Category: Batman

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-0-93028-994-2

This themed collection re-presents some of the key clashes between the Gotham Guardian and the immortal mastermind and eco-activist Ra’s Al Ghul – a contemporary and more acceptable visual embodiment of the classic inscrutable foreign devil as typified in a less forgiving age as the Yellow Peril or Dr. Fu Manchu. This kind of alien archetype permeates fiction and is an overwhelmingly powerful villain symbol, although the character’s Arabic origins, neutral at the time, seem to embody a different kind of ethnic bogeyman in today’s post 9/11 world.

The concept of a villain who has the best interests of the planet at heart is not a new one, but Ra’s Al Ghul, whose avowed intent is to reduce teeming humanity to viable levels and save the world from our poison, hit a chord in the 1970s – a period where ecological issues first came to the attention of the young. It was a rare kid who didn’t find a note of sense in what the Demon’s Head planned.

Although the character is best remembered for the O’Neil/Adams collaborations, this book kicks off with a seminal story from Detective Comics #411 that featured the sinister League of Assassins (introduced in #405 I believe) and the exotic Talia. ‘Into the Den of the Death Dealers’ was written by Denny O’Neil and illustrated by the great Bob Brown, and inked by Dick Giordano.

‘Daughter of the Demon’ from Batman #232 by O’Neil and Neal Adams (with Giordano inking) is one of the signature high-points of the entire Batman canon, an exotic mystery yarn that draws the increasingly Dark Knight from Gotham’s concrete canyons to the Himalayas in search of hostages Robin and Talia. If you’re one of the few who hasn’t read this much reprinted tale I’m not going to spoil the joy that awaits you.

From Batman #235, with penciller Irv Novick joining regulars O’Neil and Giordano comes ‘Swamp Sinister’ a mystery tale and bio-hazard drama that gives some early insights into the true character of Talia and her ruthless sire. ‘Vengeance for a Dead Man’ (Batman #240) by the same creative team sets the scene for the groundbreaking “series-within-a-series” soon to follow as Batman uncovers one of Ra’s Al Ghul’s less worthy and far more grisly projects. As a result there was open war between Batman and the Demon…

Batman #242-244 and the epilogue from #245 (not included in this volume) formed an extended saga taken out of normal DC continuity, relating what was to be the final confrontation between two opposing ideals. Novick penciled the first part ‘Bruce Wayne – Rest in Peace!’ which saw Batman gather a small team of allies, including the still active today Matches Malone, to destroy the Demon forever, and Neal Adams returned with the second part ‘The Lazarus Pit’ which seemed to we consumers of the day a brilliant conclusion to the epic. But with the last three pages the rug was pulled out from under us and the saga continued!

How sad for modern fans with so many sources of information today: the chances of creators genuinely surprising their devoted readers are almost nonexistent but in the faraway 1970s, we had no idea what to expect from #244 when ‘The Demon Lives Again!’ hit the shops and news-stands. In a classic confrontation Batman triumphed and Ra’s Al Ghul disappeared for many years. He was considered by DC as a special villain and not one to be diluted through overuse. How times change…

In 1978 the company was experimenting with formats and genres in a time of poor comic sales. Part of that drive and was an irregular anthology entitled DC Special Series. From the all-Batman 15th issue comes an oddly enticing little gem scripted by Denny O’Neil and drawn by a talented young newcomer called Michael Golden, inked by the ubiquitous Dick Giordano. ‘I Now Pronounce you Batman and Wife’ is a stylish, pacy thriller that anticipates the 1980s sea-change in comics storytelling, but the most interesting aspect of the tale is the plot maguffin that inspired a trilogy of graphic novels in the 1990s and today’s Batman and Son (ISBN13: 978-1-84576-429-6) serial.

The volume concludes with another key multi-part epic, this time from Detective Comics #485, 489 and 490. Although picky me still wishes that all parts were included the truncated version here has no significant loss of narrative flow as Batman becomes involved in a civil war for leadership of the Al Ghul organization between the Demon and the aged oriental super-assassin the Sensei – who older fans will know as the villain behind the murder of Deadman.

It all begins with ‘The Vengeance Vow!’ as a long-standing member of the Batman Family is murdered, drawing the Caped Crimebuster into battle with the deadly martial artist Bronze Tiger. The concluding parts ‘Where Strike the Assassins!’ and ‘Requiem for a Martyr!’ whilst perhaps not as powerful as the O’Neil/Novick/Adams/Giordano run are nevertheless a stirring thriller with a satisfactory denouement, elevated to dizzy heights by the magnificent artwork of Don Newton. Inked here by Dan Adkins, Newton’s Batman could well have become the definitive 1980s look, but the artist’s tragically early death in 1984 cut short what should have been a superlative career.

Ra’s Al Ghul has become just another Bat-Foe in recent years, familiarity indeed breeding mediocrity if not contempt. But these unique tales from a unique era are comics at there very best and this book is well overdue for a definitive re-issue.

 

© 1970, 1971, 1972, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 978-1-84576-956-7

This themed collection re-presents some of the best clashes between the Gotham Guardian and the tragic lawyer-turned-criminal Harvey Dent – the visual embodiment of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde known as Two-Face.

To get you up to speed, the book starts with the most recent interpretation of the character’s origin, an impressive two-page recap by the Marks Waid and Chiarello, first seen in Countdown #27 (December 2007), before the book proper begins with the classic original trilogy of tales from Detective Comics #66, 68 and 80 (August and October 1941, and October 1943).

Written by the inimitable Bill Finger, and illustrated by Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and George Roussos they told the tragic tale of Harvey Kent (yes that’s right, his name was only altered to Dent in the 1950s) a brilliant and fearless District Attorney driven insane when a mobster destroyed the left side of his gorgeous face with vitriol (that’s Sulfuric Acid, if you weren’t staying awake in Chemistry).

His life destroyed in the very courtroom of his greatest triumphs, Kent embarked on a crime-spree throughout Gotham City, taking the number “2” as his inspiration and using the toss of a double-headed coin to make all his key moral decisions for him. It took all of the dynamic Duo’s efforts to stop him, but he kept turning up like a bad penny until the fledgling science of plastic surgery cured his uniquely visual form of split personality.

He more or less returned in Detective #187 (September 1952). ‘The Double Crimes of Two-Face’ (by Don Cameron, Dick Sprang and Charles Paris) is a classic “fair-play” mystery featuring the character’s return so I’ll say nothing about it and let you solve it yourselves, but he returned for keeps in ‘Two-Face Strikes Again!’ (Batman #81, February-March 1954), by David Vern and the immaculate art team of Sprang and Paris.

As comics become increasingly more anodyne in the 1950s Two-Face faded from view, but with the return of a grimmer, moodier hero in the early 1970s the scene was set for a revival of Batman’s more warped villains. ‘Half an Evil’ (Batman #234, August 1971) is a spectacular action packed mystery, one the absolute best collaborations of Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams and Dick Giordano.

By 1989 a revitalized post-Crisis on Infinite Earths DC were busily revising their internal history and from Secret Origins Special #1 Mark Verheiden, Pat Broderick and Giordano produced a new take on the tragedy of Harvey Dent, which served as a basis for the following 1996 two-part tale from Batman #527 and 528. ‘The Face Schism’ and ‘Schismed Faces’, by Doug Moench, Kelly Jones and John Beatty is a slick and ghoulish carnival tale of twists, turns and double crosses, but in all that cleverness it rather forgets to be clear and entertaining.

The penultimate yarn is also rather disappointing, but not for any storytelling deficiencies. ‘Face the Ecaf’ is from Batman #653, and is by James Robinson, Don Kramer and Wayne Faucher. It’s set in the “One Year Later” period following the Infinite Crisis event when all the Bat heroes abandoned Gotham and Two-Face was given the job of protecting the city by the Dark Knight.

It’s part Six of Eight.

Surely such a major storyline should be left to its own collection and not simply truncated and shoved in any old how? It’s not as if there isn’t plenty of other fine material around to fill those twenty odd pages. Or was the temptation of one more major name on the package too much for Marketing to resist?

Rant over: the book does end with possibly the best modern Two-Face tale yet produced. ‘Two of a Kind’ is a short piece of Noir perfection by Bruce Timm that first appeared in Batman: Black and White #1 in 1996. Rendered in the style of the Batman Animated TV show it is suave, sultry, steamy and shocking. You’ll love it!

All the tales have been lavishly recoloured (except that last one, of course) and quibbles notwithstanding, this is a great book stuffed with quality reading entertainment. As an introduction to one of Batman’s best baddies, or simply as a wonderful way to spend some downtime, this is highly recommended.

 

© 1992, 1993 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By Howard Chaykin & Dan Brereton (DC Comics)
ISBN12: 978-1-56389-424-4

Howard Chaykin returns to a favourite period in US history for this dark, decadent and brooding Elseworlds thriller. Forgive me if you’ve heard it all before, but Elseworlds tales are adventures using established characters and properties in non-standard continuities and milieus, such as JFK’s America here.

1961: At the dawn of an era of stunning political and social turmoil Gotham City is as buzzed as every other city in America. But no other city is as corrupt and morally bankrupt as this town, with a police force full of thugs and shake-down artists. So it’s a good thing that the busty masked psychopath Batgirl is there to keep them in line along with her Euro-trash boyfriend Robin. But that doesn’t make things any easier for the few decent cops such as Commissioner Jim Gordon or Detective Bruce “Hard Way” Wayne.

Wayne’s a pretty dedicated guy, who comes from old money – till they lost it all in the Great Depression – but even he’s out of his depth when the deadly Bianca Steeplechase, white-faced, green-haired, smiling maniac and her pet cop ‘Two-Face’ Duell go on a City-Hall sanctioned killing-spree and frame him for the murder of stripper-turned-stoolie Selina Kyle.

And just why has Gordon’s troubled daughter Barbara returned to the city and bought the abandoned old Wayne place..?

The original 3-issue miniseries was swiftly followed by a one-shot sequel ‘Thrillkiller ’62’ which I can’t say too much about without spoiling your enjoyment, but which compellingly continues the gritty, sordid drama with even more radically re-interpreted DC mainstays being adult and nasty during the Golden Years of the Kennedy Administration.

When this series debuted in 1997 I admit I wasn’t all that taken with it, but now, years later, seeing it all neatly packaged in one book has altered that opinion. This dark, heady brew, full of trademark Chaykin cynicism and indignation, with Brereton’s brooding, brutal paintings, depicting characters with little warmth or gentleness to them is a powerful, fully realised vision which would work as a story even if it wasn’t a fanciful conceit playing with long-established and cherished icons. This is a very Dark Knight in a very nasty place and thus a huge treat for all older fans.

© 1998 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By Archie Goodwin & Scott Hampton (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-066-6

One of the most important scripts in the incredible writing career of the late, great Archie Goodwin addressed a social issue that very much plagues us still, but is now so ubiquitous a plot maguffin, and often so poorly handled by contemporary creators in all narrative arts media that it threatens to become just another fashionable story device, and a weakened, trite one at that. That problem is child-abuse and Night Cries is one of the most effective stories dealing with it that comics have ever produced.

This is not a polemical or attention-seeking tale. The subject is key to the plot, affects the characters fundamentally, and is dealt with accordingly. There is no neat and tidy solution. This isn’t a soap-box subject and the victims and perpetrators aren’t paraded as single-faceted ciphers. This is a serious attempt to tell a story in which child-abuse is an integral factor and not cause nor excuse for violence and pain, but since the whole subject is a controversial one readers should be aware of the facts going in.

Gotham City is a pit of everyday horrors but when a serial killer is identified who seems to target entire families even Batman and Commissioner Gordon are troubled by the suppressed feelings the killings dredge up within themselves. Suspecting a link between the killings and a child-abuse clinic funded by Bruce Wayne, detectives interview a traumatised little girl who saw the killer. She identifies The Batman…

Moody, dark and chilling, this examination of family ties and group responsibilities reveals a complex web of betrayals and shirked duties that weaves throughout American society. When a connection to US servicemen, used, abused and betrayed by their own government is revealed, the metaphor for a system that prefers to ignore its problems rather than deal with them is powerfully completed.

Powerful and unsettling, yet blending startling action with horror and drama, this is a perfect vehicle for the talents of Scott Hampton, whose eerily haunting painted pages subtly disclose uncomfortable secrets that have been suppressed for far too long. This lost gem is out-of-print and long overdue for another release.

© 1992 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.