Blind Justice

Written by the man who brought Michael Keaton as Batman to the screen in 1989, Blind Justice explores a much darker side of Batman. Some elements don't hold up so well - mainly the 'Bonecrusher' and the bizarre technology behind his crimes, but the overall story is fascinating and explores many of the themes and ideas which make a truly great Batman story.

First of all there's the exploration of Bruce Wayne's mental state - done expertly with a recurring set of nightmares where he is in fact the one who kills his parents. This seems to be guilt on his part, for being the one who survived. A few times it is implied that this guilt manifests itself as the Batman persona - the mask he wears is his escape from that guilt but also the reason he can never forget that night in his life. This idea that Batman is the only thing keeping him sane comes to a head later on, when faced with the prospect of not being able to walk again Bruce is willing to put another life in danger simply so he can continue on as the Batman.

There is also the idea of Batman taking precedence over Bruce Wayne - it is only because Bruce takes such a hands off approach to the running of his company that a cabal of villains is able to use Wayne Tech for such nefarious means. Although Bruce clearly remembers one of his employees, the missing Roy Kane, showing he is not such a terrible employer after all.

We meet Henri Ducard again (he briefly appeared in The Man Who Falls) and find out more about how he trained Bruce to be a master of tracking and detection. Ducard is brought in to testify against Bruce Wayne, who is charged with terrorism when someone uncovers his training during his years away from Gotham. It is interesting that not many people have questioned what he was doing for all those years, and it was refreshing to see his villains using these facts against him. 

There's the idea of leaving a legacy, or of passing the torch. Batman briefly 'passes the torch' to Roy Kane, albeit only in body. One of the cabal uses their technology to jump into a different body, in order to continue their mad experiments. The legacy of Bruce's parents looms large, their death replayed time and time again to show just how much it has impacted on his life. A brief mention is made of Jason Todd, perhaps placing this a while after he died. Although no replacement has been made yet, and the actions of Batman at times could be interpreted as being driven by grief for the young life he put on the line.

There are hints too of identity - that Gordon in fact knows that Batman is Bruce Wayne. There are several little digs, or knowing comments between the two, that suggest Gordon is well aware of the Batman's identity but choose to appear 'ignorant' for appearances sake.

Excellent artwork here, with the haunting nightmares repeated throughout and some of the interesting ways of framing the different panels. One of my favourites was early on when we see Batman and Comissioner Gordon talking through the door of the morgue. Simple touches, but impressive ones nonetheless.

Next up - Batman Year Three