as they always have. Utterly entrancing adventure for fans of all ages!
Â© 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 2012 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

May 21, 2013May 20, 2013

Showcase Presents Batman volume 5

By Frank Robbins, Dennis O’Neil, Mike Friedrich, Irv Novick, Bob Brown, Neal Adams, Dick Giordano, Joe Giella & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-85768-853-8

After three seasons (perhaps two and a half would be closer) the overwhelmingly successful Batman TV show ended in March, 1968. It had clocked up 120 episodes and a movie since the US premiere on January 12, 1966 and triggered a global furore of â€œBatmaniaâ€ and indeed hysteria for all things zany and mystery-mannish.

As the series foundered and crashed the global fascination with â€œcampâ€ superheroes – and yes, the term had everything to do with lifestyle choices but absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation, no matter what you and Mel Brooks might think about Men in Tights – burst as quickly as it had boomed, and the Caped Crusader was left with a hard core of dedicated fans and followers who now wanted their hero back.

For character editor Julius Schwartz – who had tried to keep the most ludicrous excesses of the show out whilst still cashing in on his global popularity – the reasoning seemed simple: strip out the tired gimmicks and gaudy paraphernalia and get him back to solving baffling mysteries and facing genuine perils as soon and as thrillingly as possible.

This also meant slowly phasing out the boy sidekickâ€¦

Many readers were now acknowledged as discerning, independent teens and the kid was no longer relevant to them or the changing times. Although the soon-to-be college-bound freshman Teen Wonder would still pop back for the occasional guest-shot yarn, this fifth astoundingly economical monochrome monument to comics ingenuity and narrative brilliance would see him finally spread his wings and fly the nest for an alternating back-up slot in Detective, shared with relative newcomer Batgirl in stirring hip and mod solo sallies.

Collecting the newly independent Batman‘s cases from September 1969 to February 1971 (issues #216-228 of his own title as well as the front halves of Detective Comics #391-407), the 30 stories gathered here – some of the Batman issues were giant reprint editions so only their covers are reproduced within these pages – were written and illustrated by an evolving team of fresh-thinking creators as editor Schwartz lost many of his elite stable to age, attrition and corporate pressure.

However the â€œnew bloodâ€ was fresh only to the Gotham Guardian, not the industry, and their sterling efforts deftly moulded the character into a hero capable of actually working within the new â€œbig thingsâ€ in comics: suspense, horror and the supernaturalâ€¦

During this pivotal period the long slow road to our scarily Dark Knight gradually revealed a harder-edged, grimly serious caped crusader, even whilst carefully expanding the milieu and scope of Batman’s universe – especially his fearsome foes, who slowly ceased to be harmless buffoons and inexorably metamorphosed into the macabre Grand Guignol murder fiends of the early 1940sâ€¦

The transformational process continued here with the Frank Robbins-scripted Detective #391, as ‘The Gal Most Likely to Be – Batman’s Widow!’ (illustrated by Bob Brown & Joe Giella) saw the fleeting return of abortive modern love interest Ginny Jenkins who had become the passing fancy of mobbed-up publisher and extortionist Arnie Arnold.

By crushing the crooked editor’s scam to fleece Gotham’s society eateries, Batman paved the way for Ginny to settle down with the true man of her dreamsâ€¦

Robbins (illustrious creator of newspaper strip Johnny Hazard) always had a deft grip on both light adventure and darker crime capers as seen in issue #392’s ‘I Diedâ€¦ A Thousand Deaths!’ wherein the Gotham Gangbuster’s plan to take down mobster Scap Scarpel went dangerously awry after trusting a less than honest â€œconfidential informantâ€. In Batman #216 (November 1968), Robbins gave faithful butler Alfred a surname (after thirty years of service) by introducing the old retainer’s niece Daphne Pennyworth in ‘Angel – or Devil?’ (art from Irv Novick & Dick Giordano).

The aspiring actress had become ensnared in the coils of a band of very crooked travelling players and nearly became their patsy for murderâ€¦

In an era where teen angst and the counter-culture played an increasingly strident part in the public consciousness, Robin’s role as spokesperson for a generation was becoming increasingly important, with disputes and splits from his senior partner constantly recurring.

A long overdue separation came in Detective #393’s ‘The Combo Caper!’ (Robbins, Brown & Giella) as Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson took a young delinquent with them on their last vacation together, embroiling Batman and Robin in a sinister string of high end gem heistsâ€¦

The partnership ended in Batman #217 and ‘One Bullet Too Many!’ (Robbins, Novick & Giordano) as Dick shipped out for Hudson University and Batman undertook a radical rethink of his mission and goals.

Dapper Gentleman’s Gentleman Alfred became a far more hands-on part of the mythology – like Margery Allingham’s Magersfontein Lugg from the Albert Campion mysteries rather than Wodehouse’s smugly unflappable Jeeves – from this point on: shutting up the stately Manor and moving the Batcave into the basement of the Wayne Foundation in the heart of the city where all the crime and injustice actually lurkedâ€¦

The first case – a brilliant old-fashioned whodunit – of the streamlined setup involved the unsolved murder of a paediatrician, but the real innovation was the creation of a new Wayne Foundation outreach project: the Victims Incorporated Program which saw both superheroism and philanthropy combine to provide justice for those who couldn’t afford to buy itâ€¦

The scheme immediately hit a deadly snag in Detective #394’s ‘A Victim’s Victim!’ (Robbins, Brown & Giella) when a crippled racing car driver came looking for vengeance; claiming Wayne had personally sabotaged his career. It took all of the Dark Detective’s skills to uncover the deadly truthâ€¦

Batman #218 was an all-reprint Giant Annual represented here only by the glorious Murphy Anderson cover, whereas the next tale marked a landmark step forward in the history of the Caped Crusader.

Neal Adams had been producing a stunning succession of mesmerising covers on both Batman and Detective Comics, as well as illustrating a phenomenal run of team-up tales in World’s Finest Comics and The Brave and the Bold, so his inevitable switch to the premier league was hotly anticipated. However Dennis O’Neil’s script for Detective Comics #395’s ‘The Secret of the Waiting Graves’ (January 1970 and inked by Giordano) also instituted a far more mature and sinister – almost gothic – take on the hero as he confronted the psychotic nigh-immortal lovers named Muerto whose passion for each other was fuelled by deadly drugs and sustained by a century of murderâ€¦

Adams’ captivating dynamic hyperrealism was just the final cog in the reconstruction of the epic Batman edifice but it was also an irresistibly attractive one.

Issue #219 led with a cracking political thriller in (Robbins, Novick & Giordano’s) ‘Death Casts the Deciding Vote’ wherein Bruce took his V.I.P. scheme to Washington DC and stumbled into a plot to assassinate an-anti-crime Senator, but the astounding Christmas vignette ‘The Silent Night of the Batman’ (by Mike Friedrich, Adams & Giordano) completely stole the show – and became a revered classic – with its eerily gentle, moving modern interpretation of the Season of Miraclesâ€¦

Adams couldn’t do it all and he didn’t have to. Detective #396 saw artists Brown & Giella up their game in Robbins’ clever contemporary yarn ‘The Brain-Pickers!’

Teen financial wizard Rory Bell cornered the stock market from the back of his freewheeling motorbike, only to be kidnapped by a greedy gang with an eye to a big killing – corporate and otherwise – until the Caped Crimebuster got on their trail whilst Novick & Giordano similarly adapted their styles for Batman #220.

‘This Murder has beenâ€¦ Pre-Recorded!’, scripted by Robbins, saw Bruce finally meet journalist Marla Manning (whose writing inspired the V.I.P. initiative) when an exposÃ© of corrupt practises made her the target of a murder-for-hire veteran.

O’Neil, Adams & Giordano reunited for Detective #397 and another otherworldly mystery when obsessive millionaire art collector Orson Payne resorted to theft and worse in his quest for an unobtainable love in ‘Paint a Picture of Peril!’, whilst #398 saw Robbins, Brown & Giella pose ‘The Poison Pen Puzzle!’ when muckraking gossip columnist Maxine Melanie‘s latest book inspired her murder and an overabundance of perpetrators queuing up to take the creditâ€¦

‘A Bat-Death for Batman!’ by Robbins, Novick & Giordano led in issue #221 as the Dark Knight headed for Germany to track down Nazi war criminals and their bio-agent which turned domestic animals and livestock into rabid killers, whilst the Friedrich-scripted ‘A Hot Time in Gotham Town Tonight!’ saw the Masked Manhunter eradicate the threat of a mystic idol capable of turning the city into smouldering ashes.

Detective #399, by O’Neil, Brown & Giella, introduced anti-Batman campaigner and political hack Arthur Reeves and revealed how ‘Death Comes to a Small, Locked Room!’ in a clever mystery centred on the apparent assassination of a martial arts teacher, whilst Batman #222 featured two tales illustrated by Novick & Giordano.

‘Deadâ€¦ Till Proven Alive!’, written by Robbins, featured a guest shot by Robin as British band The Oliver Twists hit Gotham, mired in speculation that one of that Fabulous Foursome had been killed and secretly replaced (a contemporary conspiracy theory had it that Beatle Paul McCartney had been similarly dealt with), after which Friedrich contributed another superb human interest yarn as an exhausted hero pushed himself beyond his limits to help a deaf mugging victim in ‘The Case of No Consequence!’

The big anniversary Detective Comics #400 introduced a dark counterpoint to the Gotham Gangbuster as driven scientist Kirk Langstrom created a serum to make himself superior to Batman and paid a heavy price in ‘Challenge of the Man-Bat!’ by Robbins, Adams & Giordano.

Batman #223 was another Annual, this time sporting a captivating Curt Swan/Murphy Anderson cover, after which Detective #401 spotlighted Robbins, Brown & Giella’s ‘Target for Tonight!’ as insane playboy hunter Carleton Yager stalked Gotham’s most dangerous game, armed only with his wits, weapons and knowledge of the Dark Knight’s true identityâ€¦

Batman #224 opened an era of eerie psychodramas and manic murder as the hero travelled to New Orleans to solve the mystery murder of a Jazz legend and battled the monstrous Moloch in ‘Carnival of the Cursed’ by O’Neil, Novick & Giordano, after which Detective #402 saw the Dark Knight capture the out-of-control thing that was once Kirk Langstrom and ponder if he had the right to kill or cure the beast in ‘Man or Bat?’ by Robbins, Adams & Giordano.

Batman #225 (O’Neil, Novick & Giordano) saw the murder of divisive talk show host Jonah Jory with witnesses swearing the city’s greatest hero was the killer in ‘Wanted for Murder-One, the Batman’, after which Detective #403 featured the gothic thriller ‘You Die by Mourning!’ (Robbins, Brown & Frank Giacoia, with a splash page by Carmine Infantino), in which the V.I.P. project turned up grieving widow Angie Randall who needed justice for her murdered husband.

This cunning conundrum revolves around the fact that dear dead Laird wasn’t dead yet – but would be tomorrowâ€¦

Detective Comics #404 then offered the magnificent ‘Ghost of the Killer Skies!’ (O’Neil, Adams & Giordano) which found the Masked Manhunter attempting to solve a series of impossible murders on the set of a film about German WWI fighter ace Hans von Hammer.

All evidence seemed to prove that the killer could only be a vengeful phantom, whereas in Batman #226 skewed science produced a new mad menace in ‘The Man with Ten Eyes!’ by Robbins, Novick & Giordano.

A cruel misunderstanding during a robbery pitted security guard Reardon against Batman just as the real thieves detonated a huge explosion. Blinded, traumatised and shell-shocked, Reardon was then subjected to an experimental procedure which allowed him to see through his fingertips but the Vietnam vet blamed the Caped Crimebuster for his freakish fate and determined to extract his vengeance in kindâ€¦

Detective #405 was the inauspicious start to a whole new world of intrigue and adventure as ‘The First of the Assassins!’ (O’Neil, Brown & Giacoia) found the Gotham Guardian seconded to Interpol to solve the murders of fifteen shipping magnates. Whilst struggling to keep the sixteenth healthy against a fusillade of esoteric threats from oriental fiend Tejja, the Dark Night first learned of a vast global League of killersâ€¦

Another groundbreaking narrative strand debuted in Batman #227 in ‘The Demon of Gothos Mansion’ (O’Neil, Novick & Giordano) as Daphne Pennyworth returned, begging help to escape her latest employment as a governess in a remote household. When Batman investigated he discovered a cult of madmen, demonic possession and what less-rational men might consider a captive ghostâ€¦

The epic, slow-boiling battle against the League of Assassins continued in Detective Comics #406 as in ‘Your Servant of Death – Dr.Darrk!’ (by O’Neil, Brown & Giacoia) another tycoon almost dies and Batman at last clashes with the deadly mastermind behind the global campaign of terrorâ€¦ or does he?

This staggering compendium of comics wonderment concludes with Detective #407; the final chapter in a triptych of tales introducing tragic Kirk Langstrom. In ‘Marriage: Impossible!’ (Robbins, Adams, Giordano), the ambitious scientist’s fall from grace is completed when he infects his fiancÃ©e Francine Lee with his mutated curse and forces the Dark Knight into an horrific choiceâ€¦

One last treat here is the cover to Giant Batman #228: another spectacular visual feast from Swan & Anderson which ends this marvellous meander through memory lane in perfect style.

With the game-changing classics in this volume, Batman finally shed his alien-bashing Boy Scout silliness and returned to his original defining concept as a grim relentless avenger of injustice. The next few years would see the hero rise to unparalleled heights of quality so stay tuned: the very best is just around the cornerâ€¦ that dark, dark cornerâ€¦
Â© 1969, 1970, 1971, 2011 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

April 29, 2013April 28, 2013

Trinity volume 1

By Kurt Busiek, Fabian Nicieza, Mark Bagley, Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, Jerry Ordway & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-2277-2

DC’s mythologizing of its most renowned character properties saw their ultimate expression in the ambitious if overly-convoluted year-long publishing event Trinity which revealed the unexpected cosmic significance of the relationship between Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

The series explored the metaphysical underpinnings of the DC Universe through 52 weekly instalments, split into a lead chapter with a connected ancillary episode intended to ultimately combine into a complex web of narrative encompassing the entire multiversal cosmos.

This initial volume – of three, natch – collects issues #1-17 of the omniversal odyssey (from June to October 2008) and was conceived and written by Kurt Busiek, with Fabian Nicieza co-scripting the sidebar stories. The art on the primaries was by Mark Bagley& Art Thibert, with Scott McDaniel, Tom Derenick, Mike Norton and others tag-teaming on the back-upsâ€¦

The reality-busting drama begins with ‘Boys and their Gamesâ€¦’ in the heart of the cosmos where an ancient, immensely powerful and obsessive being struggles to break free of a vast all-encompassing prison. Meanwhile in Keystone City, as their heroic associates take care of the usual distractions, old friends Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne and Diana Prince meet for breakfast and discuss the distressing fact that they have all been enduring the same disturbing dreams of a monster escaping its imprisonmentâ€¦

The first back-up tale ‘In the Morrows to Come’, by Busiek, Nicieza, McDaniel & Andy Owens, casts a light on Castle Branek where dark witch Morgaine Le Fey is accosted by a mysterious mortal dubbed Enigma who offers her the chance to rewrite Reality in her favour, tempting her with glimpses of other Earths and unfamiliar heroes. The first thing they need to do, however, is find a third co-conspirator and then seek out and capture a young girl with a strange knack for reading Tarot cardsâ€¦

As the conspirators’ plans come together, reality begins to warp and wobble around Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman in ‘A Personal Best at Giant Robot Smashing’ (Busiek, Bagley & Thibert) but the heroes are proving remarkably resilient in the face of the bizarre and deadly outbreaks. Things are tougher for Green Lantern John Stewart in ‘It’s Gonna Throw the Car’ (Busiek, Nicieza, Derenick & Wayne Faucher) as alien powerhouse Konvikt and his diminutive mouthpiece and legal advocate Graak crash to Earth and go on a rampage.

Before long the unstoppable ETs are thrashing the entire Justice League in ‘Kplow’ (Busiek, Bagley & Thibert) and only the big three are left to stop themâ€¦ until the big bruiser decks Supermanâ€¦ Meanwhile ‘Earth to Rita’ (Busiek, Nicieza, Norton & Jerry Ordway) reveals how street Tarot reader Marguerita Covas starts getting some very strange readings even as she realises her predictions have been misused by a local gangbanger.

However when the superstitious thug tries to abduct Rita to secure her exclusive services, concerned citizen Jose Delgado steps in too late and finds her dazed and reeling near a pile of dismembered gangstas. Something far more dangerous than the urban vigilante called Gangbuster is watching over the baffled clairvoyantâ€¦

The spectacular struggle against the fully amok Konvikt is going badly, prompting Batman to break off to investigate the aliens’ arrival point in ‘Caped Simoid Thinks So, Hm?’ (Busiek, Bagley, Thibert). During his absence a secretive new player makes use of the melee to surreptitiously brand Wonder Woman with a mystic sigil, whilst ‘World-Somethingâ€¦’ (by Busiek, Nicieza, Norton, Ordway, McDaniel & Owens) reveals how Rita’s dreams contact another alienÂ monster. The bloodthirsty Despero is mercilessly eradicating the forces of his stellar rival Kanjar Ro and, although she doesn’t know how or why, Rita is painfully aware that her foresights will become fact, affecting her and the entire Earthâ€¦

‘Great. Now He’s Holding His Breath.’ (another BBT production) sees the defeat of Konvikt by Batman, who also captures the mystic Howler which branded Wonder Woman. Miles away Rita’s Tarot face cards undergo a bizarre transformation, whilst things get hot for her self-appointed bodyguard Delgado as hired super-freaks Blindside, Throttle and Whiteout attack the ‘Knight in Shiny Armor’ (Busiek, Nicieza, Norton & Mark Farmer) to seize the tarot-readerâ€¦

Barely escaping, the hero and his charge flee, but Tarot is almost oblivious to her personal peril: all she can see is that the pictures on her cards keep changingâ€¦

‘Truth, Justice & the American Wayâ€¦’ follows the recovering Trinity of heroes through the visions of the ever-evolving Tarot. Her attempts to divine the meaning and significance bear no fruit until a horde of Howlers overpower Gangbuster and drag the girl away. Just as ‘Almost’ (Busiek, Nicieza, McDaniel & Owens) shifts focus to Hawkman, as he defeats the seductive Nocturna , the reincarnated warrior stumbles onto the bloodied and brutalised Delgado who is obsessively searching for Rita. His hunt has taken him to StonechatMuseum – where her old Gangsta associates are stealing ancient artefacts – and into accidental combat with the Winged Wonder.

Once the dust settles and amends are made, the two heroes confer and learn that other relics are being taken from museums all over the worldâ€¦

With odd incidences of threes occurring everywhere, the League start researching and discover a link to the â€œprimal creation energies of the universeâ€. A check on the Cosmic Egg holding captive the rogue Guardian of the Universe Krona proves a dead end, but the Amazon’s brand has changed shape and ‘A Third Symbol Now’ is revealed just as Hawkman and Gangbuster arrive.

Soon the Pinioned Paladin’s millennia of knowledge and Batman’s deductive ability have reasoned out a link to Ancient Egyptian Tarot rites and discovered that an army of the Dark Knight’s old enemies have been hired to steal pertinent items and relics for an unknown clientâ€¦

And far across the galaxies Morgaine and Enigma appear to Despero and offer him an equal partnership in controlling all that isâ€¦

In ‘Away from Creation’ (Busiek, Nicieza, Derenick & Faucher), John Stewart gives new Firestorm Jason Rausch a history lesson on Krona, who brought evil into the universe through his hunger for forbidden knowledge, unaware that the rogue Guardian and the Cosmic Egg that holds him are now in the possession of the triumvirate of universal usurpersâ€¦

Back on Earth ‘Have You Tied Him Up, Yet?’ finds Batman fighting off an attempt to brand him with a sigil as a new force of super-foes is formed by the still-unidentified masterminds. Atomic Furnace Sun-Chained-in-Ink, lovelorn super-ape Primat, eerie Trans-Volitional Man and the flamboyant Swashbuckler have their ‘Dreams of Power’ (art by McDaniel & Owens) as do the exultant Morgaine and her two comrades in re-Creationâ€¦

Overcoming the Howler pack assaulting him, the Dark Knight notices that he is acting out of character. All of the Trinity are slowly assuming each others attributes and attitudes, but this hasn’t stopped him deducing who is behind the Tarot-related plot in ‘Crumbs in the Forest’ (still Busiek, Bagley & Thibert) but before he can act a global crisis diverts the JLA’s attentions and forces the team to travel to another dimension, leaving Barbara Gordon, AKA digital information-wizard Oracle, to coordinate Batman’s network of Gotham-based champions on Earth by ‘Making the Pieces Fit’ as a series of macabre and surreal robberies mark the second part of the Dark Trinity’s schemeâ€¦

Anti-matter alternate metahumans the Crime Syndicate of Amerika have often battled the JLA but after their last clash their planet, – a polar opposite of ours where Evil, not Good, is dominant, was devastated by a super weapon called the Void Hound.

In ‘Rough World’ the villains were revealed to have abducted humans from many other Earths as a slave force intended to rebuild and repopulate the shattered world. However, as the Justice League arrived to rescue the victims, Superman became increasing infuriated and unstableâ€¦

On our Earth, the Dark Trinity’s plan continued to unfold as Robin and Nightwing clashed with Primat in ‘Maybe She Doesn’t Like Concrete?’ and Oracle got an inkling of what the bizarre scavenger hunts were actually forâ€¦

‘Distinguished Visitor’ saw the battle in the Anti-Universe seesaw dramatically with each side gaining and loosing ground whilst ‘The Next Step’ (Busiek, Nicieza, Derenick & Faucher) found Hawkman and gangbuster seemingly lose a battle but win the war against Primat and her esoteric allies, after which ‘100101010’ added a new wrinkle to the inter-dimension struggle as GL Stewart was revealed to have been possessed by the devastating Void Hound, and back here reformed villain Edward Nigma investigated the Tarot thefts and found himself accused of being the man behind the mask in ‘Riddle Me This’ from Busiek, Nicieza, Norton & Karl Keselâ€¦

‘That Was a Sonic Boom’ revealed the League’s secret weapon in their war against the CSA, whilst ‘Drop the Coffin and Surrender’ (illustrated by Derenick & Faucher) saw a showdown between Hawkman, Gangbuster and the odd squad turn into an all-out clash involving the Outsiders, Justice Society and Teen Titans which went catastrophically awry when the Ink Chaining the Sun was atomically disruptedâ€¦

In the Anti-Matter realm the JLA’s victory provoked global anarchy and chaos which their attempts to rectify only exacerbated. However, ‘So What Now?’ also forced the enigmatic Enigma to reveal some of his many secrets, but when the victorious heroes gratefully returned to their own world, Superman had been sigil-branded. Dark Trinity: 2, Heroes 0â€¦

With Sun-Chained-in-Ink literally in meltdown, ‘Let the Burning Begin’ (Derenick & Faucher) almost saw Earth’s last sunrise until Supergirl and Geo-force managed to shift the threat into deep space, whilst half a world away Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman tracked down Morgaine, Despero and Enigma for a climactic confrontation in ‘And I Finally See It’ but, even with almost every hero on Earth beside them, things did not go according to plan in ‘A Bit of Overkill’ (Busiek, Nicieza, McDaniel & Owens) and

‘We’ll Finish Things Here’ saw the conniving plotters win the dayâ€¦

Scattered to the Winds’ (art by Norton & Ordway) found the helpless Rita come into her terrifying dormant powers just as Morgaine was ultimately victorious, and the heroic Trinity who inadvertently dictated the Shape of Reality vanished in ‘But So No Longer’ by Busiek, Bagley & Thibertâ€¦

As the universe altered into a new and unknown configuration, the origins of Konvikt were revealed in ‘Honor and Justice’ from Busiek, Nicieza, McDaniel & Owens, and this first volume ends on the incredible sight of an impossible world where there never was was a Man of Tomorrow, Dark Knight or Amazon Avengerâ€¦

This convoluted but compelling collection also includes a vast selection of covers by Carlos Pacheco, Jesus Merino, Allen Passalaqua, Andy Kubert, Edgar Delgado, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair and nine pages of sketches by Bagley and Shane Davis, but, despite being long, frantic and bombastically suspense-filled, it’s just the prologue for the really big story.

To Be Continuedâ€¦
Â© 2008, 2009 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

April 14, 2013April 13, 2013

Batman Chronicles volumes 1 & 2

New, Revised Review

By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, Sheldon Moldoff, Jerry Robinson, George Roussos & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0445-7 & 978-1-4012-0790-8

For anyone who’s read more than a few of these posts, my tastes should be fairly apparent, but in case you’re in any doubt, here’s a flat-out confession: I’m that shabby, crazy old geezer muttering at the bus stop about how things were better before, and all new things are crap and not the same andâ€¦

You get the picture. Now, ignore all that. It’s true but not relevant.

Batman Chronicles is one of many formats re-presenting the earliest Batman stories. The series does so in original, chronological order, foregoing glossy and expensive high-definition paper and reproduction techniques in favour of newsprint-like paper, and the same flat, bright-yet-muted colour palette which graced the originals.

There’s no fuss, fiddle or Foreword, and the book steams straight into the meat of the matter with Volume 1 re-presenting the stunning covers and all Dark Knight material from Detective Comics #27 through #38, (which introduced Robin, The Boy Wonder), and then the landmark Batman #1 covering May 1939-April 1940.

Detective Comics #27 introduced â€œThe Bat-Manâ€ and playboy/dilettante criminologist in ‘The Case of the Chemical Syndicate’ by Bob Kane & collaborator Bill Finger, wherein a cabal of sinister industrialists were successively murdered until an eerie human bat intruded on Police Commissioner Gordon‘s stalled investigation and ruthlessly dealt with the hidden killer.

Issue #28 saw the fugitive vigilante return to crush ‘Frenchy Blake’s Jewel Gang’ before encountering his very first psychopathic killer. ‘The Batman Meets Doctor Death’ was a deadly duel of wits with deranged, greedy General Practitioner Karl Hellfern and his assorted instruments of murderâ€¦

Confident of their new character’s potential, Kane & Finger revived the mad medic for the very next instalment and ‘The Return of Doctor Death’, before Gardner Fox scripted a 2-part shocker which introduced the first bat-plane, Bruce’s girlfriend Julie Madison and undead horror The Monk for an expansive spooky saga ‘Batman Versus The Vampire‘. The gripping yarn then concluded in an epic chase across Eastern Europe and a spectacular climax in a monster-filled castle in issue #32.

Detective Comics #33 featured ‘The Batman Wars Against the Dirigible of Doom’: a blockbusting disaster thriller which just casually slipped in the secret origin of the Gotham Guardian, as prelude to the air-pirate action, after which Euro-trash dastard Duc D’Orterre found his uncanny science and unsavoury appetites no match for the mighty Batman in ‘Peril in Paris’.

Scripter Bill Finger returned in issue #35, pitting the Cowled Crusader against crazed cultists murdering everyone who had seen their sacred jewel in ‘The Case of the Ruby Idol’, although the many deaths were caused by a far more prosaic villainy, after which grotesque criminal genius ‘Professor Hugo Strange’ (inked by new kid Jerry Robinson) debuted with his murderous man-made fog and lightning machine in #36, and all-pervasive ‘The Spies’ ultimately proved no match for the vengeful masked Manhunter in #37.

Detective Comics #38 (April 1940) changed the landscape of comicbooks forever with the introduction of ‘Robin, The Boy Wonder’: child trapeze artist Dick Grayson whose parents were murdered before his eyes and who joined Batman in a lifelong quest for justice, by bringing to justice mobster Boss Zuccoâ€¦

After the Flying Grayson‘s killers were captured, Batman #1 (Spring 1940) opened proceedings with a recycled origin culled from portions of Detective Comics #33 and 34. ‘The Legend of the Batman – Who He Is and How He Came to Be!’ by Fox, Kane & Moldoff offered in two perfect pages what is still the best ever origin of the character, after which ‘The Joker’ (Finger, Kane & Robinson – who produced all the remaining tales in this astonishing premiere issue) introduced the greatest villain in DC’s entire rogues’ gallery via a stunning tale of extortion and wilful wanton murder.

‘Professor Hugo Strange and the Monsters’ followed as the old adversary returned with laboratory-grown hyperthyroid horrors to rampage through the terrified city, and ‘The Cat’ – who later added the suffix ‘Woman’ to her name to avoid any possible doubt or confusion – plied her felonious trade of jewel theft aboard the wrong cruise-liner and fell foul for the first time of the dashing Dynamic Duo.

The initial issue and the first Chronicles edition ended with the ‘The Joker Returns’ as the sinister clown broke jail and resumed his terrifying campaign of murder for fun and profit before â€œdyingâ€ in mortal combat with the Gotham Guardian.

Volume 2 featured more masterpieces from the dawn of comic-book time, re-presenting Detective Comics #39 through to #45, a story from New York World’s Fair Comics 1940, and Batman #2-3, covering May to November 1940 in original publishing order. Following a superb pin-up of the Dynamic Duo by Kane, the tense suspense and all-out action opens with The Horde of the Green Dragonâ€ – oriental Tong killers in Chinatown – from Detective #39 by Finger, Kane & Robinson, before ‘Beware of Clayface!’ found the Dynamic Duo solving a string of murders on a film set which almost saw Julie Madison become the latest victim of a monstrous movie maniacâ€¦

Batman and Robin solved the baffling mystery of a kidnapped boy in Detective #41’s ‘A Master Murderer’ before enjoying their second solo outing in four comics classics from Batman #2 (Summer 1940).

It all began with ‘Joker Meets Cat-Woman‘ (by Finger, Kane, Robinson & extremely impressive new find George Roussos) wherein svelte thief, homicidal jester and a crime syndicate all tussled for the same treasure with the Caped Crusaders caught in the middle.

‘Wolf, the Crime Master’ was a fascinating take on the classic Jekyll and Hyde tragedy after which an insidiousÂ and ingenious murder-mystery ensued in ‘The Case of the Clubfoot Murderers’ before Batman and Robin faced uncanny savages and ruthless showbiz promoters in a poignant monster story ‘The Case of the Missing Link’.

‘Batman and Robin Visit the New York World’s Fair’ from New York World’s Fair Comics which vintage wonderment – by Finger, Kane & Roussos – then followed the vacationing Dynamic Duo as they tracked down a maniac mastermind with a metal-dissolving ray, after which Detective Comics #42 again found the heroes ending another murder maniac’s rampage in ‘The Case of the Prophetic Pictures!’ before clashing with a corrupt mayor in #43’s ‘The Case of the City of Terror!’

An unparallelled hit, the stories perforce expanded their parameters in #44 with the dreamy fantasy of giants and goblins ‘The Land Behind the Light!’, after which Batman #3 (Fall 1940) saw Finger, Kane, Robinson & Roussos rise to even greater heights, beginning with ‘The Strange Case of the Diabolical Puppet Master’: an eerie episode of uncanny mesmerism and infamous espionageâ€¦

Next up was a grisly scheme wherein innocent citizens were mysteriously transformed into specimens of horror and artworks destroyed by the spiteful commands of ‘The Ugliest Man in the World’ before ‘The Crime School For Boys!!’ saw Robin infiltrate a gang who had a cruel and cunning recruitment plan for dead-end kidsâ€¦

‘The Batman vs. The Cat-Woman’ found the larcenous burglar in well over her head when she stole for – and from – the wrong people, and the issue also included a magical Special Feature as ‘The Batman Says’ presented an illustrated prose Law & Order pep-talk crafted by Whitney Ellsworth and Robinson.

This second terrific tome then concludes with a magnificent and horrific Joker jape from Detective Comics #45 with ‘The Case of the Laughing Death’ wherein the Harlequin of Hate devised a campaign of macabre murder against everyone who had defied or offended himâ€¦

Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and their compatriots created an iconography which carried the Batman feature well beyond its allotted life-span until later creators could re-invigorate it. They added a new dimension to children’s readingâ€¦ and their work is still captivatingly accessible.

Moreover, these early stories set the standard for comic superheroes. Whatever you like now, you owe it to these stories. Superman gave us the idea, but writers like Finger and Fox refined and defined the meta-structure of the costumed crime-fighter. Where the Man of Steel was as much Social Force and wish fulfilment as hero, Batman and Robin did what we ordinary mortals wanted to do. They taught bad people the lesson they deserved.

These are tales of elemental power and joyful exuberance, brimming with deep mood and addictive action. Comic book heroics simply don’t come any better.

The history of the American comicbook industry in almost every major aspect stems from the raw, vital and still powerfully compelling tales of twin icons published by DC/National Comics: Superman and Batman. It’s only fair and fitting that both those characters are still going strong and that their earliest adventures can be relived in chronological order in a variety of formats from relatively economical newsprint paperbacks to stunning, deluxe hardcover commemorative Archive editions.

One final thing: I’m still that guy in paragraph one, right? I’ve read these stories many, many times, in every format imaginable, and I’d like to thank whoever decided that they should also be available in as close a facsimile to the originals as we can get these days.

More than anything else, this serves to perfectly recapture the mood and impact of that revolutionary masked avenger and, of course, delights my heavily concealed inner child no end.
Â© 1939, 1940, 2005 DC Comics and Â© 1940, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

April 13, 2013April 12, 2013

Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman: Trinity

New, Revised Review

By Matt Wagner with Dave Stewart & Sean Konot (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-0187-6 (TPB)Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 978-1-4012-0309-2 (HC)

Comics fans – especially aficionados of the superhero genre – have an innate appreciation and love of mythologizing. It lures like a siren, hits like a titan and dictates our lives and fate like Ragnarok arrived. We just can’t help ourselves…

DC comics have been compiling just such a feast of legend since the very creation of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, slowly interweaving these undying fantasy favourites into a rich tapestry of perfect adventure which has taken on a life of its own, inextricably entrenched in the dream-lives of generations of children and the adults they became.

However it was only relatively recently that DC tacitly acknowledged or even realised the imaginative treasure-trove they were sitting on. However, the publishers were quick to respond when they did wise-up, cannily building on the epic, cross-generational appeal of the elder statesman appeal of their stars. Amongst the most impressive of the efforts is this tale, originally released as a three-part (of course) Prestige Format miniseries in 2003.

Auteur Matt Wagner – who has an uncanny gift for re-imagining and updating the raw power of Golden Age classics (as seen in Batman and the Mad Monk or Sandman Mystery Theatre for example) – was tapped to reveal a new, canonical first meeting of the all-conquering triumvirate and he did not disappointâ€¦

Following an effusive Introduction from novelist and A-List comics-scribe Brad Meltzer, the story opens in the Art Deco Metropolis as oafish Clark Kent‘s morning is ruined by an assassin who shoots a commuter train driver and brings the morning rush-hour to a screeching, crashing, cataclysmic haltâ€¦

It soon becomes clear that the subsequent near-disaster has been devised simply to distract and properly assess the mighty Man of Steel. That night a daring raid on S.T.A.R. Labs is ruthlessly foiled by a silent, caped visitor to the â€œCity of Tomorrowâ€ but Superman knows nothing about it until it’s all over.

â€¦And at the bottom of the world more mysterious masked minions at last liberate Superman’s warped and retarded clonal antithesis Bizarro from its icy imprisonment deep beneath the Antarctic mantleâ€¦

Another promising day is spoiled for the reporter by a visit from Bruce Wayne, a reluctant occasional ally, and equally obnoxious whether in his playboy charade or as his true self: the dread Batman.

The visit is a courtesy call between distant colleagues. A terrorist group called â€œThe Purgeâ€ would have obtained samples of Kryptonite if the Dark Knight hadn’t intervened, but now they plan to raid Lex Luthor’s citadel and professional courtesy demanded that Superman be fully apprisedâ€¦

Meanwhile in a most secret hideaway a strangely formidable young girl named Diana auditions for the Most Dangerous Man on Earth: an overlord in need of a perfect warrior to lead his massed forcesâ€¦

Ra’s Al Ghul always gets what he wants and after the charismatic Demon’s Head charms Bizarro with honeyed words of friendship, the freakish doppelganger is only too happy to bring him a present.

Tragically, Russian nuclear submarines are a bit tricky to handle and the super-simpleton manages to drop one of the atomic missiles en route. The lost nuke explodes far from any regular shipping lines, however. Apart from fish, the only creatures affected are a race of immortal women warriors, invisible to mortal eyes and forgotten by Man’s World for millenniaâ€¦

As mysterious mercenary Diana prepares to carry out The Demon’s orders, in Metropolis another Amazon tracks down Superman and politely enquires why he dropped an A-Bomb on her home. Eschewing rash accusations or pointless fisticuffs they soon come to realise the true nature of the horrific event and unite to track the stolen sub to the Sahara, promptly falling into an ambush by Al Ghul’s fanatical forces.

The guns, knives, nerve gas and suicide bombers prove no problem but the booby-trapped nuke is another matter entirelyâ€¦

Barely surviving the detonation, Man of Steel and Princess of Power head for GothamCity to seek the grudging assistance of The Demon’s most implacable foe, but the Dark Knight is already on the case, having just unsuccessfully engaged with Al Ghul’s Amazonian field commander.

Reluctant to admit a need for allies and inherently suspicious of bright and shiny super-people chronically unable to make hard decisions or get their hands dirty, Batman nevertheless enters into a tenuous alliance with the dilettante champions to stop the insane plans of an immortal madman determined to wipe out modern civilisation and cleanse the Earth of toxic humanityâ€¦

Hard-hitting, epic and spectacular, this Wagnerian (you have no idea how long I’ve wanted to use that) saga superbly illustrates the vast gulfs between the so-different heroes and how they nevertheless mesh to form the perfect team. Strongly character-driven throughout, the protracted struggle to defeat Al Ghul and his infamous allies offers tension, humour, mystery and powerful plot-twists galore, all wrapped up in a bombastic feast of frenzied action and supplemented with savvy cameos and guest shots by other, albeit lesser, keystones ofÂ the DCU.

Stunningly illustrated by Wagner, lavishly coloured by Dave Stewart and subtly lettered by Sean Konot, the book also includes a glorious cover gallery and a beautiful Sketchbook section featuring many of the artist’s preliminary drawings and ideas.

When producing this type of tale there’s always the dilemma of whether to trade on current continuity or to deconstruct and attain a more grandiose, mythic feel, but part-time and casual readers need not worry. Wagner has hewn to the evergreen fundamentals to craft a gratifyingly â€œBigâ€ story which still manages to reveal more about the individual stars involved than a year’s worth of periodical publishing.

Trinity is primal adventure: accessible, exciting and rewarding, with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as they should always be but so seldom are. Team ups and retrofits should all be this good.
Â© 2003, 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

March 22, 2013March 15, 2013

Batman and Robin volume 1: Batman Reborn

By Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-85768-213-0

The Final Crisis cost Earth dearly, but only the superheroic community really understood the scale of the true loss. In the process of defeating invading evil god Darkseid, the mighty Batman had been lost.

In the aftermath of that epochal loss, a secret, sustained and epic Battle for the Cowl ensued amongst the fallen hero’s closest allies and disciples before eventually Dick Grayson succeeded his lost mentor.

Carrying on the tradition of the Dark Knight, the new Batman took it upon himself to complete the education of Bruce Wayne‘s League of Assassins-trained son Damian, continuing the rehabilitation with the headstrong and potentially lethal lad as the latest iteration of Robin, the Boy Wonderâ€¦

In 2009, the post-Crisis Dynamic Duo debuted in new series Batman & Robin; core title of a refreshed and edgy franchise with scripter Grant Morrison joined by preferred partner and collaborator Frank Quitely. This collected volume gathers the first six issues and hits the ground running in a spectacular 3-part thriller aptly entitled ‘Batman Reborn’â€¦

It all begins with ‘Domino Effect’ as yet another baroque and murderously bizarre villain invades the benighted city. However the recklessly manic Mr. Toad‘s spectacular rise and fall merely presages the arrival of a much more macabre gang of criminals and their mad master Professor Pygâ€¦

At home in a new Bat Bunker, the Caped Crusaders are undergoing a difficult period of adjustment with the obnoxious Damian constantly testing his unwanted senior partner at every opportunity, but their relationship takes a solid upswing once they start patrolling Gotham in the new flying Batmobileâ€¦

Whilst Pyg is happily mutilating one of his less trustworthy flunkies and turning the fool’s daughter Sasha into his latest slave by burning one of his slave masks onto her face, more of his myriad vassals are raiding Police Headquarters to spring Toad in a bravura display of ruthless abandon. Despite Batman and Robin being on hand, the odiously outrageous freaks comprising ‘The Circus of Strange’ are almost too much for the heroes to handleâ€¦

Once the battle is over, however, Robin again overreacts and sullenly storms off, falling into a subtle trap set by Pygâ€¦

With Batman hot on his trail, Robin faces a dire crisis of conscience and confidence when, in the blistering finale ‘Mommy Made of Nails’, he and the Dark Knight save Sasha from Pyg only to lose her to someone far worseâ€¦

Philip Tan & Jonathan Glapion provided the art for the second story-arc ‘Revenge of the Red Hood’ as the most dangerous contender for Bruce Wayne’s legacy returned with a bloody Plan Bâ€¦

Another orphan taken in by Batman, Jason Todd once served valiantly as the second Boy Wonder, but his many psychological problems remained hidden and unresolved even after he was murdered by the Joker.

Subsequently resurrected by one of the frequent Cosmic Upheavals that plague the DC Universe (Infinite Crisis if you’re interested, but it all happened off-camera and post hocâ€¦), the boy took on the identity of the Red Hood and began cleaning up Gotham his way: using Batman’s training and the merciless tactics of the villains he remorselessly stalked.

When the role of Dark Knight became vacant Todd tried to make the mask and the mission his own, but was resoundingly defeated by Grayson.

Now, still determined to deliver the heroes Gotham City always deserved, he recruits the traumatised Sasha, dragging her from hospital to become his sidekick and ‘Red Right Hand’: beginning a lethal campaign against small-time creeps like Lightning Bug before graduating to the city’s super-criminal aristocracy such as Black Mask, Two-Face and the Penguinâ€¦ Â

Even the arrival and assistance of enigmatic British masked sleuth Oberon Sexton AKA Gravedigger isn’t enough to staunch the terror, and Batman and Robin are compelled to play catch-up as the homicidal vigilantes cut a brutal, bloody swathe through the streets. Both teams are blithely unaware of even greater chaos in store as global crimelord El Penitente, fed up with caped clowns interfering with his business, dispatches the world’s most infallible punisher to deal with the mess. The Eater of Faces is comingâ€¦

The carnage continues until Red Hood and ‘Scarlet’ crash a crime conference and come face to face with the CapeCrimebusters, resulting in a catastrophic but inconclusive clash of arms and ideology. The war comes to an unexpected end when Batman and Robin are soundly defeated and captured by their dark counterparts.

Meanwhile a few miles away a plane lands in Gotham, filled with flayed corpses gorily announcing that ‘Flamingo is Here!’

Before long the ultimate assassin has tracked the Hood and his homely help to their hideout, easily overpowering and humiliating them, but the deadly debacle has given the Dark Knights time to break free for the most dangerous fight of their livesâ€¦

Accompanying the covers and variants (by J.G. Jones, Andy Kubert, Tony S. Daniel, Quitely & Tan) is ‘Batman Redrawn’, an extended sketchbook and commentary section by Morrison, Quitely & Tan, offering an issue-by-issue tour of the re-imagining process that led to the new state of play.

Bold, explosive and breathtaking, this furious renewal and reboot of the World’s most successful comics franchise is a highly-charged, high-octane action extravaganza both impressive and imaginative. If you were bored with Batman, this might well make you a fan all over againâ€¦
Â© 2009, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

March 12, 2013March 11, 2013

Batman Archives volume 7

Bat Arc 7 bk
By Bob Kane, Bill Finger, Lew Sayre Schwartz, Win Mortimer, Jim Mooney, Charles Paris & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-1493-7

Debuting a year after Superman, â€œThe Bat-Manâ€ (joined eventually by Robin, the Boy Wonder) cemented DC/National Comics as the market and conceptual leader of the burgeoning comicbook industry. Having established the parameters of the metahuman in their Man of Tomorrow, the physical mortal perfection and dashing derring-do of the strictly human-scaled adventures starring the Dynamic Duo rapidly became the swashbuckling benchmark by which all other four-colour crimebusters were judged.

By the time of the tales in this sublime seventh deluxe hardback compilation (collecting Batman’s cases from Detective Comics #136-154, cover-dates June 1948 – December 1949) the Gotham Gangbusters were one of the few superhero features to buck the declining trend that was slowly sounding the death knell for flamboyant costumed crusaders.

Just as â€œreal lifeâ€ headline-grabbers were overtaking sheer escapist fantasy, named creator Bob Kane was cutting back. Most of the work here is the fruit of unsung and uncredited super-stars Bill Finger and Dick Sprang – usually inked by the superb Charles Paris – and this period of more realist wonders saw the creation of one last great themed villain and the beginning of real life celebrity guest-stars as the re-emergence and dominance of tough, clever mobsters became the order of the day.

During these years the comics landscape would radically alter with masks and capes drowning under a tidal wave of business suits, Stetsons, space-ships, fighter-jets and tanks as genre tales of gangsters, cowboys, spacemen, ghosts and soldiers supplanted most mystery-men for nearly a decade – an entire comics-buying generation.

Some of these stories’ authors are still unknown to us, although most are correctly attributed to the transcendent Finger. My own humble guesses would be either Edmond Hamilton or Don Cameron – although Alvin Schwartz, David Vern Reed, Ed â€œFranceâ€ Herron and Jack Schiff are also potential contributors at this time – but sadly, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever really know.

Following an effulgent and educational Foreword from industry insider and historian Jim Amash, the drama commences in ‘The Dead Man’s Chest!’ (from Detective #136, with Sprang inking his own pencils) as Gotham Museum trustee Bruce Wayne examined a 17^th century pirate map and recognised his own handwriting disclosing the route to Henry Morgan‘s buried treasure! Soon the millionaire and his ward Dick Grayson were consulting time travel pioneer Professor Carter Nichols and whirling back to the age of buccaneers to solve an incredible mystery in stunning styleâ€¦

The most popular villain of this period was still the Joker and in #137 the Harlequin of Hate again attempted to dumbfound the Dynamic Duo: this time with the perpetration of ‘The Rebus Crimes!’, and Charles Paris inking the scintillating Sprang on a tour de force of comics crime-busting.

The Mountebank of Mirth was back in the very next issue forcing scientist Walter Timmins to commit ‘The Invisible Crimes!’ and running Joker wild until Batman finally crushed his scheme, after which #139’s ‘The Crimes of Jade!’ found the Gotham Guardians infiltrating the city’s exotic Chinatown district in search of bandit/smugglers and an apparently oriental mastermind.

Detective Comics #140 introduced ‘The Riddler!’ (Finger, Sprang & Paris) as cheating carnival con-man Edward Nigma took his obsession with puzzles to a perilous extreme by becoming a costumed criminal and matching wits with the brilliant Batman in a contest that threatened to set the entire city ablaze.

It was back to basics in #141 as ‘Gallery of Public Heroes!’ (illustrated by Bob Kane’s protÃ©gÃ© and ghost Lew Sayre Schwartz & the ever-appealing Paris) revealed how Public Enemy Blackie Nason tried to expose and eliminate all undercover cops through his gang of insidious investigators. His biggest target and eventual downfall was that undisputed master of disguise Batmanâ€¦

Riddler returned in #142, fomenting chaos with ‘Crime’s Puzzle Contest!’ (Sprang & Paris) until the Team Supreme scuppered his hidden scheme to plunder a treasure of the ages, whilst in #143 the crazed crime spree of a tobacconist utterly obsessed with smoking paraphernalia and all forms of pipes blew up in the face of ‘The Pied Piper of Peril!’ (art by Jim Mooney & Paris).

The late 1940’s saw the first slow rise of media-fuelled celebrity culture and fast fading fads and #144 featured a popular bandleader and radio/movie star in ‘Kay Kyser’s Mystery Broadcast!’ by Sprang &Paris. The popular entertainer (just Google Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge to learn more) was touring in Gotham when a ruthless killer forcibly insinuated himself into his band – forcing the musical sharpie to seek help from Batman and Robin by the most convoluted means imaginableâ€¦

‘Robin, the Boy Failure!’ in #145 saw the torrid teen suffer a work-related injury and temporary amnesia, and even after recovery the kid had no memory of his alter ego. Confidence shattered, his mentor took extraordinary steps to effect a full recovery to fighting fettle for the lad, just in time to find that ‘Three’s a Crime’ (another all-Sprang extravaganza) when small-time hood and inveterate gambler Carl C. Cave graduated to big-time crime after seemingly discovering his own unbeatable lucky numberâ€¦

Undersea adventure and a close brush with death was the result of the Dynamic Duo intruding in the domain of costumed pirate ‘Tiger Shark!’ (Sprang & Paris) in #147, but the fishy felon’s alter ego held a shocking secret for socialite Bruce Wayne, after which bold science fiction thrills resulted from #148’s ‘The Experiment of Professor Zero’ (Finger, Sprang & Paris) as a peek into Batman’s crime casebook and trophy room revealed how a mad scientist almost reduced the Gotham Guardians to fatal insignificance with a shrinking gimmickâ€¦

The Joker crashed back into action in #149 undertaking another potty plot to plunder the city with ‘The Sound-Effect Crimes!’ (Finger & Sprang), whilst in #150 ‘The Ghost of Gotham City!’ (Paris inks) seemed to see judge and jury hunted by the spirit of a wrongly convicted man they had sent to the electric chair. The phantom’s short reign of terror only ended after the Dark Knight unravelled an incredible truthâ€¦

With eye-catching, flamboyant villains in decline, creators were compelled to concoct clever stories such as #151’s (all Sprang) delight wherein a string of close calls and rescues of businessmen revealed a character saving lives and collecting promises of future reciprocation in ‘I.O.U. My Life!’ The reasons behind Ben Kole‘s peculiar predilection were both chilling and spellbindingly complexâ€¦

An even more devious Detective tale featured in #152 as ‘The Goblin of Gotham City!’ (with art from Sayre Schwartz & Paris) temporarily halted his campaign of crime after photographer Vicki Vale took a photo which threatened to expose his secret. Unfortunately nobody, including Batman, knew exactly what they had, even after the villain began ruthlessly rubbing out anyone who had seen the snapâ€¦

Fantastic fantasy informed #153 as an incredible invention enabled the Caped Crusader to become ‘The Flying Batman!’ (Sprang & Paris), but the phenomenal exploits of the new Dark Knight had a pitifully prosaic explanation, after which this superb seventh deluxe hardback compilation concludes with the ‘The Underground Railroad of Crime!’ (#154 and drawn by Sayre Schwartz & Paris) wherein an impossible series of escapes from State Prison led an undercover Batman to an ingenious and perfidious program of extortion and plunder as well as the welcome redemption of a hopeless career criminalâ€¦

With glorious covers by Sprang, Bob Kane, Win Mortimer, Jim Mooney and Charles Paris, this is another superb package of timeless masterpieces from a crucial yet long-neglected period which saw a careful repositioning and reformatting of the heroes, as publishers cautiously toned down all things bombastic, macabre and outlandish in favour of a wide variety of mundane mobsters and petty criminals, clever mysteries and personally challenging situations – although there was always some room for the most irrepressibly popular favourites such as Penguin and The Joker.

Thrilling, dazzling and spectacularly swashbuckling, this action-packed compendium provides another perfect snapshot of the Batman’s amazing range from moody avenger to suave swashbuckler to sophisticated Devil-May-Care Detective, in tales which have never lost their edge or their power to enthral and enrapture. Moreover, these sublimely sturdy Archive Editions are without doubt the most luxuriously satisfying way to enjoy them over and over again.
Â© 1948, 1949, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

March 9, 2013March 7, 2013

Batman: Knight and Squire

Batman - Knight and Squire
By Paul Cornell & Jimmy Broxton with Staz Johnson (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3071-5

British Dynamic Duo Knight and Squire first appeared in the cheerfully anodyne, all-ages 1950s – specifically in a throwaway story from Batman #62 (December 1950/January 1951) – as ‘The Batman of England!’

Earl Percy Sheldrake and his son Cyril returned a few years later as part of seminal assemblage ‘The Batmen of All Nations!’ (Detective Comics #215 January 1955) – a tale retrieved from the ranks of funnybook limbo in recent times and included in Batman: Black Casebook – with sequel ‘The Club of Heroes’ appearing in World’s Finest Comics #89, July-August 1957. That one’s reprinted in Showcase Presents World’s Finest volume 1.

The characters had languished in virtual obscurity for decades before fully entering modern continuity as part of Grant Morrison’s build-up to the Death of Batman and Batman Incorporated retro-fittings of the ever-ongoing legend of the Dark Knight dynastyâ€¦

They floated around the brave New World for awhile with guest shots in places like Morrison’s JLA reboot and Battle For the Cowl before finally getting their own 6-issue miniseries (December 2010 – May 2011), courtesy of scripter Paul Cornell and artist Jimmy Broxton (with some layout assistance from Staz Johnson), who rather bit the hand that fed them by producing a far from serious, but captivating quirky and quintessentially English frolicsome fantasy masterpiece.

It all begins, as most things boldly British do, down the pub. However The Time in a Bottle is no ordinary boozer but in fact the favourite hostelry for the United Kingdom’s entire superhuman community: the worthy and the wickedâ€¦

Hero and villain alike can kick back here, taking a load off and enjoying a mellow moment’s peace thanks to a pre-agreed truce on utterly neutral ground, all mystically enforced by magics and wards dating back to the time of Merlinâ€¦

As the half-dozen chapters of ‘For Six’ open it’s the regular first Thursday of the month – and that’s an in-joke for Britain’s comics creator community – with the inn abuzz with costumed crusaders and crazies, all determined to have a good time.

Cyril Sheldrake, current Earl of Wordenshire and second hero to wear the helm and mantle of The Knight, sends his trusty sidekick Beryl Hutchinson – AKA The Squire – to head off a potential problem as established exotics Salt of the Earth, The Milkman, Coalface, The Professional Scotsman and the Black and White Minstrels all tease nervous newcomer The Shrike.

He’d do it himself but he’s chatting with Jarvis Poker, the British Jokerâ€¦

The place is packed tonight in honour of visiting yank celebrity Wildcat, and a host of strange, outrageous and even deadly patrons all bustle about as Beryl chats to the formerly cocky kid who’s also getting a bit of grief because he hasn’t quite decided if he’s a hero or villain yetâ€¦

She’s giving him a potted history of the place when the customary bar fight breaks out but things take an unconventionally dark turn and an actual attempted murder occurs. It would appear that two of these new gritty modern heroes have conspired to circumvent Merlin’s pacifying protectionsâ€¦

Each original issue was supplemented with a hilarious text page which here act as chapter breaks, so after ‘What You Missed If You’re A Non-Brit’ (a glossary of national terms, traits, terminology and concepts adorned with delightful faux small ads), the tale continues as Beryl and Cyril spend a little down-time in rural Wordenshire where the local civilians tackle the insidious threat of The Organ Grinder and his Monkey so as not to bother the off-duty Defenders.

However the pair do rouse themselves to scotch the far more sinister schemes of inter-dimensional invader Major Morris and the deadly Morris Menâ€¦

That’s supplemented by the far-from-serious text feature ‘What Morris Men are Like’â€¦

The saga then kicks into high gear with the third instalment as Britain’s Council for Organised Research announces its latest breakthrough.

C.O.R.’s obsessively romantic Yorkist Professor Merryweather had no idea that her DNA reclamation project would lead to a constitutional crisis after she reconstituted Richard III, but it seems history and Shakespeare hadn’t slandered the Plantagenet at all. The wicked monarch was soon fomenting rebellion, using his benefactor’s technology to resurrect equally troublesome tyrants Edward I, Charles I, William II and the ever-appalling King John and even giving them very modern superpowersâ€¦

Of course Knight, Squire and her now besotted not-boyfriend Shrike were at the vanguard of the British (heroic) Legion mustered to fight for Queen and Country and repel the concerted criminal uprisingâ€¦

Following a history lesson on ‘Cabbages and Kings’, Beryl invited the Shrike back to the Castle for tea, teasing and some secret origins, but things went typically wrong when Cyril’s high tech armour rebelled, going rogue and attacking them all.

The text piece deals with ‘Butlers and Batmen’ before it all goes very dark when lovable celebrity rogue Jarvis Poker gets some very bad news from his doctor and a terrifying follow-up visit from the real Joker.

The CampCriminal was desperately concerned about his national legacy but GothamCity’s Harlequin of Hate is just keen on increasing his ghastly and frankly already astronomical body-count. First on the list is that annoying Shrike kid, but the American psycho-killer has big, bold, bizarre plans to make the UK a completely good guy-free zoneâ€¦

Broken up with a two-part ‘The Knight and Squire Character List’, it all culminates and climaxes with a spectacular and breathtaking showdown after the malevolent Mountebank of Mirth goes on a horrendously imaginative hero-killing spree that decimates the Costumed Champions of Albion: a campaign so shocking that even Britain’s bad-guys end up helping to catch the crazed culpritâ€¦

Rewarding us all for putting up with decades of â€œGor, blimey guv’norâ€ nonsense in American comics whilst simultaneously paying the Yanks back for all those badly researched foggy, cobbled-rooftops-of-London five minutes from Stonehenge stories which littered every aspect of our image in the USA, this witty, self-deprecating, action-packed and deucedly dashing outing perfectly encapsulates all the truly daft things we noble Scions of Empire Commonwealth love and cherish about ourselves.

Stuffed with surreal, outrageous humour, double entendres, quirky characters, catchphrases and the comedy accents beloved by us Brits – Oh, I say, Innit Blud? – and rife with astonishingly cheeky pokes at our frankly indefensible cultural quirks and foibles, this is the perfect book for anyone who loves grand adventure in the inimitable manner of Benny Hill, Monty Python and the Beano.

Also included are covers and variants from Yanick Paquette & Michel Lacombe and Billy Tucci & HiFi, plus a wealth of working art, character designs and sketches by Jimmy Broxton and an unpublished spoof cover in tribute to the immortal Jarvis Pokerâ€¦

February 20, 2013February 19, 2013

Batman: Life After Death

By Tony S. Daniel, Guillem March, Sandu Florea, Norm Rapmund & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-85767-123-2

At the climax of a harrowing and sustained campaign of terror by insidious cabal The Black Hand, Batman was apparently killed (by evil New God Darkseid during the â€œFinal Crisisâ€). Although the news was kept from the general public, the superhero community secretly mourned whilst a small dedicated army of assistants, protÃ©gÃ©s and allies trained over the years by the Dark Knight formed a â€œNetworkâ€ of champions to police GothamCity in the catastrophic days and weeks which followed: marking time until a successor could be foundâ€¦

Most of the Batman-trained task force refuse to believe their inspirational mentor is dead and thus, believing him only lost, have accepted Dick Grayson – first Robin and latterly Nightwing – as the stand-in Gotham Guardian until Bruce Wayne can find his way back to them.

The transition has been bloody and brutal. Grayson had to stop an outcast contender who sought to usurp the legacy of Batman and turn the role of Dark Knight into debased red-handed avenger rather than benign shadowy protector. For now former Robin and erstwhile Red Hood Jason Todd has been defeated, abandoning his quest to become the new Gotham Guardian even as a new iteration of deceased crimelord Black Mask runs rampant in the city.

Crushed and cast aside in the savage gang-war with the triumphant mobster’s mind-controlled False Face Society, mercurial maniac Two-Face has simply vanished, whilst third force The Penguin has been apparently conquered and cowed: remaining only as a meek and compliant vassal of the triumphant newcomer.

Whoever he is, the current Black Mask is as sadistic, psychotic, meticulously methodical and strategically brilliant as his predecessor. His first move had been to free many of Batman’s most maniacal menaces – temporarily stored at Blackgate Prison after the infamous Arkham Asylum was destroyed. Despite the Network’s utmost efforts and the completion of a new high-tech institution, many of the worst inmates remain at largeâ€¦

This terse and occasionally histrionic volume collects the contents of Batman #692-699 (December 2009 – July 2010) revealing the identity of the mastermind behind the mask and recounting the final fate of the pretender as well as heralding the return of a much misunderstood and fearfully underestimated foeâ€¦

Written and primarily pencilled by Tony S. Daniel, the eponymous saga ‘Life After Death’ begins with ‘The Awakening’ (inked by Sandu Florea) as Grayson – grudgingly assisted by Bruce Wayne’s assassin-trained son Damian as the latest Boy Wonder – continues to hunt the escapees and their Machiavellian manipulatorâ€¦

So great was the crisis that the National Guard had been deployed to enforce Martial Law, driving back the False Face legions and more or less cordoning them into the Devil’s Square area of the city.

With the successor Batman and Police Commissioner Jim Gordon forced to play a waiting game, Black Mask and his inner circle – malignant â€œMinistry of Scienceâ€ boffins Fright, Professor Hugo Strange and Dr. Death – go on the offensive by resurrecting a deadly nemesis even as the new director of Arkham seeks a way of undoing the brainwashing techniques used on the False Faces. Hard pressed on all fronts, Grayson seeks the unique assistance of his mentor’s greatest, most secret asset Selina Kyle, and together they discover a new player in the drama. Marco Falcone has returned to Gothamâ€¦

Years ago the original Batman had destroyed the power of the Mafia in the city, driving the last of the â€œMade Menâ€ into exile and breaking the all-pervasive organisation of Carmine â€œThe Romanâ€ Falcone. Now his last surviving son seems intent on using the current chaos to reclaim his inheritance and re-establish the family businessâ€¦

However the gangster has his own setbacks to deal with: his safe has just been broken into and the contents swiped by Catwoman. As well as cash and jewels the vault contained the most valuable and potentially dangerous document in Gothamâ€¦

Luckily for all concerned, Mario doesn’t realise the role his beloved â€œnieceâ€ Kitrina – a very capable and dangerous teenaged cat-burglar in her own right – played in that theftâ€¦

The Ministry of Science now has a ferociously hands-on new member. Concentration Camp survivor Dr. Grant Gruener once haunted Gotham as the scythe-wielding vigilante The Reaper, until his apparent demise at the gauntleted hands of the Dark Knight. After years of genetic tampering and behaviour modification by Strange, the killer is back and ready to resume his crusadeâ€¦

Moreover new information has revealed that the mesmerised False Faces aren’t just enslaved career criminals but also have members recruited from ordinary law-abiding citizens, all equally mind-controlled by the hideous masks they wear – and now someone is killing them, guilty and innocent alikeâ€¦

The campaign of terror continues as the headstrong and potentially lethal latest Robin joins his barely tolerated commanding officer in winnowing the hordes of False Faces before the pair are distracted by different enemy in ‘Charades’.

Bruce Wayne’s (if not Batman’s) ultimate adversary is Dr. Tommy Elliot, a beloved boyhood friend as warped by his own mother’s malign influence as Bruce was reshaped by the murder of his beloved parents.

Eminent surgeon Elliot became the twisted, sadistic and obsessive Hush to punish his only friend and childhood companion: one who had been perpetually held up to the troubled, never-good-enough kid as a perfect example of a son by Elliot’s deranged parent. Tommy even divined the billionaire’s greatest secret – the true identity of the Dark Knightâ€¦

After many deeply personal, psychotic attacks on Wayne’s legacy and Batman’s friends, Hush took the ultimate step in his psychological war against his oldest confidante by surgically transforming himself into Wayne’s mirror image and attempting to entirely usurp his life (see Batman – Streets of Gotham: Hush Money).

The Batman Family had never accepted that their mentor was dead, and all their actions were predicated upon the premise that he would eventually return to reclaim his mantle, so once Catwoman tracked down and emptied all Elliot’s hidden bank accounts Hush began trading on his stolen looks to rebuild his fortune and take another stab at revenge by bankrupting the Wayne financial empire, simultaneously removing the Bat-Network’s crucial operating capital at the same timeâ€¦

Only recently reformed criminal-turned-High Society Private Eye Edward Nigma – still known as The Riddler – seemed to suspect the imposture, with Grayson and his comrades ironically compelled to publicly cover for the faux Bruce to keep their own secretsâ€¦

At a grand benefit to mark the re-opening of Arkham Asylum, Grayson and the undercover Huntress verbally spar with Elliot, Riddler and the Falcones, but when Kitrina perpetrates another robbery Nigma chases her and sustains a life-altering head injuryâ€¦

Meanwhile in the bloody streets The Reaper is taking a brutal toll on Black Mask’s enemies and the general public tooâ€¦

Batman begins his fight back by targeting the suspiciously quiescent Penguin in ‘Fractured Pieces’ even as the newly open Arkham begins to suffer mysterious attacks and its builders and administrators begin succumbing to tragic accidents. But even as the Dark Knight’s strategy prompts a murderous attack on the Bird Bandit by Black Mask forces, Mario has discovered Kitrina’s role in his misfortunes and takes steps to end her interference.

Tragically he has completely underestimated her abilities as he hunts for missing maps of Devil’s Square – and Black Mask’s secret sanctum – which she originally created and has now reclaimedâ€¦

Norm Rapmund joins Florea on inking with ‘Smoke and Mirrors’ as Kitrina begins her brutal retaliation against the Falcones and Batman discovers who she really is. As Mario flees the aftermath, the mob boss is ambushed by the Reaper and only the last minute intervention of Batman and Huntress save him from a grisly end.

On the deadly, near-deserted streets, Riddler’s confusion slowly abates as he begins making connections to a life he’d forgotten and re-experiences a compulsion long controlledâ€¦

The war takes an ugly turn in ‘Mind Games’ when the Penguin at last makes his move: enslaving Batman with Black Mask’s mind-binding gimmicks and dispatching the befuddled crimebuster to even the score – and perhaps even assassinate the murderous mastermind behind everyone’s woesâ€¦

By the time Robin has rescued his brainwashed senior partner, Kitrina has found an ally and mentor of her own – one with no love for the Falcones, Penguin or Black Mask and an agenda all her own – and the Boy Wonder’s unsavoury task is to reconstruct just what horrors Batman has committed since he fell under the spell of the mind-controlling mask.

Armed with inevitable conclusions, hard-won knowledge and unpalatable truths regarding presumed friends and foes, the new Dark Knight at last implacably ends the plague of unrest afflicting Gotham but, even after taking out the Ministry of Science, overcoming the rampaging Reaper and exposing Black Mask, the ‘Liberator’ and his Network allies are acutely aware that the job never ends and the battle is barely begunâ€¦

This collection then concludes with the 2-part ‘Riddle Me This’ (illustrated by Guillem March & colourist Tomeu Morey) as the Prince of Puzzlers encounters a murderous old associate in criminal conjuror Blackspell whose ‘Magic Tricks’ concealed a cunning, years-long revenge scheme.

However as the bloodshed and mystery escalated in ‘A Means to an End’ the increasingly overworked Batman was forced to accept that the obvious suspect might not be the guilty oneâ€¦ nor that all his allies were working with himâ€¦

Torturous, tumultuous, convoluted and challenging, this action-packed, high-octane Fights ‘n’ Tights drama will deliver all the thrills, spills and chill fans could hope for with impressive punch and panache aplenty. Moreover it’s all very, very pretty to look at and even the freshest neophyte is well aware that it’s all just a prelude to the return of the real Dark Knightâ€¦
Â© 2009, 2010 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

January 18, 2013January 20, 2013

Batman: Battle for the Cowl

By Tony S. Daniel, Sandu Florea, Fabian Nicieza & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-4012-2417-2

I’m innately suspicious of and generally hostile to big, bombastic braided crossover events in comics.

Does any other popular art form use them yet, or are they too often simply an excuse to shear cash from hard-up fans?

(Coming Soon to Your Screen: CSIs Las Vegas, Miami, New York and Croydon must race both NCISs, all the various Law & Orders, The Bill and Inspector Montalbano to battle an international conspiracy and discover who ate all the pies on Man vs. Food, with sidebar stories on Holby City, Grey’s Anatomy and Body of Proof, whilst Cold Case investigates the connection to an unsolved Miss Marple poisoning before Dr. Who wraps it up in a time-spanning Christmas Specialâ€¦)

Undoubtedly in terms of mainstream superhero stories, with some key characters spread out over many titles, epochal continuity events can and should be reflected in all the various comicbooks, but the whipping up of buyer’s frenzy until readers don’t dare miss any mention or moment of an event has always struck me as cruel and unusual punishment directed towards the people who love you most – and that’s just abuse, plain and simpleâ€¦

That’s not to say that some pretty impressive yarns haven’t resulted from the practice and undoubtedly the modern wrinkle of producing discrete â€œNested Storylinesâ€ within the broader framework has eased the previously daunting burden somewhat – although that might be more a necessary function of the increasingly important trade paperback/graphic novel market: after all who could even lift a book containing every episode and instalment of Civil War or Crisis on Infinite Earths?

Even so, I prefer not to get caught up in the hype and furore if at all possible, and even re-reread such blockbusters before passing my own awesome, implacable Final Judgementâ€¦

Thus with all the fervour and kerfuffle surrounding the epic death and inevitable resurrection of Batman finally finished and forgotten, now seems the moment to take another look at one the critical elements of the positively vast Batman R.I.P./Final Crisis/Last Rites/Batman Reborn/Return of Bruce Wayne affair to see how it stands bereft of hysteriaâ€¦

Following a harrowing and sustained campaign of terror by insidious cabal The Black Hand, the mighty Batman was apparently killed by diabolical New God Darkseid during the â€œFinal Crisisâ€. Although the news was kept from the general public, the superhero community secretly mourned and a dedicated army of assistants, protÃ©gÃ©s and allies assembled through the years by the Dark Knight formed a â€œNetworkâ€ of champions to police Gotham City in the tumultuous days and weeks that followedâ€¦

This slim volume collects the contents of core miniseries Batman: Battle for the Cowl #1-3 plus themed anthology specials Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1 and Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? #1 (March-July 2009) recounting how with the city descended into chaos as the hard-pressed Network strive against a three-way power struggle whilst hoping to keep their patriarch’s legacy aliveâ€¦

Most of the Batman-trained Network refuse to believe their inspirational mentor is dead and thus, believing him only lost, have urged Dick Grayson – first Robin , now Nightwing – to assume his teacher’s identity again (as he did post-KnightFall during the Batman: Prodigal storyline) until Bruce Wayne can find his way back to them. This, the bereaved junior hero has steadfastly refused to doâ€¦

Written and pencilled by Tony S. Daniel with inks from Sandu Florea, the epic opens during ‘A Hostile Takeover’ with third Robin Tim Drake and his British analogue The Squire valiantly battling a gang of killer clowns only to find their job finished for them by an unseen vigilante who deals out justice with extreme violence and leaves little love-notes declaring â€œI AM BATMANâ€â€¦

As an army of heroes – including The Knight, Wildcat, Birds of Prey, Outsiders and even a new Batwoman work with the police to maintain order, but as the Dark Knight hasn’t been seen for weeks Gotham’s criminal classes are beginning to suspect that something has happened to their greatest nemesisâ€¦

Already moving to consolidate power are The Penguin and Two-Face: each attempting to create an insurmountable powerbase and win complete control of the underworld by the time the Batman shows his face again, but unknown to each a third player has begun his own campaign.

Black Mask is a sadistic psychotic – but a methodical and strategically brilliant one. His first move is to free a busload of Batman’s most maniacal menaces being shipped back to Arkham Asylum and let them loose to add to the chaos and carnageâ€¦

Meanwhile Tim continually presses Nightwing to assume the mantle of the Bat, arguing that even a fake Caped Crusader will have a terrifying calming effect onGotham’s rampant rogues and robbers.

Moreover, it must be one of them, rather than allowing the increasingly out-of-control mystery impostor to steal the role and tarnish the legendâ€¦

Grayson again refuses before heading back to damage control leaving Tim to track the fake as he brutally demolishes and even murders malefactors throughout the city. With a chilling inkling as to the fraud’s identity, Drake himself puts on the cowl and costume to hunt the killer to his hidden lair beneath Gotham’s sewers, even as Bruce Wayne’s assassin-trained son Damian – continuing as the headstrong and potentially lethal latest iteration of Robin, the Boy Wonder – is attacked by liberated lunatics Poison Ivy and Killer Croc and a horde of lesser criminals.

Even after Nightwing swings in to assist, the odds seem hopeless â€¦until the Fake Knight bursts in, all guns blazingâ€¦

‘Army of One’ finds Nightwing battling the killer charlatan to a standstill amidst the bodies of his dead and dying attackers and reaching the same conclusion Tim had. The blood-hungry facsimile is Jason Todd â€¦

Another orphan taken in by Batman, Todd served valiantly as the second Boy Wonder but his psychological problems remained hidden and unresolved and the boy was murdered by the Joker. Subsequently resurrected by one of the frequent Cosmic Upheavals (Infinite Crisis if you’re interested, but it all happened off-camera and post hocâ€¦) that plague the DC Universe, the boy took on the identity of the Red Hood and began cleaning up Gotham his way; using his Bat-training and the merciless tactics of the villains he remorselessly stalked. Now with the role of Dark Knight vacant he intends to become theBatmanGothamCity always deservedâ€¦

Unable to defeat each other, the impasse between Nightwing and the killer Caped Crusader is broken when Birds of Prey Huntress and Black Canary arrive. Todd simply shoots Damian in the chest and escapes whilst the heroes rush to tend the boyâ€¦

Black Mask, meanwhile, is deploying more of the freed Arkham inmates; using them to covertly amp up the death-struggle between Two-Face and the Penguin. Deep below Gotham Tim, still dressed as his teacher, searches Todd’s hideout and encounters a far from friendly Catwomanâ€¦

As Grayson and Alfred doctor the wounded Damian in the Batcave, Black Mask’s sinister subordinates blow up Police Headquarters, whilst Catwoman and Tim search Todd’s files for clues. Her hostility had stemmed from the lad wearing her ex-lover’s clothes, but she’s a lot angrier when the impostor returns and attacksâ€¦

Leaving them both for dead, Todd then moves to his lethal endgame intent on being the ‘Last Man Standing’â€¦

As Nightwing gathers his Network to tackle the mounting chaos, Black Mask unobtrusively takes full control of the underworld and Grayson at last realises that only one man can be allowed to carry the burden of being Batman. All he has to do is beat Jason, who has brutally removed and almost murdered every other contender for the Cowlâ€¦

Book-ending the actual event, but safely tucked in at the back of this book, were a brace of anthology specials scripted by Fabian Nicieza and focussing on some of the supporting characters involved in the affair.

Thus Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1 introduces a new player in ‘The Veil’ – illustrated by Dustin Nguyen (who also provided covers for both comics) – an enigmatic figure hidden in shadows and cogently assessing the situation for both her and our benefit, after which disgraced reporter and ex-Wayne girlfriend ‘Vicki Vale’ begins to investigate her former beau in a tantalising teaser limned by Guillem March.

Temporary hero ‘Stephanie Brown’ (The Spoiler and, briefly, Robin Mark IV) returned to the city after being run out of town by Batman and soon stumbles back into her old ways after seeing her ex-boyfriend Tim Drake hunting the deliriously larcenous Nocturna (art from ChrisCross), whilst Bruce Wayne’s closest confidante and replacement mum ‘Leslie Thompkins’ also snuck back in, determined as ever to open a free clinic for the underprivileged.

Illustrated by Jamie McKelvie, the tale showed why Batman closed her down as she quickly began treating escaped lunatics like the Cavalier, regardless of how many innocents they had harmedâ€¦

The first collection closed with a glimpse at bad cop ‘Harvey Bullock’ (Alex Konat & Mark McKenna) given one more â€œlast chanceâ€ by Commissioner Gordon and determined to find a killer who beheaded his victimsâ€¦

Gotham Gazette: Batman Alive? #1 resumed all of these opened affairs with all the same creators finishing what they started.

‘The Veil’ at last reached her conclusions and passed judgement on the new Batman whilst ‘Harvey Bullock’ identified his mystery killer and opened the doors for a new Azrael to haunt the city’s criminals and ‘Leslie Thompkins’ proved that her help could provide redemption for even the most lost and depraved soulsâ€¦

‘Stephanie Brown’ then began her own road back by taking up her original costumed identity as ‘Vicki Vale’ began piecing together many threads to uncover absentee playboy Bruce’s darkest, most incredible secretâ€¦

This collection also offers the assorted covers and variants the comicbooks generated, dotted throughout the saga, and this tumultuous tome concludes with ‘Building the Network’ Â – a copious collection of pencilled cover art, story-pages and sketches by Daniel that will dazzle and delight those interested in the creative process.

So what’s the verdict? Actually, I’d go with a tentative â€œthumbs upâ€…

There’s not much plot to wrestle with, but the action and drama are kept to an angsty maximum and, even though not all the characters and backstory might be familiar to new or casual readers, the pace and delivery will carry fans of the genre along with suitable panache. Moreover it’s all very, very pretty to look at and even the freshest neophyte is well aware that it’s all just a prelude to the return of the real Dark Knightâ€¦

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