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Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets

Gotham Central: Unresolved Targets 

By Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Michael Lark & Stephen Gaudiano (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-130-8

There are two names synonymous with Gotham City, USA. If you’re a cop you keep your own opinions about the Batman, but it’s pretty much unanimous that The Joker is not someone you ever want to deal with. A madman with a homicidal flair for the theatrical, he loves a special occasion. It’s Christmas and it’s started to snow…

This third volume collecting the procedural exploits of the police of Batman’s hometown is tense and brooding, and manic and breathtaking by turns, as the poor officers of the Major Crimes Unit must catch a sniper who is randomly assassinating citizens – including the mayor. Even his early capture doesn’t halt the killings, since the proud culprit is the insane and Machiavellian Joker, who can seemingly now kill by remote control. This Yule looks to be the most memorable ever for the hard-pressed detectives in a tale entitled “Soft Targets” by Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka, Michael Lark & Stephen Gaudiano (originally published in issues #12-15 of the monthly comic).

The second story, “Unresolved” by Brubaker, Lark & Gaudiano (issues #19-22) focuses on a cold case of fan-favourite character and all-around slob Harvey Bullock. When one of the maverick ex-cop’s old cases goes live again, the team must solve a high-school murder-bombing that somehow involves one of Batman’s weirdest foes.

Solid gritty police drama seamlessly blended with the grisly fantasy of the modern superhero seems like a strange brew but it delivers knockout punches time after time in this captivating series.

© 2003, 2004, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: Scarecrow Tales

Batman: Scarecrow Tales 

By Various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-063-8

As with the appalling Catwoman film, DC produced a fine volume of reprints featuring the comic book appearances of the Scarecrow to capitalise on Batman Begins. Although having a much shallower well to draw from, there are some wonderful tales on offer (and the occasional dog, it must be admitted) with various pin-up pages and a cover gallery.

The obvious kick-off is the first adventure from World’s Finest #3 (1941), followed by his third outing in “Fright of the Scarecrow” (Batman #189, 1967) wherein scripter Gardner Fox introduces his current Modus Operandi of artificially inducing terror, rather than the forties version which consisted mostly of shooting at you until you wet yourself.

Two lesser efforts follow: “The Scarecrow’s Trail of Fear!” (Batman #262, 1975) is by Denny O’Neil, Ernie Chua/Chan and Dick Giordano and the frankly appalling duel with the Joker “The Scarecrow’s Fearsome Face-Off!” This turkey’s by Elliot S! Maggin, Irv Novick and Tex Blaisdell, and is from Joker #8 (1976). If you’re of the persuasion to think that some things can be so bad they become ‘good’ this one’s for you.

Gerry Conway wrote “The 6 Days of the Scarecrow”, beautifully illustrated by the vastly under-rated and sorely missed Don Newton, with inking by Dan Adkins (Detective #503, 1981) and Alan Davis and Paul Neary visualised Mike W Barr’s “Fear For Sale” (Detective #571, 1987). Next up is “Mistress of Fear” by Peter Milligan and Duncan Fegredo from the one-shot (Villains: Scarecrow #1, 1998), a truly exceptional psychological thriller, with “Fear of Success” by Devin Grayson, Roger Robinson and John Floyd (Gotham Knights #23, 2002) rounding out the volume.

As a trawl through the changing nature of the industry this book is quite illuminating and in all honesty there really wasn’t a lot of material to choose from, although one glaring omission is the ignoring of the great little stories featuring the character that ran in assorted issues of the TV Cartoon based Batman Adventures. Now those were thrilling…

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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DC: The New Frontier, vol 2

DC: The New Frontier, vol 2 

By Darwyn Cooke with Dave Stewart (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-064-6

In the concluding volume of Darwyn Cooke’s tribute to the glory days of DC comics and idealistic Americana, the world teeters on the brink between a new age or ultimate destruction as a reptilian alien the size of Manhattan Island prepares to replace humanity with its own spawn. Only the small, brave band of heroes willing to defy a US Government banning order stand between humanity and a new holocaust.

This bright reworking of the 1950s, seen through twenty-first century eyes, and featuring all the stars of DC’s early Silver Age, manages to leaven our righteous cynicism about a truly dark, hypocritical and paranoid era of American history with a bright, child-like hopeful enthusiasm for a better tomorrow defended by better heroes. It is an absolute delight to see a worldly-wise but upbeat heroic tale.

It looks good, it reads good, and By Golly, it does you good!

© 2005 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

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DC: The New Frontier, vol 1

DC: The New Frontier, vol 1 

By Darwyn Cooke with Dave Stewart (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84023-939-5

Ever since DC Comics retrofitted most of their first fifty years of story continuity with the incredibly successful Crisis on Infinite Earths they’ve apparently been seeking ways to get it all back into play again. Comics seem to work best when they access some component of nostalgia, and Darwyn Cooke’s tribute to the 1950s is a glorious blending of simpler times, two-fisted slam-bang action and the brooding menace of both Communism and McCarthyism delivered in the garish four-colour dreams of ten-year-old children.

All the DC greats come into play in a brand new yet refreshingly, comfortingly, old retelling of the archetypes of that era. There are aliens, monsters, Martians, test pilots, cars with fins, feisty reporters and Rock ‘n’ Roll. The story is basic and simple, but never slips into pastiche or parody. Darwyn Cooke successfully manages to skate between and around the hurdles of kids with no access to the time period involved (nor indeed the characters) and the expectations of an older generation of readers who have spent such a long time wondering where “their” heroes went.

For my part, this is probably one of the best things I’ve read in the last ten years. Cooke and especially colourist Dave Stewart have managed to access and treat with respect an era that I’d thought gone forever, whilst at the same time concocting a cracking good yarn that seems genuinely timeless. My only quibble is that I have to wait for the second and concluding part, notwithstanding the fact that I bought the mini-series when it came out last year.

An absolute gem for kids of all ages; even casual readers who watch more movies than they read comics will be immensely satisfied.

© 2005 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

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The Rainbow Annual 1940

The Rainbow Annual 1940 

By various (the Amalgamated Press)
No ISBN

I’m going to try a little experiment here. Normally I’d review graphic novels and trade paperback collections with a view to the reader and potential purchaser hopefully becoming a fan or even addict of the picture-strip medium. Here though, in conjunction with the entry for The Children’s Annual, I thought I’d apply my modern critical sensibilities to one of the landmark items featured in that wonderful book. If you’re lucky enough to stumble across a copy or indeed any other vintage volume, I hope my words convince you to acquire it. However, the real purpose is to create a ground swell.

So much magical material is out there in print limbo. Great writing and art is rotting in boxes and attics or the archives of publishing houses, when it needs to be back in the hands of readers once again. On one level the tastes of the public have never been more catholic than today and a sampling of our popular heritage will always appeal to some part of the mass consumer base.

Let’s make copyright owners aware that there’s money to be made – not too much, I’ll admit, but some – from these slices of our childhood. You start the petition… I’ll certainly sign it.

The Rainbow Annual for 1940 was released by The Amalgamated Press just as the Second World War began to bite in Home Front Britain (the dating was year-forward on these bumper, hard-backed premium editions so the 1940 book would have been released in the Autumn of 1939).

The undisputed star was the phenomenally popular Tiger Tim and his gang of chums The Bruin Boys. Tim had first appeared in the Daily Mirror in 1904, and graduated to the weekly Playbox supplement of ‘The World and His Wife’ (from 1909). The Rainbow weekly colour comic began in February 1914 and Tim was the cover feature until its demise in 1956. In 1919 Tiger Tim’s Weekly (née Tales) also launched and he had been the star of his own annual since 1921 (first annual dated 1922 – got it now?). The characters were so popular that Britains (the toy soldier makers) launched a line of lead figures to sell alongside their more militaristic fare.

The line-up includes not only the anthropomorphic Tim and Co. (with four strip adventures and two prose stories) but also the Two Pickles (a mischievous brother and sister who eventually spawned their own movie franchise represented here with three strips), as well as such cartoon fare as the Dolliwogs, Mrs Bruin’s Boarding School, magical Mr. Marzipan and the Woolly Boys, alongside individual children’s staples such as detectives, school stories and nautical tales, past and present.

Most notable for its difference to the poor modern substitutes that still issue forth every year is the preponderance of text stories and puzzles on offer. Fully 61 of the 104 pages are made up of one, two and three page prose stories of fairy-tales, historical and sea-faring adventures, westerns and all the other kinds of trauma-free yarns meant to thrill while creating a love of reading.

The page counts were reduced during the war years and immediately after, although paper rationing often meant differing types of paper-stock produced books that were often physically thicker, not thinner, than normal – a big psychological boost come Christmas morning I’m sure.

Content might raise a few eyebrows these days. Popular fiction from a populist publisher will always embody some underlying assumptions unpalatable to some modern readers, but good taste was always a watchword when producing work for younger children and some interactions between white children and other races is a little utopian, perhaps. A more insidious problem might arise from the accepted class-structures in some of the stories and the woefully un-PC sexism through-out. All we can hope for is that the reader uses judgement and perspective when viewing or revisiting material this old. Just remember Thomas Jefferson kept slaves and it’s only been unacceptable to beat your wife since the 1980’s.

Before I go off on one let’s return to the subject at hand and say that despite all the restrictions and codicils this is a beautiful piece of children’s entertainment in the time-honoured fashion of Enid Blyton, Dodie Smith and Arthur Ransome with lovely illustrations that would make any artist weep with envy.

You and your kids deserve the chance to see it for yourself.

© 1940 The Amalgamated Press.
Which I’m assuming is now part of IPC Ltd., so © 2007 IPC Ltd.

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Batman Chronicles vol 2

Batman Chronicles vol 2 

By Bob Kane & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-292-4

More Batman magic from the dawn of comic-book time re-presenting further early Dark Knight tales in their original publishing order. Starting with “The Horde of the Green Dragon” from Detective Comics #39 through to #45 “The Case of the Laughing Death” (May to November 1940), every Batman and Robin story is reprinted, including the eight adventures from Batman #2 and #3 and the incredibly rare “Batman and Robin Visit the New York World’s Fair” from New York World’s Fair Comics.

© 1940, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman Chronicles vol 1

Batman Chronicles vol 1 

By Bob Kane & Various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-036-0

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 an up-front summation: 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 and…

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

Batman Chronicles is another re-presentation of the earliest Batman stories in the original order they came out. Starting with “The Case of the Chemical Syndicate” from Detective Comics #27, every story is reprinted up until #38, which introduces Robin, The Boy Wonder, and then Batman #1 in its entirety, featuring The Cat (who later added the suffix ‘Woman’ to her name to avoid confusion), Hugo Strange and the first and second appearances of the Joker.

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 Bill Finger and Gardner 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 wanted to do. They taught bad people the lesson they deserved.

Bob Kane, Jerry Robinson and their compatriots created an iconography that carried the strip well beyond its allotted life-span until later creators could re-invigorate it. They added a new dimension to children’s reading. And their work is still captivatingly readable.

One final thing. I’m that guy in paragraph one, right? I’ve read a lot of these stories many times, and in many formats, and I’d like to thank whoever decided that they should forego the glossy and expensive versions and print this time on newsprint-like paper, producing the same bright-yet-muted colour that graced the originals. More than anything else, this served to recapture the mood of the young Batman and of course, my poorly concealed inner child.

© 1939, 1940, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Batman: Broken City

Batman: Broken City 

By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84023-922-0

It’s something of a maxim in industry circles that if you do the slightly outré titles (for which please read non-superhero) well enough you’ll be given your shot at the major properties. That usually means that if your writing/drawing can generate enough attention, or shock-horror!, big sales on whatever the fan-base considers a no-hope proposition like a vampire, humour or even – gasp! – crime comic, editors will come begging for you to work your magic on Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Superman or the Bat. It happens all the time.

Broken City (reprinting issues #620-625 of Batman) is a “quest story” with a dark and gritty hero skirting the edges of his own unconventional morality in a hunt to catch the killer of a young woman. Angel Lupo butchered his sister. Everybody says so. The sister wasn’t no angel. There’s new muscle in town handing out beatings. And when the hero’s nearly got the do-er an innocent couple become collateral victims, just like the hero’s parents all those years ago. Another little boy gets to grow up alone, and the hero goes a little crazy, while he’s hunting.

All dark, moody stuff, and beautifully rendered by Eduardo Risso. Gotham has never looked better – or is that worse? There’s a genuine mystery to solve (or is that two?) with a masterful eleventh-hour plotting stroke worthy of Rex Stout or Ellery Queen. The styling is classic Noir. Creeps, Bad-Eggs and dissimulating hookers abound, the hero gets lied to and kicked around a whole lot, and there’s even that tantalising double-edged vibe with a “pal on The Force” that makes for a truly great Philip Marlowe yarn. The only really jarring aspect is that fruity weirdo in the tights and long-eared hat.

And that’s the real problem here and in a lot of these Hot Name/Big Brand press-gangings. This wonderful crime story is wasted on Batman, just as this wonderful character is forced into the inappropriate and ill-fitting Gumshoes better suited to a Jonny Double or Jason Bard. Don’t misunderstand me, I love my Batman just as hard-boiled as the next guy, but Broken City isn’t Gotham City and here he’s completely out of place.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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The Children’s Annual

The Children's Annual 

By Alan Clark (Boxtree)
ISBN 10: 1-85283-212-9

The comic has been with us a long time now and debate still continues about where, when and exactly what constitutes the first of these artefacts to truly earn the title. There’s a lot less debate about the children’s annual, a particularly British institution and one that continues – albeit in a severely limited manner – to this day.

It’s a rare person indeed who never received a colourful card covered compendium on Christmas morning, full of stories and comic-strips and usually featuring the seasonal antics of their favourite characters, whether from comics such as Beano, Dandy, Lion, Eagle and their ilk, or television, film or radio franchises or personalities such as Dr Who, Star Wars, TV21, Radio Fun or Arthur Askey. There were even sports annuals and beautifully illustrated commemorative editions of the fact and general knowledge comics such as Look and Learn, and special events such as the always glorious Rupert Annuals.

The history and development of this glorious holiday tradition are lovingly shared by the enthusiastic and erudite Alan Clark in this wonderful book. Never lapsing into too much detail, Clark introduces his subject, always lavishly illustrated, gives a taste and then moves on. His goal is always achieved. Once you’ve seen, you will want to see more. This kind of nostalgic paean is our industry’s best weapon in the fight to build sales, both of new material and back issues. When was the last time you bought something old or untried at a comic shop? Give your Nostalgia Vision a workout for a change, and if you’re still a little dubious a book like this should be your guide to tip the scales.

© 1988 Alan Clark.

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Batman Begins

Batman Begins 

By various (DC Comics/ Titan Books edition)
ISBN 1-84576-067-0

It looks like I’m just destined to be wrong. Do you remember flared jeans, or even bell-bottoms? From which time? As the 1970s gasped to a close I said that we’d never see those again. Horribly, tragically, I was wrong.

I was seven when the Batman TV show first aired, and I loved it. By the time I was nine I had learned the word ‘travesty’ and loathed the show with a passion. When it was all over and the ‘Camp’ fallout had faded from my beloved comics, giving way to the likes of Frank Robbins, Denny O’Neil and the iconoclastic Neal Adams, I was in seventh heaven and praised pantheons of deities that I should never see ‘Batmania’ again. I was, of course, doubly wrong.

The Caped Crusader reconquered the world in 1989 and only the increasing imbecility of the movie sequels stopped that particular juggernaut. Now there’s a new film (and not half-bad – though that’s beside the point) and my letterbox is crammed with an absolute boatload of Bat Product.

This Titan Books edition reprints not only the adaptation of the film, creditably handled by Scott Beatty on script with Kilian Plunkett and Serge LaPointe illustrating, but also a well-considered selection of thematically similar stories. The lead feature is an intensely readable reworking of the myth, so much so that I was able, for once, to stifle the small, shrill and incessant comic-fan voice that always screams “why do they keep mucking about with this?”, and “why isn’t the comic version good enough for those movie morons?”

I do, however, still question the modern hang-up with having to start from origins stories at all. Was Star Wars: A New Hope a flop because we didn’t know how Darth Vader got Laryngitis? Which Bond movie tells us how he got to be so mean and sardonic? Why can’t film-makers assume that an audience can deduce motivation without a brand-spanking new road-map every time? Although to be painfully honest, most modern comics writers seem infected with this bug too…

Could it be that it’s simply a cheap way of adding weight to the villain du jour, who can then become a Motivating Force in the Birth of the Hero? Said baddies this time out are the Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul, but I’m not going to speak anymore about the cinema or plot. Chances are most Batman fans will like this film and I’m never keen on giving away endings for enjoyable experiences. My job is to blather, and in extreme cases, warn.

The next chapter reprints “The Man Who Falls” by the aforementioned Denny O’Neil and veteran Bat-artist Dick Giordano (from Secret Origins of the World’s Greatest Heroes) a skilful and engaging comics retooling of the legend that accompanied the mania of the 1989 Movie. Hard on its heels comes one of the better stories of recent years, “Air Time” by Greg Rucka, Rick Burchett and Rodney Ramos from Detective Comics #757, 2001. It’s a taut, countdown thriller that in many ways presages the style adopted for the wonderful procedural series Gotham Central.

“Reasons” (Batman #604, 2002) by Ed Brubaker and Scott McDaniel, revisits Batman’s origins in a tale that seeks to redefine his relationship to the Catwoman, and the volume concludes with the brilliant “Urban Legend” from Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #168. In a grim and unsettling tale of frailties Tom Fowler illustrates a wickedly sharp Bill Willingham script stuffed with the dark humour and skewed sensibilities that make Fables such a joy for grown-ups.

This is a pretty decent package for any casual reader that the film might send our way, with a strong thematic underpinning. In an era of DVDs and rapid home release, I’m increasingly unsure of the merit of comic adaptations, but if you are into such things it’s probably best they’re done well, if at all.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.