{"id":29323,"date":"2024-01-31T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T09:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=29323"},"modified":"2024-01-29T17:51:56","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T17:51:56","slug":"batman-turning-points-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2024\/01\/31\/batman-turning-points-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Batman: Turning Points"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Greg Rucka<\/strong>, Ed Brubaker<\/strong>, Chuck Dixon<\/strong>, Steve Lieber<\/strong>, Joe Giella<\/strong>, Dick Giordano<\/strong>, Bob Smith<\/strong>, Brent Anderson<\/strong>, Paul Pope<\/strong>, Claude St. Aubin<\/strong> & various (DC Comics)
\nISBN: 978-1-4012-1360-2 (TPB)<\/p>\n

When Superman<\/strong> debuted in Action Comics<\/strong> #1, the only still-the-same-today supporting character was Lois Lane<\/strong>. When \u201cThe Bat-Man\u201d premiered a year later in Detective Comics<\/strong> #27 (cover-date May 1939 but on sale from March 30th<\/sup>), the only other person you might recognise was Police Commissioner Gordon<\/em>. Make of this what you will\u2026<\/p>\n

Over the 85 years of Batman<\/strong>\u2019s existence, almost as important as the partnership between the Dark Knight and assorted Boy Wonders has been a bizarrely offbeat symbiotic relationship between those costumed vigilantes and Gotham City\u2019s top cop James Gordon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This collection – inexplicably one of very few Batman books unavailable in digital formats – compiles five individual pastiches released as 2001 miniseries Turning Points<\/strong>. Here, readers see significant moments in the development of that shadowy alliance produced primarily for long-term aficionados in tribute to key eras in Batman\u2019s career by veteran artists and (then) new wave creators.<\/p>\n

It all begins with Greg Rucka & Steve Lieber\u2019s \u2018Uneasy Allies\u2019<\/em>, set in the days – and visual style – of the mysterious vigilante\u2019s stormy debut in Frank Miller & Dave Mazzuchelli\u2019s exemplary Batman: Year One<\/strong>. Police Captain Gordon is still the only honest cop on a corrupt and brutally gung-ho force, reeling from the shock of his wife divorcing him. When bereaved, heartsick and crazed college professor Hale Corbett<\/em> takes an entire wedding hostage, Gotham\u2019s SWAT team commander is champing at the bit to storm in and rack up the body-count, whereas wanted felon The Batman offers Gordon a slim hope of ending the siege without loss of life.<\/p>\n

All the masked nut-case wants in return is a sympathetic ear at the GCPD\u2026<\/p>\n

A clandestine working relationship established, \u2018<\/em>\u2026And Then There Were<\/em>\u2026 Three?\u2019<\/em> (by Ed Brubaker & Joe Giella – who drew many of 1960s stories and Batman\u2019s newspaper strip) celebrate the era of TV\u2019s \u201cBatmania\u201d. About a year after their first meeting, reports of a garishly garbed boy assistant to Batman begin filtering in. As deadly psychopath Mr. Freeze<\/em> rampages through the city, Gordon demands to why the now-tolerated Caped Crusader is recklessly endangering a child.<\/p>\n

In a rowdy romp packed with past icons like giant props and gaudy villains, a decidedly deadly outcome forces the cop to see and realise the true nature of Batman and Robin\u2019s relationship\u2026<\/p>\n

Brubaker, Dick Giordano & Bob Smith set \u2018Casualties of War\u2019<\/em> in the bleak aftermath following the death of second Robin Jason Todd<\/em>, the crippling of Barbara<\/em> (Batgirl<\/strong>)<\/em> Gordon<\/em> and the torture of her father, at the bone-white hands of The Joker<\/strong>. A solitary, driven Dark Knight haunts streets and allies, ceaselessly crushing criminals with brutal callousness, whilst sinister serial killer The Garbage Man<\/em> prowls unchallenged\u2026<\/p>\n

When wheelchair-bound Barbara fails in her attempted intervention to calm a Batman pushing himself to breaking-point, it takes a rooftop heart-to-heart with recently promoted Commissioner Gordon to finally crack the manhunter\u2019s shell and begin the healing process\u2026<\/p>\n

Chuck Dixon & Brent Anderson step in years later when, as a result of a strategically systematic attack by would-be crime-lord Bane<\/em>, an exhausted and broken Batman is replaced by another, darker champion. Set during the Knight<\/strong>f<\/strong>all<\/strong> publishing event, \u2018The Ultimate Betrayal\u2019<\/em> describes the moment Gordon realises his enigmatic ally has become a remorseless machine\/exterminating angel hunting criminals with no regard to life anymore. If only third Robin Tim Drake<\/em> could have told him that the man behind the cowl – and claws and razor-armour – is actually Azrael<\/strong>: hereditary and murderously programmed living weapon of an ancient Christian warrior-cult\u2026<\/p>\n

Rucka, Paul Pope & Claude St. Aubin bring the journey full circle in \u2018Comrades in Arms\u2019<\/em> wherein a mysterious stranger and his family hit Gotham on a mission to find Gordon and Batman, just as the Commissioner introduces his destined successor Michael Akins<\/em> to the Major Crimes Unit. Word on the street is the Russian mob are planning a huge retaliatory strike and every cop is waiting for the hammer to fall when Hale Corbett walks back into GCPD HQ, demanding to see Gordon and the masked manhunter who changed his life many years ago\u2026<\/p>\n

Filtered through gritty modern sensibilities but still able to revere past glories and Batman\u2019s softer sides, this thoroughly readable collection includes a cover gallery by artistic all-stars Javier Pulido, Ty Templeton, Joe Kubert, Howard Chaykin, Pope & Tim Sale, and offers a gripping thrill ride for newcomers and veterans alike.
\n\u00a9 2001, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Greg Rucka, Ed Brubaker, Chuck Dixon, Steve Lieber, Joe Giella, Dick Giordano, Bob Smith, Brent Anderson, Paul Pope, Claude St. Aubin & various (DC Comics) ISBN: 978-1-4012-1360-2 (TPB) When Superman debuted in Action Comics #1, the only still-the-same-today supporting character was Lois Lane. When \u201cThe Bat-Man\u201d premiered a year later in Detective Comics #27 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Batman: Turning Points”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[92,10,75,76,172,325],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-batgirl","category-batman","category-crime-comics","category-dc-superhero","category-robin","category-the-joker"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-7CX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29323"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29327,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29323\/revisions\/29327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}