THE UNTOLD LEGEND OF THE BATMAN by Wein, Aparo, and Byrne

The Untold Legend of the Batman (1982) collects the eponymous three-issue 1980 mini-series from DC Comics. It was written by Len Wein and illustrated by Jim Aparo and John Byrne. Here, someone is threatening Batman in the Batcave, and in trying to identify the culprit, Batman and other characters reminisce about their origins.

This is, first and foremost, a detailed retelling of Batman’s Gold and Silver Age, Pre-Crisis origins, based in large part on stories from the 1940s and 1950s. Not everything that’s here is canon anymore (Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One has supplanted it in matters contradictory; Bruce, for example, no longer was the original Robin), and not everything is consistent even with Batman’s several other Gold and Silver Age origin stories (Joe Chill, for example, is a hired hitman here rather than a random mugger).

Wein’s writing is adequate. The series is little more than an excuse for various characters to recollect their own and others’ origin stories. These include the origins of Bruce, Dick Grayson, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon, the Joker, Two-Face, and Lucius Fox (and Batman isn’t the only one to have his origin retconned). Beyond this contrived framework, these origin stories are, on the whole, very interesting, even if the resolution to the “who’s trying to kill Bruce” plot is kind of weak and the dialogue is the typical melodramatic exposition comics are notorious for. The pacing throughout is pretty good, though, which covers some of these flaws.

The art is quite a bit better. Jim Aparo was the definitive Batman artist of the 1980s, and his work, both as a penciller and an inker, is excellent here (the latter is particularly noteworthy because this version is in black and white). John Byrne always did quality work in the 1980s, too, and with Aparo illustrating his work, there’s a good transition between pencillers.

The Untold Legend of the Batman, like a number of Tor’s comic collections, is about four inches by seven – standard paperback novel size. By necessity, the panels have been rearranged – the material from one page of the original comic is spread over several pages here. This obviously disrupts the flow somewhat, but not to a damaging degree. As this story isn’t particularly relevant to the current incarnation of Batman, DC has never released a better version.

It’s hard to recommend The Untold Legend of the Batman to new Batman readers because of its canonical irrelevancy, but it’s a pretty good, pretty quick read, and those who are at least somewhat familiar with Pre-Crisis Batman stories should enjoy it.

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STAR TREK: LOG ONE by Alan Dean Foster

Star Trek: Log One (1974), by Alan Dean Foster, contains three novellas adapted from the first three episodes of Star Trek: The Animated Series: “Beyond the Farthest Star,” “Yesteryear,” and “One of Our Planets is Missing.” Here, the crew investigates an ancient derelict ship, Spock travels back in time to save his child self, and the Enterprise is swallowed by a planet-eating cloud.

Each novella is about sixty pages, and generally, this is a good length for this material, although there’s quite a bit more setup, especially for “Beyond,” and the pacing tends to be on the leisurely side. Foster has a narrative flair for the dramatic, and his characters often ponder grand cosmic thoughts. The overall effect is a different tone and feel from either The Original Series or TAS. The stories themselves are solid if not spectacular; “Yesteryear” was easily the best TAS episode, and, with the most character focus of the three, it’s the best story here, too.

Foster’s characterization is adequate at best, and the dialogue doesn’t always ring true. The Kirk-Spock-McCoy interplay isn’t on the level that Trek fans will likely expect, and tends to lack both charm and humor. Kirk himself is uncharacteristically awkward at times, while the Spock-McCoy exchanges are more immature and less good-spirited than what we saw on either TOS or TAS.

The only scientific nitpick here is in “Beyond,” where the characters regularly experience sound on a ship with no atmosphere (although in fairness, every iteration of Star Trek going back to TOS has abused this).

On the whole, Star Trek fans should find Star Trek: Log One reasonably readable and enjoyable, whether they’ve seen TAS or not.

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