Category: Batman

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 10: 1-4012-1531-9 ISBN 13: 978-1-4012-1531-6

This third and final collection of short Batman adventures free of the hindrance of colour, despite being in many ways the weakest of the trilogy, is still a wonderfully varied and effective package showing the versatility of the character and the mercurial way in which creators as much as audiences respond to him.

Collecting the monochrome back-ups from issues #17-49 of the anthology Bat-title Gotham Knights, the thirty-three mini-epics here display just how far both art and story can go in terms of experimentation and entertainment. With so much material on offer detailed analysis is too space consuming for this forum, so a list of contributing creators must suffice, but I will call your attention to a few extra-special gems.

Amongst the pages art lovers should especially seek out are Aaron Weisenfeld’s ‘A Moment in the Light’, scripted by Joe Kelly, ‘The Call’, written by Mark Schultz, drawn in the classical manner by Claudio Castellini, and the largely pantomimic ‘The Bottom Line’ written by Michael Golden and illustrated by Jason Pearson.

The main body of work is the result of canny craftsmanship from the distinguished individuals listed below, and although I’d love to cover them all I will give a special mention to Mick McMahon and Dave Gibbons for bringing a slice of 2000AD style and bad taste to the mix with ‘Fat City’, Will Pfeifer and Brent Anderson’s charming ‘Urban Renewal’, ‘Sunrise’ from Alex Garland and Sean Phillips, and the startlingly punchy ‘Cornered’ by Brian Azzarello and Jim Mahfood.

Without doubt the three most rewarding pieces are ‘Day and Nite in Black and White’ by Mike Carlin, Dan DeCarlo and Terry Austin, ‘Last Call at McSurley’s’ by Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis and Mark Farmer, and the wonderful ‘Here be Monsters’ by Paul Grist and Darwyn Cooke, all distinctly true to the nature of the Caped Crusader, and each utterly unique unto themselves.

So without any intended slight to Christian Alamy, Doug Alexander, Mark Askwith, Chris Bachalo, Hilary Barta, John Bolton, Philip Bond, Ed Brubaker, Mike Carey, Tommy Castillo, Eric Cherry, Denys Cowan, Todd Dezago, Danielle Dwyer, John Floyd, Nathan Fox, Dick Giordano, Rob Haynes, Geoff Johns, Michael William Kaluta, Paul Kupperberg, , Steve Mannion, Dwayne McDuffie, Don McGregor, Mike Mignola, Scott Morse, Troy Nixey, Anne Nocenti, John Ostrander, Scott Peterson, Whilce Portacio, John Proctor, Rodney Ramos, Dan Raspler, Sal Regla, Robert Rodi, Julius Schwartz, Ryan Sook, Karl Story, Kimo Temperance, Jill Thompson, Cyrus Voris, John Watkiss, Mike Wieringo, Judd Winnick, Bill Wray and Danijel Zezelj, I’ll close with a heartfelt recommendation to complete your set of Batman: Black & White volumes.

They’re great, they’re satisfyingly varied and they’re a sure and certain message to publishers that there is still a market for short stories and anthology books.

© 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-56389-828-4

This second collection of Dark Knight adventures in monochrome is gathered from the back of the first sixteen issues of the Batman anthology title Gotham Knights, a showcase feature that derived from the success of the original miniseries collected in Volume 1 (ISBN 1-85286-987-9). Also included are five never before printed mini classics.

Kicking off proceedings is the incongruous ‘Case Study’, with Paul Dini’s Joker origin oddly over-rendered by Alex Ross. Much more satisfying is the hilarious ‘Bats, Man’ by Ty Templeton and Marie Severin, one of the most under-rated cartoon humorists of all time, which is followed by the charming and insightful ‘A Matter of Trust’ by Chris Claremont, Steve Rude and Mark Buckingham. The powerful reverie ‘Night After Night’ by Kelley Puckett and Tim Sale is followed by a classic duel of detective wits in ‘Fortunes’ by Steven T. Seagle and Daniel Torres.

Warren Ellis’ cynical procedural ‘To Become the Bat’ is sparsely illustrated by Jim Lee, whilst John Byrne returns to a simpler time in nostalgic ‘Batman with Robin, the Boy Wonder’. ‘Broken Nose’ is a sharp and visceral Paul Pope memory poem, and John Arcudi and Tony Salmons’ ‘Greetings from… Gotham City’ is an engaging caper yarn.

‘Hide and Seek’ is a moody tale with a twist, courtesy of Paul Levitz and Paul Rivoche, and an obvious arch foe comes off second best in Walter Simonson and John Paul Leon’s ‘The Riddle’. Arcudi returns to script the sadly lack-lustre ‘A Game of Bat and Rat’ for John Buscema to draw, but Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are on top form with the dark and sinister ‘Scars’. Howard Chaykin returns Batman to a wartime era for some Bund-busting with Catwoman in the superbly illustrated ‘Blackout’, drawn with glorious dash by Jordi Bernet, and José Luis García-López does the same with Eisenhower’s mythical America in ‘Guardian’, as Alan Brennert scripts the first meeting between the Caped Crusader and Gotham’s first protector, the original Green Lantern.

Bob Kanigher and Kyle Baker unwisely resurrect the Batman Junior concept in ‘Snow Job’, Dave Gibbons graphically recalls simpler times in ‘The Black and White Bandit’ and Harlan Ellison and Gene Ha combine brains with brawn in ‘Funny Money’. Tom Peyer reunites Gene Colan and Tom Palmer for the pocket horror story ‘Stormy Nether’, while the runaway best tales are the utterly brilliant story of a wager between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, and the chilling psycho-drama duel of will between Batman and the Scarecrow. ‘The Bat No More’ is by Alan Grant and the astonishing Enrique Breccia, whilst ‘The Bet’ is written by Paul Dini and captivatingly depicted by the hugely under-rated Ronnie Del Carmen.

Batman is a character of seemingly unlimited flexibility and gifted with enough discrete history to provide apparently endless reinterpretation. These short tales, ignoring their gimmick of colour, show what Batman needs more than anything else is a venue for brief, complete tales as well as convoluted, over-long sagas.

© 2000, 2001 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-85286-987-9

This is a frankly spectacular showing from some of the comics world’s greatest talents producing short complete tales without benefit or hindrance of colour. Ranging from poignant (‘Good Evening, Midnight’ written and illustrated by Klaus Janson and ‘Heroes’ by Archie Goodwin and Gary Gianni), to tragic (Bruce Timm’s ‘Two of a Kind’) and the just plain weird (‘The Third Mask’ by Katsuhiro Otomo) these highly personal takes from major league creators show why the Batman continues to grip the public consciousness.

As much a thematic metaphor as an artistic exercise, the stories were not restricted to current DC continuity, but explored the character in impressionistic terms. Originally produced as a four-issue miniseries the book also features ‘Perpetual Mourning’ by Ted McKeever, ‘The Hunt’ by Joe Kubert, ‘Petty Crimes’ by Howard Chaykin, and Archie Goodwin also scripted the eerily memorable Jazz thriller ‘The Devil’s Trumpet’ illustrated by the incredible José Muñoz.

Walter Simonson crafts the science myth ‘Legend’ whilst Jan Strnad and Richard Corben reunite for ‘Monster Maker’, as urbanly bleak as Kent William’s ‘Dead Boys Eyes’, whilst Chuck Dixon and the much-missed Jorge Zaffino’s ‘The Devil’s Children’ examines the police’s unique attitude to the Gotham Guardian.

Neil Gaiman and Simon Bisley’s ‘A Black and White World’ is probably the weakest entry in the book, relying on clichéd “Fourth Wall cleverness” rather than any actual plot, but Andrew Helfer and Liberatore’s insightful kidnap tale ‘In Dreams’ delivers a punch, as does Matt Wagner’s stylish romp ‘Heist’. ‘Bent Twig’ is an intense whimsy from Bill Sienkiewicz with a seasonal theme, as is ‘A Slaying Song Tonight’ by Dennis O’Neil and Teddy Kristiansen.

Brian Bolland produces the beautifully disturbed ‘An Innocent Guy’ and Strnad returns to script ‘Monsters in the Closet’ for the brilliant Kevin Nowlan, as does Denny O’Neil for Brian Stelfreeze with ‘Leavetaking’, and the book is well supplemented with pin-ups and sketch pages from the likes of Michael Allred, Moebius, Mikchal Kaluta, Tony Salmons, P. Craig Russell, Marc Silvestri, Alex Ross and Neal Adams.

The miniseries won numerous awards and its success led to a regular black-and-white slot in the monthly anthology comic Gotham Knights the contents of which are collected in two subsequent volumes.
© 2000 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Paul Dini & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-575-3

DC comics are sitting on a goldmine of quality product to repackage as trade paperbacks and graphic novels, and the sooner they begin utilising it, the better it will be for the industry. They have been publishing child friendly versions of their key characters, most notably Batman, ever since the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm cartoon series first aired in the 1990s.

These adventures are consistently some of the best comics produced of the last two decades and why they aren’t permanently in print, if only as a way of attracting new young readers to the medium, has always baffled me.

One step towards correcting this problem is the subject under discussion here. Collecting the eponymous three issue miniseries, plus the one-shot Love on the Lam and a short story from much-missed Batman anthology comic Gotham Knights.

The fourteenth issue of the aforementioned anthology yielded up the brilliantly dark but amusing tale ‘The Bet’, written by Dini and illustrated by Ronnie Del Carmen. Incarcerated once more in Arkham Asylum, the Joker’s would-be paramour Harley Quinn and the irresistible, but toxic Poison Ivy indulge in a little wager to pass the time. Namely, who can kiss the most men whilst remaining in custody. This razor-sharp little tale manages to combine innocent sexiness with genuine sentiment, and still packs a killer punch-line.

Judd Winick and Joe Chiodo rather over-egg the pudding with their earnest but heavy-handed adventure ‘Love on the Lam’. Unsure of its audience, this caper sees The Joker dump Harley once again, so she teams with Ivy in an attempt to steal enough money to buy him back. Stuffed with guest-stars, and fully painted by Chiodo, this is an unwieldy piece of eye-candy, but it does serve to clear the palette for the final tale.

Dini reunites with artist Bruce Timm, ably assisted by Shane Glines, for a joyous romp as the ‘Bosom Buddies’ have a spat that wrecks half of Gotham before escaping to the Amazon jungle (or is that Rain Forest these days?) together, to take over a small country responsible for much of the region’s deforestation. Once Batman gets involved the story shifts to Hollywood and the very last word in creative commentary on Superheroes in the movie business. This is a frantic, laugh-packed hoot that manages to be daring and demure by turns. An absolute delight, and well worth the price of admission.

© 2001, 2004, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-738-5 (hardcover) 1-56389-868-3 (softcover)

Oddly disappointing, predictable but visually stunning sequel to the magnificent Batman: The Long Halloween (ISBN: 1-5389-469-6) which follows the survivors of that epic as they regroup and assess their futures.

Catwoman returns to Gotham City as the survivors of the decimated Falcone crime family assess the damage caused by the death of their patriarch Carmine “The Roman”, and the revelation that his son was the serial killer who murdered members of the mob and his own relatives on each public holiday.

A despondent Batman goes about his business heartsick that his old friend Harvey Dent has becoming one of the growing army of criminal super-freaks that increasingly haunt his city, and aware that he cannot keep dividing his attention between them and the insidious gangsters that infest every corner of Gotham. Jim Gordon also worries at the events that drove a wedge between himself and his fellow crime-busters. Nobody seems sure that the bad days are over, or that the right guys are have been punished.

Now another seasonal serial killer is loose. This one is throttling cops and stringing them up. With each corpse there is a child’s bloody puzzle, a semi-complete game of “Hangman”. Are these deaths connected to the Holiday Killer? And now, when a young circus performer sees his parents murdered before his eyes, Bruce Wayne is moved to take the child into his home, and under his wing…

By stringing together so many threads, author Loeb loses a little focus here. This is not a bad story, just uncomfortably cramped and a touch undisciplined. But, quite frankly, in comparison to its predecessor, it was always going to come up short.

Despite all I’ve said this is still an above-average Bat-thriller, and Tim Sale’s moody depictions, especially of the baroque and bizarre Rogues Gallery (mandatory characters in any modern adventure of the Dark Knight) not to mention his unique take on the fledgling Robin make this a book worth reading, and re-reading.

© 1999, 2000 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-5389-427-0 (hardcover) 1-5389-469-6 (softcover)

The creative team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale have tackled many iconic characters in many landmark tales, but one of their earliest is still, to my mind, their best.

Set during the Batman: Year One scenario created by Frank Miller, and originally released as a 13 part miniseries (running from Halloween to Halloween) it details the early alliance of Police Captain Jim Gordon, District Attorney Harvey Dent and the mysterious vigilante The Batman to destroy the unassailable mob boss who runs Gotham City; Carmine Falcone – “The Roman”.

Trenchant with narrative foreboding – long time fans already know the tragedies in store for all the participants although total neophytes won’t be left wondering – this gripping Noir thriller effortlessly carries the reader along on a trail of tension as a mysterious serial killer stalks The Roman’s world, slaughtering close family and criminal employees, once a month, on every public holiday.

Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Valentine’s Day and so on, each hit crushing more of The Roman’s perfect world, just as the three dedicated crime-busters had secretly sworn to. Is the Holiday Killer a rival mobster, a victim of criminality, one of the newly ubiquitous super-freaks such as the Joker, Scarecrow, or Mad Hatter, or has perhaps one of our heroes stepped over a line in their zeal for Justice? And what part does the sultry Catwoman play in all this?

Effortlessly blending the realms of the mobster with Batman’s more usual super-foes (most of whom make a memorable appearance) and graced with startlingly powerful images of Mood, Mystery and Mayhem from the magic pencil and brush of Tim Sale, this serial killer whodunit is an utter joy to read that should keep you guessing until the very end.

One of the very best Batman adventures.

© 1996,1997 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

 

By Dan Curtis Johnson, J.H. Williams III & Seth Fisher (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-481-1

This brief adventure of Batman’s early career (originally presented in Legends of the Dark Knight issues #192-196) tells of his first encounter with Mr. Freeze, as well as examining the gradual movement towards the current methodology and support network that the Dark Knight utilises.

As Victor Fries nears the completion of his work on extreme sub-zero temperatures he makes two shocking discoveries. His beloved wife Maria is hospitalised and dying whilst his research has been subverted by the US military. Batman, meanwhile is nearing a physical and emotional collapse. He finally comes to see his obsession and realises he can’t do it all alone. Yet the authorities have limits he won’t allow himself to be hampered by.

For both men the solution is drastic and in their own hands, and both will suffer consequences tragic and life changing because of their decisions. For Batman it’s the formation of a private unit of specialists to research and supply support for his war on crime. For Fries it’s the forcible reclamation of his wife and work.

The two stories dovetail as Fries suffers an accident that transforms him into a monstrous being unable to live at room temperature. He embarks on a vendetta of insanity and icy vengeance, bringing him into conflict with the Caped Crusader and his tragically under-prepared team.

This reworking of the origin of Mr. Freeze is compelling and imaginative in the modern manner and the art is beautiful if sometimes over-rendered – almost to the point of being passionless. In fact, despite my admiration for Seth Fisher’s ability I do wonder at his selection for such an emotive and gritty tale. His seeming inability to draw anything grimy or unpretty actually detracts from the narrative, I fear.

Since I obviously can’t decide, perhaps you should make your own minds up. It’s still got to be better than a night in front of the TV, right?

© 2005, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.