A Death in the Family

The last time Batman faced The Joker, the clown prince of crime crippled Batgirl. Whilst each of his crimes before had left a lasting impression on Gotham City, this would be the first crime that truly left a lasting scar on Batman and those closest to him. Fresh off his war with Deacon Blackfire, Batman is faced with a Joker who is looking to branch out. When we first see The Joker, we find out that he has a nuclear missile (!) that he wants to smuggle out of the country and sell to international terrorists.

Meanwhile, on a much more personal level Batman has become concerned about the unpredictability of Jason Todd (the second Robin) and benches him so he can deal with his emotions around his parents' deaths. This tactic doesn't exactly work though, leading to Todd finding a new depth to his parental worries, discovering that his real mother is a mysterious woman known only by the initial 'S' on his birth certificate.

Batman and Todd head off into international territory again to solve their respective mysteries. Todd narrows his search down to 3 women in his father's address book - a spy, a mercenary and a doctor. Batman tracks down the Joker to Beirut, discovering in the process that his methods work just as well on criminals outside of Gotham. Unsurprisingly, their paths cross and they have their first confrontation with The Joker when they try to prevent the missile being used to destroy Tel Aviv.

Neither of the first two candidates for Todd's mother pan out. The second brings us a fantastic showdown between Batman and Lady Shiva, who would have made sense as Todd's mother considering her fighting prowess. The third option, a doctor helping children in Ethiopia, is someone who shows the potential for Todd to be someone who is better than his roots. At first. Then we find out she left Gotham in disgrace and that she is willing to go into business with Joker to protect herself. The reveal of Todd's mother as someone willing to break the law to protect herself - a criminal - is quite sad, as it suggests that Todd was never going to rise above his origins in Crime Alley. 

Despite his mother's true nature being revealed, Todd still proves he is the hero by fighting to protect her until the end. The scene where Joker beats him with a crowbar is both brutal and iconic - the image of the crowbar is returned to many times in the same way that the pearl and gun are used to refer to Batman's origin. This fact suggests that this is Todd's true origin as a hero, despite the darker path he takes.

Batman's quest for revenge makes up the remainder of the story, which descends into silliness as The Joker becomes a UN ambassador and gains diplomatic immunity. This ruined the story for me a little - it might have been more interesting to see Batman almost take that final step before realising that would make him as bad as The Joker. The inclusion of Superman seems out of place in such a personal story also.

Starlin proves himself willing to break down Batman. Despite the strange final act, this is still a storyline that sent ripples through the Bat books. The death of Jason Todd would forever influence every encounter with the Joker and every relationship with Robin or member of the Bat family in years to come. Every scene in the batcave since has a display case that immortalises and memorialises Todd, showing that Batman would never forget the (first) Robin that died.

Next up - Blind Justice

The Cult

Deacon Blackfire just returned in the weekly series Batman Eternal. Resurrected by forces hiding beneath Arkham Asylum, he seems to be planning on unleashing hell on Gotham City. But it seems that the Blackfire of the New 52 has lost some of his malevolence - in a flashback sequence we see him easily defeated and his plan seemingly thwarted before it even began. Nothing like the Deacon Blackfire in The Cult, then.

We open on a bizarre dreamlike sequence as Bruce Wayne investigates a strange house that has appeared on his estate. He discovers the Joker at the bottom of a flight of stairs, who then taunts him until Bruce transforms into the Batman. Our hero wakes, and we find him chained up and already in the clutches of madness thanks to Blackfire.

Deacon Blackfire claims to have been around for hundreds of years, recounting a story where he was murdered and locked in a cavern behind a large boulder. This is a man who models himself as a messianic figure, and already we learn that he has several followers willing to do his bidding.

Through flashbacks we discover that Batman was investigating a series of brutal murders. Gotham has also experience the disappearance of it's homeless population, which we are informed of by the excellent news report sequences which are reminiscent of the news report panels in Dark Knight Returns. These homeless citizens are Blackfire's disciples, his followers, and we discover it is they who are brutally murdering the criminals of Gotham.

Batman is well and truly broken by the time this story starts. A gunshot wound suffered when he lost focus, along with starvation break his mind down, making him more susceptible to the Deacon's drugs and sermons. By the end of the first issue, he has succumbed to Blackfire, and we know that Gotham is in dire straits.

The ideas of religious zealotry and the cult of personality are prevalent here. We see Gotham increasingly more confused as to which side they should be on, many of the talking heads in the news reports mentioned before even taking Blackfire's side. He has managed to clean up crime in Gotham after all - so Batman's failures are now twofold: his mind has been broken and somebody else has managed to achieve his goal.

Belief is another strong theme, Batman loses his self belief, eventually being saved by Robin's belief that he is still an effective crime fighter. The climax of the story comes when Blackfire's followers lose their belief in him.

Jim Starlin does excellent work here as the first man to truly break the bat. And with the other storyline coming up which is also penned by Starlin, the worst is yet to come. Excellent, trippy artwork as well by Bernie Wrightson which shows off the effects of Blackfire's manipulation on Batman's mind.

My only gripe is the return to guns, although at least it is made clear that they are tranquilliser darts and not bullets. Some of the explosions from the Batmobile missiles must surely have indirectly killed someone though, right?

Excellent story - worth a read if you're a fan of Dark Knight Rises, as this explores similar ground with Gotham in trouble until Batman returns to save his city. Or if you're a fan of the Batman who refuses to give up, even when he has seemingly been broken.

Next up - Death in the Family

The Killing Joke

Consistently placed in the top 3 Batman comics of all time, The Killing Joke is one of the most iconic Joker stories of all time. It's also the second Batman graphic that I ever read, after Arkham Asylum, so it is part of the foundations of my love for the character.

It is a cyclical story, which starts as it ends (or so it seems) with a confrontation between Batman and The Joker. The Bat strides into Arkham Asylum on a mission of peace, almost begging the Joker to stop this war between them before one ends up killing the other. Bolland's attention to detail in the art is already clear in the sign on the Arkham receptionist's desk (what a strange job that must be) - 'You don't have to be mad to work here, but it helps...' Perhaps this is Harleen Quinzel before the medical degree and the failed career as a therapist? We also see a glance back at Harvey Dent from Gordan - a look of regret perhaps?

It soon transpires that Joker has escaped the revolving door of Arkham once more and is purchasing an old carnival plot from an estate agent. Does he not read the papers? 

We get our first flashback to a black and white pre-Joker - a fantastic transition where the panels are perfectly mirrored to signal that this is The Joker (or one of his multiple choice origins at least). We see a down on his luck comedian, a pregnant wife and a struggle for money - all of which will culminate in Joker's 'one bad day'.

This idea of 'one bad day' being all it takes for someone to go mad runs through this story. The Joker's plot is to make Jim Gordon suffer that 'one bad day' to prove that he (The Joker) is just like everyone else. With this version of his origin, he and Batman are more closely linked than ever before. Each of them has his 'one bad day', that eventually sends them on their individual paths of criminal and crime fighter. It's nice to have a bit of ambiguity though, with The Joker himself stating that he prefers his last to be 'multiple choice'.

Regardless of his origins, The Joker is gleefully vile throughout. He appears at Gordon's house in an iconic scene, Barbara Gordon opening the door to a gun. He taunts the Gordon family, making jokes about torn jackets and holes in spines (displaying an eerie knowledge of Barbara's life) before leaving with Jim and some revealing photographs. All the pieces are in place for him to break Gordon and prove his point.

Bolland and Moore work with a fantastic synergy here that so few creators seem to manage. The writing is excellent - Joker's various quips are clever and snappy, Batman's dialogue shows his desperation to escape from the fate he sees for the pair of them. Bolland's art is full of excellent details, which reveal new intricacies even after several readings. And of course there are the repeated images of the reaction to Joker, the gun, the repetition of actions from the past. 

The Killing Joke, quite aptly, ends with a joke about two insane people. The ending itself is quite ambiguous, with Batman and The Joker sharing a laugh before their laughter is abruptly cut short. Recently Grant Morrison claimed this was because Batman kills Joker - the ultimate punch line to their relationships over the years. I think that they go back to the start of the cycle - Joker in the Asylum and Batman waiting for him to escape.

The impact this story had is long lasting also; Batgirl can no longer fight crime and eventually becomes Oracle. The Joker's terrorising of the Gordon family takes it's first step here - and this is not the first time (not the last) that the clown prince of crime will leave such a lasting impression on the bat family.

Next up - The Cult

Ten Nights of the Beast

Batman makes another foray into the world of espionage, this time involving the KGB assassin known as KGBeast. Terrible name aside, this is actually a very fun story which shows Batman being tested by a foe other than his usual rogues gallery.

Until reading this, my only experience of KGBeast was in the appearance of the character (pre-bondage gear) in Arrow. I assume he will become the deadly assassin on that show some day, as no character from the DC universe is wasted in that universe. If I had judged him as a villain based on his name, I would probably have dismissed Anatoli Knyazev outright. However he is in the same mould as Bane, before Bane came into existence.

The story starts on a beach, with several FBI agents being decimated by a single shadowy figure. We then quickly jump to an agent of the KGB warning about a rogue Russian agent who triggered something know as Operation Skywalker. This leads to a race against time as Batman, the FBI, the KGB and the GCPD all struggle to save 10 names on a list of people who are involved in a weapons programme which might eliminate nuclear weaponry.

KGBeast, the assassin, takes out these targets in a variety of bizarre ways. One of which is via a carton of orange juice which disguises a deadly poison gas. There are a couple of excellent fight scenes with Batman, where the pair match wits. Some of these genuinely had me worried for Batman's safety, crazy as that sounds, especially when he struggles to stop his fall from a rooftop. 

There is a mystery to the proceedings as well; there is a leak within the investigation team which leads to 7/10 of the names on the list being taken out. This is the most Batman has ever failed to date, from memory. 

I also loved the ending, as it showed Batman as a tactician as well as a fighter. He conceded that he doesn't always have to fight every fight. 

A fun four issue volume, which introduced a villain who I would be interested in reading more of. But then, in another writers hands he might not be as well written. Jim Starling is another one of those writers who has left his imprint on the Bat, including a couple of famous storylines which are fast approaching.

Next up - The Killing Joke

Batman - Faces

There are two sides to every coin, and indeed every story or person. 

'Faces' explores that idea in depth - with every character and motive having two sides.

It begins with Two Face escaping, seemingly deciding to do so on the flip of his scarred coin. Then the story flashes forward in time, two years later, where Two Face's plan begins. 

Bruce Wayne is at a masquerade ball, where we learn he is desperate to purchase an island from a man called D'Urbeville. No reason is given for this desire, although we can assume Bruce Wayne wanted to build a Bat-island, or something similar.

Two Face's first victim is one of the guests at this masquerade - his mask stuck to his face, so that when it is removed when he struggles to breathe, his face is torn off. This victim, and all of the others, is a plastic surgeon. Two Face appears to be on a crusade against people who try and promote beauty as the only way that someone can be accepted in society. Of course, as a villain who is obsessed with duality, this mass murder is just a cover for his real plan.

Batman rushes away from the ball in pursuit of Two Face's real target - a large jade yin yang symbol (which bears more than a passing resemblance to Batman's giant coin from the Batcave). During this daring heist, we see that Two Face has begun to gather some unique henchmen - twins names Romulus and Remus and a man with snake-like skin on his face. This is just scratching the surface of the outcasts that he has begun to gather though. 

Nelson Wren, the broker who is arranging the deal between Wayne and D'Urberville is approached by a mysterious woman named Manon, who seduces him, and then soon after a mysterious masked man name Count Enance. These two, who are both duplicitous themselves, convince Wren to help them secure the island for themselves. This leads to an excellent full page scene with a birds eye view of a track, where Wayne tries to haggle with Wren to improve on the offer made by Enance.

Meanwhile, Batman is investigating the plastic surgeon murders, tracking a potential victim down to the theatre, but is unfortunately too late to stop the crime. Again we see that Batman is not without his flaws, unlike later on in his career where he is super competent and can take down entire alien races by himself. Instead he stumbles and struggles to get to the bottom of the plastic surgeon murders before he realises Two Face's true motive.

Count Enance is revealed to be Two Face, in perhaps the least shocking reveal ever, and at the end of the first issue we see the full extent of his gang of freaks. His plan is to use the island to create a safe haven for the outcasts, including himself, with the yin yang symbol as their crest. In a sense he is trying to create his own Batcave, the similarities made clear with the giant jade ornament and the blimp which he also steals later on.

Finally the pieces fit together for Batman, who realises that the plastic surgeon murders were a ploy to distract him from the real crimes. He discovers that Two Face blackmailed D'Urberville (another character leading a double life) and races to stop his plan. He is subdued though, and tied to the front of the blimp. Luckily he has some acid to spare, and releases himself to save the day.

An excellent story, in my opinion, which showed Two Face in a different light to the usual mobster. He has a genuine cause here, one which some might say is noble, although he goes about it the wrong way. Sure, he murders several people horribly and kidnaps circus freaks against their will, but he does it because he sees himself as a protector of the outcasts. In the end, the freaks turn on Dent, and tell him that they are happy with who they are. They are freaks, but at least they not like Dent - a monster.

Great artwork here, which is disturbing and fitting with the horror elements of this story. And great writing too from Wagner, who has gone from strength to strength since his tale of the 'monster men' of Hugo Strange right back at the beginning of the timeline. Highly recommended.

Next up - Ten Nights of the Beast

Tales of the Demon

R'as Al Ghul is one of the Batman's most intimidating foes. He knows who Batman is, commands an army of assassins and even death cannot hold him down.

This collection of shorter arcs from the Denny O'Neill run on Batman introduces us to the Demon Head, his daughter Talia and his mysterious Lazarus Pits.

We join Batman mid investigation into Dr. Darrk and the League of Assassins - having not read the stories which precede this one in O'Neill's run I can only assume that this was an ongoing investigation for a few months. When Batman corners a lead, two assassins strike, killing the man Batman was pursuing. An attempt is made to silence Batman as well, but to no avail, as both assassins are swiftly dispatched. With his final breath, the man Batman had followed whispers the words 'Soom Express' and the investigation is alive once more.

Denny O'Neill is renowned for his depiction of the Batman as an international crime fighter, closer to spies such as James Bond than the dark and brooding vigilante he has been in the past. We see him globe trotting, seducing the beautiful daughter of the man who quickly becomes his nemesis and donning costumes or using gadgetry to defeat and thwart the villains. Several of the scenes in the opening chapters here are replicated in Grant Morrison's run, where Batman once again becomes the 'super spy' during. Batman Inc.

R'as is presented as Batman's intellectual equal, easily deducing the secret identity of the Bat by analysing what equipment the Dark Knight used and investigating who had the means to make such purchases. We see this initial confrontation early on, and so Al Ghul is immediately presented as a threat to be taken seriously. Adding to the menace created by his intellect is his hulking bodyguard Ubu, the first of several loyal followers who handle the physical confrontations with the Detective.

Over the course of several shorter arcs, Batman learns that R'as is testing him, to try and judge his suitability as a partner for his daughter, Talia. In these arcs Batman and R'as are enemies and unwilling allies, most notably in the battle against the Sensei. 

One standout sequence is the battle between Batman and Al Ghul in the desert, where the Demon's Head is proven to be just as worthy a physical opponent as he is a mental one. Batman appears defeated, through a stroke of poor luck, but it is Talia who eventually helps him to win the encounter. 

The daughter of the Demon's Head is shown to be just as competent in combat, although she is much more shrouded in mystery than her father and we can never be truly sure whose side she is on. She is often portrayed - falsely - as the damsel in distress, but this is more often than not a ploy to get Batman involved in one of the schemes of her father.

The introduction of the Lazarus Pit is well handled too, with us seeing the madness that takes its hold on Al Ghul after he is reborn. There is just enough mystery left surrounding the Demon's Head and his resurrections to allow scope for later storylines to expand on his history. We get a sense here that he has been around for a very long time though, honing his skills in order to bring about the 'improvement' of the Earth.

We get a brief cameo from Robin, who seems to be away at University, and we also see the persona of Matches Malone again. Several other people come to Batman's aid in the course of these stories, which shows that he is still in the relative infancy of his career.

The artwork and writing are both exemplary - several iconic scenes are drawn here by Neal Adams. The writing of Denny O'Neill is strikingly noir, but without going over the top as some writers often have the tendency to do. O'Neill, for me, is one of the greatest writers to take on the character of Batman. Even if this had been his only contribution to the Batman mythology, that would hold true. How many other creators can boast that they have created a villain as iconic and dangerous as R'as Al Ghul?

Next up - Batman: Faces

Fortunate Son

So, Batman doesn't like rock music. Or punk. Something which he makes very clear in his constant assertions to Robin that it leads to crime and madness. Although to be fair, he has a point if you use this story as evidence. Several thousand fans of 'Izaak Crowe' start a mini rebellion. They storm a pseudo-Graceland style museum, even stealing a glass coffin which holds the body of 'The God of Rock 'n' Roll'. 

All of this youthful rebellion is a result of the manipulative manager of Crowe, who uses lookalikes and fancy dress hire to convince Crowe that the 'God' and several other dead rock stars are leading him on some mythical quest. Luckily for Batman's investigation, the evil manager isn't clever enough to try and hide the various purchases he has made to prepare for his plan. He can train a small army of people to do his dirty deeds, but he can't figure out that if he pays for things using cash then it can't be traced as easily...

The debate surrounding the influence of rock music, or indeed any form of media, on the behaviour of the general public is one that has gone on for several decades. Batman himself has even been the subject of the debate, most recently when a theatre screening a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises was the victim of a violent shooting. But this volume was oftentimes very heavy handed in trying to deliver its message. There was several stock 'older generation' characters who were complaining about the youth of today, Batman being one of them.

If it sounds like I'm being negative, than it's because I am. I just found this story to be full of strange ideas and slightly wonky characterisation. Especially Batman, who stubbornly refuses to allow Robin to listen to rock music. And at some point he thinks taking Robin to Arkham will cure him, despite none of the villains in Arkham being influenced by music to commit their crimes...it was hilarious to learn that Harvey Dent enjoys ABBA on a good day though.

On a positive note the artwork by Gene Ha was great - although it was odd to see Batman without the white lenses in his cowl. But the action sequences were well drawn and the scene where Batman was speed reading in order to learn about rock music to further his investigation was a particular standout. Not one to seek out, unless you're a completist like me and want to read every Batman story ever written...

Next up - Tales of the Demon.