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.

RECOMMENDED

THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES AGAIN by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley

The Dark Knight Strikes Again, the sequel to the classic The Dark Knight Returns, was written and drawn by Frank Miller and colored by Lynn Varley. It was originally published as a three-part series in 2001 and 2002.

The story picks up three years after the events of The Dark Knight Returns. The world has become a police-state led by Lex Luthor, and Batman is at work trying to free imprisoned superheroes and take down the corrupt government.

Strikes Again is thirty pages longer than Returns, and it feels much shorter. In Returns, every panel was carefully arranged. Here, panels are strewn about the page, and there are a lot of full-page spreads that are neither artistic nor helpful to the plot. Miller may have been trying to create a chaotic atmosphere for this one, but it all feels like filler.

On the subject of chaos, Strikes Again feels slapped together. There’s plenty going on, but there’s little development of any character other than Superman. Nothing that happens here is particularly exciting, and the ending is anticlimactic and ho-hum.

Miller’s art is significantly different here than it was in Returns. It’s more grotesque, it’s sloppier, and it’s less detailed. Many characters look like monsters. There’s a profound lack of background art, and this, combined with the lack of detail and the computer-colored backgrounds that Lynn Varley quite obviously got carried away with, makes it perfectly understandable if the reader has trouble figuring out what’s going on. About the only bright spot here is what Miller does with Plastic Man.

The Dark Knight Strikes Again feels sloppy and thrown together. It is mediocre in its own right, and looks even poorer when compared with the classic that spawned it.

NOT RECOMMENDED

THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS by Frank Miller, Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley

With the release of the quite good but absurdly overrated The Dark Knight in theaters, this seems like a good time to revisit the greatest Batman comic ever written: The Dark Knight Returns. The Dark Knight Returns was written and drawn by Frank Miller, inked by Klaus Janson, and colored by Lynn Varley. It was originally published as a four-part series in 1986.

Here, Bruce Wayne is in his fifties, and he hasn’t been Batman in ten years. A massive crime wave drives him back into action. There’s a lot going on here: crime is out of control, Commissioner Gordon is retiring, superheroes have been done away with, the Cold War is escalating, several of the old, classic Batman villains are on the loose, and Batman’s not what he used to be.

The story here is so multi-layered, so complex, and Miller does an excellent job of keeping hold of all the threads. He also does a great job of blending old, classic characters with new ones. Miller’s one-page vignettes with crime victims make the story personal.

Miller likes to give us characters’ internal narration of events. This works most of the time, but once in a while it’s just too much (“I get sick of the arm…and kill it below the elbow.”). Miller typically does this when the artwork doesn’t show us all he wants it to, and he feels compelled to tell us the rest. This is the most obvious weakness in Miller’s work.

Miller’s art isn’t pretty. It’s dark, it’s sloppy at times, and it’s often downright ugly. But it fits the story, and it, along with Janson’s inks and Varley’s colors, really sets the mood. Even the layout of the panels, which are often cramped and crowded together, add to the story’s smothering feel.

There’s so much here, and Miller gives the reader a lot to think about. All told, The Dark Knight Returns has held up over time, and is one of the two or three greatest comic works ever created, hands down.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

BATMAN: DARK VICTORY by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale

Batman: Dark Victory, written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Tim Sale, was originally published as a miniseries in 1999 and 2000. It is a sequel to Batman: The Long Halloween. It takes place early in Batman’s career, and focuses on a serial cop killer, the Hangman, who murders on holidays. Meanwhile Harvey Dent has escaped from Arkham and is waging war on Gotham’s organized crime families. This story also retells the origin of Robin.

Loeb, as usual, tells an engaging story. He does a good job balancing a fairly large cast of characters, although he waters down Batman’s rogues gallery by cramming virtually all of them into this story, then making them incredibly easy to defeat.

Sale’s art is stylized and exaggerated. There are often vast differences in the sizes of characters, and his sewers are like cathedrals. But overall, the art works.

There are a few grievous plot holes here. The Hangman is killing cops on holidays, and the cops know this, yet most every protagonist in the book has trouble keeping abreast of upcoming holidays. Batman knows that Harvey Dent and his minions are using the sewers to hide out and move around, yet he can never find them. Nor is he aware that the sewers conveniently lead right into the Batcave. The mind fairly boggles.

Overall, though, Batman: Dark Victory is interesting enough to overcome its flaws, and, while not as good as The Long Halloween, is entertaining enough. Read The Long Halloween first, as Dark Victory relies heavily on it.

RECOMMENDED

BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM by Grant Morrison and Dave McKean

Batman: Arkham Asylum, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Dave McKean, was originally published in 1989. The fifteenth anniversary edition also contains Morrison’s original script and storyboards. The inmates of Arkham Asylum have taken over the institution, and will only release their hostages if Batman comes inside. Batman deals with his own sanity as he confronts the usual crowd of villains.

Dave McKean’s art is dark and atmospheric, and it fits the book perfectly. However, it’s often so dark that it’s difficult to tell what’s going on, and a look at Morrison’s script shows that the art doesn’t incorporate half the imagery Morrison was going for (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing).

Morrison goes for image overload here. Christian, pagan, and mystic imagery are through the roof. Morrison throws all of it into the pot with the pretentious treatments of Freud, Jung, and psychology in general, and what we get just isn’t very good. There are other problems. Batman seems poorly characterized here, particularly at the beginning. He’s chatty, out of control of his emotions, and publicly vulnerable.

The jacket to Arkham Asylum trumpets that it is “the most successful graphic novel of all time.” I can’t imagine why. Ultimately, Arkham Asylum just isn’t compelling.

TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

BATMAN: FORTUNATE SON by Gerard Jones and Gene Ha

Batman: Fortunate Son, written by Gerard Jones and illustrated by Gene Ha, was originally published as a one-shot in 1999. The story concerns a rock and roll superstar who gets visited by quasi-Elvis, then goes across the country committing crimes and fomenting rebellion.

Jones plays on the generation gap between Batman and Robin – Batman hates rock music, Robin is a brainless fanboy. Both characters come across as thoroughly one-dimensional. The dialogue throughout is terrible. It's unbelievably bad. Corny, too.

Ha's art is decent, although he runs into trouble communicating what's actually going on during some action scenes.

Batman: Fortunate Son is a silly, ridiculous hodge-podge of a story, riddled with clichés and puns. It cannot be taken seriously on any level, and it must rank with the worst Batman stories ever written.

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