By Brian K. Vaughan & various (DC Comics)
ISBN: 987-1-84576-720-4
Like most “overnight successes†writer Brian K. Vaughan actually plugged away for those requisite few years before hitting it big with series such as Ex Machina and Y: The Last Man and original works such as the magnificent Pride of Baghdad (ISBN: 1-84576-242-8).
This collection purports to be a Batman compendium (better sales potential, I’d imagine) but is in fact a general gathering of DC universe material by Mister Vaughan in his formative days. First up is a three-part tale from Batman #588-590, illustrated by Scott McDaniel & Karl Story, starring the Dark Knight’s underworld alter-ego Matches Malone. ‘Close Before Striking’ is very readable psycho-drama revealing the true origin of the underworld alias whilst taking the reader on a traumatic excursion into the dark side of undercover work. This is followed by the delightfully dark and whimsical ‘Mimsy Were the Borogoves’. With art by Rich Burchett and John Lowe this stand-alone story features a deeply demented encounter with The Mad Hatter, and is undoubtedly the best thing in the book.
There’s only a tenuous Batman link in the next tale, which originally saw print as Wonder Woman #160-161. ‘A Piece of You’, drawn by Scott Kolins with inks from Dan Panosian and Drew Geraci, finds shape-changing Bat-villain Clayface attacking the Amazing Amazon when he discovers her origin. As she was formed from Magic Clay he reasons that he can absorb her – and her magical abilities – into his own mass. And stone me; he’s right! Action-packed and tongue in cheek, this daft but readable thriller also guest stars Donna Troy, Nightwing and Robin.
Somewhat messily the tome ends with a mere snippet from Batman: Gotham City Secret Files #1 which introduced new villain The Skeleton, and then promptly forgot all about him. ‘Skullduggery’ is illustrated by Marcos Martin and Mark Pennington, and although competent, rather lets down a very enjoyable trawl through the genre work of one of the best new writers in comics. If you enjoy superhero tales or are a Vaughan aficionado please don’t let this slight defect deter you from a great slice of comic book fun.
I’m assuming that all of us here love comics (otherwise why are you here? Did you think I was talking about stand-up comedians?) and that we’ve all had the same unpleasant experience of trying to justify that passion to somebody. Excluding your partner (who is actually right – the living room floor is not the place to leave your D*&$£! funny-books) most people have an entrenched and erroneous view of strip art, meaning that at some time you have tried to dissuade them from that opinion.
If so this collection might be the book you want to use the next time that confrontation occurs. Collected here in pristine black-and-white are tales that redesigned the Dynamic Duo and set them up for global Stardom – and fearful castigation from fans – as the template for the Batman TV show of the 1960s. It should be noted however that the producers and researchers did get their initial glimmerings from the comics stories of the era preceding the “New Look Batman†as well as the original movie serial of the 1940s.
So what have we here? At the end of 1963, Julius Schwartz had revived much of DC’s line -and the entire industry – with his modernization of the Superhero, and was asked to work his magic with the Caped Crusader. Bringing his usual team of creators with him, he stripped down the core-concept, bringing a modern take to the capture of criminals, downplaying all the Aliens, outlandish villains and daft transformation tales, even overseeing a streamlining/rationalisation of the art style itself.
The most apparent change to us kids was a yellow circle around the Bat-symbol, but more importantly the stories themselves changed. A subtle menace had re-entered the comfortable and abstract world of Gotham City. The revolution began with Detective Comics #327 (cover-dated May 1964) and was formalised in the first tale in Batman #164 (June 1964). ‘The Mystery of the Menacing Mask!’ was written by John Broome and pencilled by Carmine Infantino; a baffling “Howdunnit?†that was long on action and peril, which underlined the renewed intention to emphasise the “Detective†part of the title for the foreseeable future. To ram the point home a new back-up feature was introduced, “The Stretchable Sleuth†Elongated Man. This comic was to be a brain-teaser from now on.
In Batman, action and adventure were paramount. ‘Two-Way Gem Caper!’ pitted Batman and Robin against a slick criminal named Dabblo, but the villain wasn’t the star of this tale. Almost as an aside, a new Batcave and Wayne Manor were introduced plus a sleek, new compact Batmobile, more sports car than super-tank. This story was written by Ed “France†Herron and drawn by Bob Kane with Joe Giella inking the contents of both Batman and Detective in a bid to generate a recognisable uniformity to the stories. A new semi-regular feature also debuted that issue. The Mystery Analysts of Gotham City was a club of Detectives and Crime-writers who met to talk about their cases. Somehow it always resulted in an adventure such as ‘Batman’s Great Face-Saving Feat!’ (also the work of Herron, Kane and Giella).
‘Gotham Gang Line-Up!’ completed the transformation of Batman. Written by Bill Finger and pencilled by Bob Kane, the mediocre crime-caper from Detective #328 is remarkable for the plot-twist wherein faithful butler Alfred sacrifices his life to save the heroes, and Dick Grayson’s aunt Harriet moves into the mansion. From this point the adventures fall into a pattern of top-of-the-line comic tales punctuated by utterly exceptional tales of drama, mystery and action. These would continue until the TV show’s success became so great that it actually began to inform the kind of story in the comics themselves.
This cheap’n’cheerful Showcase Presents… compendium collects all the Batman and Robin yarns from Detective Comics #327-342 and Batman 164-174 (38 stories in all) written by Broome, Herron, Finger and Gardner Fox, with pencil art by Bob Kane, Infantino and Sheldon Moldoff. The inks are by Joe Giella, Sid Greene and Murphy Anderson.
Other story highpoints include ‘Castle with Wall-To-Wall Danger!’ (Detective #329), the eerie ‘Man Who Quit the Human Race!’ (Batman #165), ‘Museum of Mixed-Up Men’ (Detective #331 and guest-starring the Elongated Man), ‘Zero Hour for Earth!’ (Batman #167) and the captivating sci-fi chiller ‘Deep-Freeze Menace!’ (from Detective #337). If you’re a fan of costumed villains The Riddler, Penguin and Joker all make appearances, and it was during this time that the miniseries-within-a-series concept was pioneered as the mysterious Outsider struck at Batman again and again through a succession of subordinates.
No matter how much we might squeal and foam about it, to a huge portion of the world Batman is always going to be the “Zap! Pow!†caped buffoon of the 1960s television show. It really was that popular. But if you can make a potential convert sit-down, shut up and actually read these wonderful adventures for all (reasonable) ages, you might find that the old adage “Quality will out†still holds true. And if you’re actually a fan who hasn’t read this classic stuff, you have an absolute treat in store…
By Ed Brubaker & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-724-2
Post Infinite Crisis, we’ve just been treated to yet another origin of The Joker in the more or less monthly pages of Batman Confidential, but not so very long ago (2005 in fact) writer Ed Brubaker and artist Doug Mahnke treated us to a rather gripping treatment based on the original 1940s tales, with a tip of the hat to the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers tales of the early seventies (see Batman Chronicles Vol. – 1 ISBN: 1-84576-036-0 and Batman: Strange Apparitions – ISBN: 1-84023-109-2 for those classics) in the form of an impressive prestige one-shot.
The title and apparently the original inspiration for the Clown Prince of Crime himself come from Paul Leni’s seminal 1928 film classic starring Conrad Veidt in the title role. The plot concerns the actions of innocent Gwynplaine who had a permanent smile carved into his face by the King as a punishment for his father’s crimes…
Set not long after the events of Batman: Year One (ISBN: 1-84576-158-8), The Man Who Laughs sees Captain Jim Gordon recognise that Gotham City has been changed forever when an outlandish and macabre serial killer goes on a very public, attention-seeking murder spree. Even his secret ally and vigilante outlaw The Batman is daunted by the sheer scale and audacity of the chalk-faced lunatic who seems utterly unstoppable…
The remainder of this book collects a three-part adventure from Detective Comics #784-786. Brubaker here scripts a generational serial-killer mystery guest-starring the Golden Age Green Lantern, who was the superhero-in-residence of Gotham City in the 1940s and 1950s.
‘Made of Wood’ illustrated by Patrick Zircher, Aaron Sowd and Steve Bird, finds Batman hunting a murderer who originally terrorised the populace in 1948 – even assassinating the then-Mayor – before simply disappearing. Matters are further complicated when a guilt-plagued Green Lantern returns determined to close the case he fumbled nearly 50 years previously…
Brubaker is an excellent writer at the peak of his abilities here and the art on both stories is effective and compelling. This is one of the better Batman collections of recent years and a great treat for any fan or casual browser.
By J. M. DeMatteis & Brian Ashmore (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-984-5
This original graphic novel is a passable adventure with great aspirations that regrettably falls short of its intentions. Early in his career Batman survives a terrorist bombing of the Wayne Building which kills many of his employees. His helplessness amidst the tragedy resonates with the night a ten year Bruce Wayne couldn’t stop his parents from being murdered. When a video message from “The Children of Maya†claims credit for the atrocity he has a face and a name to hunt…
Over the next ten years he almost catches Jennifer Blake a number of times, but always she eludes him. Each time however he gets a little more of the puzzle and he knows that one day she will pay for her crimes. Eventually he tracks her to a mission in India, but once cornered she reveals a stunning secret. She has reformed, seen the light. In fact the locals believe her to be a true saint…
The attempt to bolt on a deeper meaning is painfully heavy-handed in places as DeMatteis’ usual subtlety seems to have deserted him in this tale which careens from obsessional parable to mystery-thriller, and Brian Ashmore’s painted art is painfully hit-and-miss, varying from moody brilliance to rushed and insubstantial daubing.
In a career that has seen some truly unforgettable comic stories this is one that perhaps should be.
By Mike W. Barr & various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-5638-9390-2
This Elseworlds tale (created outside regular continuity and featuring small or large re-interpretations of a character’s fundamental properties) is a generational saga by Mike W. Barr featuring three heroes of the Wayne bloodline fighting against the eternal villainy of the immortal Vandal Savage.
Dark Past is painted by Scott Hampton and tells of Joshua of Wainwright, a Knight Templar accused in 1222 AD of theft and treason by his peers who could not believe his tale of undying warriors, shape-shifting temptresses and vanishing fortresses, whilst Dark Present, with art by Gary Frank and Cam Smith, crafts a different origin for the Bruce Wayne Batman when his life of indolence is cut short by the machinations of Vandal Savage.
This time the villain has become a playboy’s business manager in a scheme to use the Wayne fortune to capture the meteor that made him immortal 50,000 years ago, uncaring of the damage it will cause. Newlywed Bruce Wayne, outraged and inflamed, is determined to thwart the plan at all costs…
Dark Future, illustrated by Scott McDaniel and Bill Sienkiewicz, reveals the final battle between Savage and the House of Wayne in the dystopian Gotham of 2500 AD. Thinking he has neutralized the Wayne dynasty with sybaritic excess, the undying man has not reckoned on the forceful girl Brenna whose archaeological interests lead her to the secrets of the Batcave and one final chance to defeat her family – and Earth’s – greatest threat…
Although no masterpiece this undemanding chronicle is a fun and furious epic that will please action-fans and art-lovers everywhere. Old fashioned thrills just as you like them.
Sometimes even the best of intentions don’t quite produce a great result. Master illustrator George Pratt returned tangentially to the Vietnam War for the back story of this supernatural thriller starring the Dark Knight but the overall results are vastly below his superb par as established with the landmark Enemy Ace: War Idyll (ISBN: 978-0-9302- 8978-2).
Bruce Wayne is tortured by bloody nightmares of devils and sacrifices as a killer tries to re-enact a murder-ritual based on the points of a cross. Such ritual has been attempted many times throughout history, but on this particular occasion the stakes seem much higher – and much more personal. Only a girl named Luci Boudreaux, escapee and survivor of the Hell of Viet Nam seems to have any answers to the dilemma…
Although painted with astounding passion and skill, the story seems to have been sadly neglected and is a bit of a mess, with war veterans, voodoo priests, faith-healers, demons and an uncomfortable misunderstanding of the relationship between Batman and Commissioner Gordon muddying a rather tired old plot. If you love dark and moody style above content give it a shot but otherwise this pretty much a completist-only book.
By Doug Moench, Kelley Jones, John Beatty & Malcolm Jones III (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-645-0
Now that the 52 multiverse is established as “real continuity†and an accepted fact of the DC Universe, lots of discarded story concepts should be up for repackaging in the foreseeable future. This compendium collects a trilogy of tales that appeared under the Elseworlds banner in the 1990s and are now bona fide Batman stories that all began with another of those literary cross-pollinations that publishers seem so in love with.
Batman and Dracula: Red Rain is a genuinely creepy adventure of heroism and sacrifice as Dracula moves into Gotham City and the Dark Knight is forced to ally himself with “good vampires†in an attempt to stop him. Considering the title of this collected volume it’s presumably not a spoiler to reveal that he also has to sacrifice his life and his humanity before the threat to his beloved city.
This tale was a great success when it was first released in 1991; a minor gothic masterpiece, both philosophical and tension drenched, with the sleek, glossily distorted artwork of Kelley Jones and Malcolm Jones III creating a powerful aura of foredoomed predestination. It alone is well worth the price of admission
And that is a very good thing because the two sequels are ill-advised and, frankly, unwelcome and unnecessary.
Batman: Bloodstorm (1994, with the somehow more visually hygienic John Beatty replacing Malcolm Jones III as inker) sees Gotham City protected by a vampiric Batman who combines crime-fighting with dispatching those bloodsuckers who escaped the cataclysmic events of Red Rain. He is a tortured hero who struggles perpetually with his unholy thirst, but who is determined nonetheless never to drink human blood.
But when the Joker assumes command of the remaining vampires and attempts to take control of Gotham, not even the hero’s greatest friends and a lycanthropic Cat-Woman can forestall Batman’s final fate.
And yet Batman’s final rest is thwarted when the heartsick Alfred and desperate Commissioner Gordon recall the Batman from his final rest in Batman: Crimson Mist. Released in 1999, Doug Moench, Kelley Jones and John Beatty recount the grim but predictable tale of a city overrun by super-criminals since the caped Crusader went to his reward. So when his faithful manservant brings him back he is horrified to find the now corrupted hero a malevolent blood-hungry beast that plans to save Gotham by slaughtering every criminal in it. Only a bizarre alliance of good men and monstrous villains can rectify this situation before humanity itself pays the price…
These stories take the concept of Batman as scary beast to logical extremes – and beyond – but although well drawn and thoughtfully written the sequels lack the depth and intensity of the initial tale and feel too much like most sequels – just an attempt to make some more money. At least in this volume you have the real deal, so buy it and just treat the last two thirds as bonus material.
By Alan Grant & Frank Quitely (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-5638-9372-8
Way, way back in Detective Comics #198, 1953 (“Lord of Bat-Manor†drawn by the legendary Dick Sprang) Batman was left a Scottish Castle. It was later established that Bruce Wayne’s ancestors came from Scotland. Don’t ask me why that bit of ephemera remains when so very much else has been rewritten over the years but it has, and professional Scots Alan Grant and Frank Quitely used that fact to craft this slim yet gripping little thriller.
On a visit to the Auld Country, Bruce Wayne stumbles onto a quasi-Masonic plot to locate the lost treasure of the Knights Templar; that’s just the tip of the iceberg in a revenge scheme hundreds of years in the making that involves beautiful tragic women, deadly plagues, ancient super-weapons, crazed claymore-waving maniacs and good old-fashioned Heid-cases and Barm-pots…
Beautifully illustrated, deftly scripted and brilliantly skirting the line between comedy and thriller, this is pure adventurous escapism from two consummate professionals. Go and get it, bonny lads and lassies.
By Ron Marz & Igor Kordey (DC Comics/Dark Horse Books)
ISBN13: 978-1-5697-1466-9
I’m never particularly comfortable with the passion for cross-pollination that seems to obsess comics publishers. I admit that occasionally something greater than the sum of the originals does result, but usually the only outcome of jamming two different concepts into the same package is an uncomfortable and ill-fitting mess.
So I think this tale – originally a 4-issue miniseries – is a welcome example of success, and I’ll even offer a possible explanation for why.
When Finnegan Dent, Great White Hunter, returns to Gotham City with artefacts from a lost city he has discovered in Africa, his sponsor and backer is delighted. But Bruce Wayne has reason to change his mind when he meets John Clayton, the English Lord known alternatively as Greystoke or Tarzan of the Apes. The two quickly discover they have a mutual interest in Justice and their own particular jungles, so when the feline Princess Khefretari tries to steal back the looted treasures of her very-much thriving civilisation she catapults the heroes into a frantic chase and dire battle against a ruthless monomaniac.
This tale invokes all the basic drives of both characters without ever getting bogged down in continuity or trivia. It is first and foremost an action adventure, full of emotional punches delivered with relentless rapidity. There are good guys and bad guys, no extraneous fripperies and plenty of cliffhanger moments before virtue triumphs and evil is punished.
In Claws of the Catwoman you need only have the most meagre grounding in either character to enjoy this simple thriller – and you will.
By Pepe Moreno, with dialogue by Doug Murray (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-9302-8987-4
It’s hard to credit now but not so long ago computers were a really big deal in comics. Not like today when digital colours, lettering and even drawing enhancement packages are part and parcel of the daily process of production, but simply for being the newest sort of pencil in town. Along with such products as Shatter from First Comics, and Marvel’s Iron Man: Crash (I’ll get to them another day), DC entered the market with a tale from Spanish wunderkind Pepe Moreno and their biggest gun, then riding high on the coattails of the Tim Burton Movie. So from the safe perspective of a few decades distance let’s take a look at Batman: Digital Justice.
Pepe Moreno moved America in 1977, briefly worked for Jim Warren’s Creepy, Eerie and Vampirella titles and gravitated to Heavy Metal where his short, uncompromising post-punk strips (collected in the album Zeppelin) caught the attention of Epic Illustrated editor Archie Goodwin. Generation Zero led to the graphic novels Rebel, Joe’s Air Force and Gene Kong. His growing fascination with technology led him into animation (Tiger Sharks, Thunder Cats and Silver Hawks) and eventually back to comics with this futuristic Bat-thriller.
The mid-21st Century: Gotham City has become Megatropolis, a sprawling, corrupt dystopia. Jim Gordon, honest cop and grandson of the Police Commissioner who worked with The Batman, loves his job but knows that something is very wrong with his city. The graft seems to go all the way to the top and even the ubiquitous flying robotic enforcers get more respect than the flesh and blood Force.
When his partner Lena is murdered he discovers that a computer program/virus based on the Joker’s brain patterns is the de facto ruler of the city. He adopts the identity and tactics of the fabled Caped Crusader but is still outmatched until the long-dormant Bat-Computer awakes and takes him under its digitised wing. Now with a new Robin and Catwoman he is ready for a final confrontation with The Batman’s greatest foe…
By our standards the artwork is pretty clunky, although I recall being quite impressed with it at the time, yet the real problem here is the story. This is a terribly ordinary premise that depended too much on the novelty of delivery rather than strong plot or characters, and doesn’t stand up well to the tests of time. This didn’t stop much of that premise resurfacing in the animated feature Batman Beyond: The Return of the Joker though.
