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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 4, 2015 22:59:42 GMT -5
Batman #458  "Night Monsters" writer: Alan Grant pencils: Norm Breyfogle inks: Steve Mitchell colors: Adrienne Roy letters: Todd Klein asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Dennis O'Neil creator: Bob Kane grade: A- One of Breyfogle's absolute best covers, followed by one of Grant's better stories. There are essentially two parallel plots at play in this and the next issue and, to Grant's credit, neither centers on stopping bad guys. Plot A is yet another in a seemingly endless line of (admittedly good) sequels to Frank Miller's Year One, this time having Jim Gordon and Sarah Essen reunite after years apart. While I'm not particularly interested in that romance, especially as it made me dislike Gordon during Year One since he was a married man with a child on the way at the time, I do love the internal narration Grant lends to Gordon, obsessed over the passage of time and missed opportunities. It is, simply put, the best writing I've ever seen him do for Batman or Detective. The internal monologue from the beginning of the story: The B Plot concerns the return of Harold, the mute hunchback with the genius ability to design and repair elaborate things, last seen during The Penguin Affair. When reading this issue as a kid, I remember being just as excited by this as by the emergence of Tim Drake as Robin because this was the first time I was really a part of something happening in the book. I'd been there for the Penguin Affair; I kind of remembered this guy, and here he was being added as a permanent fixture (or so I thought) in the Bat Family! Incidentally, from this point forward, I'll be adding a "Harold Watch" to my reviews of Batman comics because I don't think Harold sticks around for long and, worse yet, I don't think he ever got a send-off. I just remember gradually becoming aware that I hadn't seen him in a very long while. Important Details: - The Street Demonz return as a regular presence/threat in Grant and Breyfogle's Gotham - Sarah Essen returns to Gotham and resumes her relationship with Jim Gordon - Gordon indicates that the reason he is single is that his wife died several years back, but I believe it was Secret Origins #20 that established they had divorced years and years ago. If they, in fact, remained married, then where is James Gordon Jr? He would be an adult by this point but, theoretically, still a significant part of Jim Gordon's life and internal thoughts. - Harold joins Batman (at least temporarily) Minor Details: - Batman's dilemma about Harold doesn't make much sense. Why not allow him to remain as Mr. Fixxit? It appeared to make him happy, and the adults that were about to dish out mob justice to him learned to respect him by the end. Seemed like as good a situation as any for him: the neighborhood looks after him, and he gets to use his talents to make people's lives better. - Denny O'Neil's column this month addresses giving proper credit to writers and artists in comic books, the long struggle it took to get them recognition, and the possibility that giving them recognition isn't always a good thing. How in the world do you write such an article in a book that credits "creator: Bob Kane" on the front page, and not even imply anything about Bill Finger? plot synopsis in one sentence: Jim Gordon reunites with Sarah Essen and takes time to reflect on his aging and having made poor choices prior to the reunion, we're introduced to Mr. Fixxit: an enigmatic but presumably kind being who fixes things for neighborhood kids in return for scraps of food, a quick to anger mob pursues him, Batman tries to stop them, Mr. Fixxit turns out to be Harold from The Penguin Affair, the mob realizes they were too rash in their estimation of him, Gordon and Essen resume their old relationship, and Batman takes Harold in. That monologue sounds amazing, I seriously need to track this issue down. As for Harold, well he does get a send off in Hush but to say it was disappointing would be a huuuggee understatement, and that's coming from someone who generally enjoys Hush. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 5, 2015 0:57:13 GMT -5
As for Harold, well he does get a send off in Hush Wow. He hung around for that long?? I really don't remember ever seeing him again roughly three months after this issue was published. Maybe Loeb was just a fan of this run and had similarly wondered what the heck had ever become of him? |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jan 5, 2015 1:00:41 GMT -5
I suppose so as it rarely featured Batman, still Central is one of my favorite series. By far the best Bat-book of its time. |
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Post by foxley on Jan 5, 2015 1:20:08 GMT -5
As for Harold, well he does get a send off in Hush Wow. He hung around for that long?? I really don't remember ever seeing him again roughly three months after this issue was published. Maybe Loeb was just a fan of this run and had similarly wondered what the heck had ever become of him? Harold had been unseen for some time before his entirely unsatisfactory send-off in 'Hush'. He got driven out of the Batcave during the Az-bats storyline and disappeared until Hush. |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 5, 2015 1:22:03 GMT -5
Wow. He hung around for that long?? I really don't remember ever seeing him again roughly three months after this issue was published. Maybe Loeb was just a fan of this run and had similarly wondered what the heck had ever become of him? Harold had been unseen for some time before his entirely unsatisfactory send-off in 'Hush'. He got driven out of the Batcave during the Az-bats storyline and disappeared until Hush. Wow. He came back for Knightfall too? So even Moench utilized the character. Fascinating. I wonder if I'm misremembering things from my adolescence (entirely possible) or if Grant and Breyfogle really did forget about him for quite a while, only to have Moench bring him back later. |
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Post by crazyoldhermit on Jan 5, 2015 2:11:21 GMT -5
I think Harold appeared in No Man's Land as well. He made pretty regular appearances through Knightfall, he's the guy who built the Bat train.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 5, 2015 19:33:32 GMT -5
What's interesting, though, is how the classic Batman Animated Series episode, "Day of the Samurai," seems to borrow more from Tim's training here with Rahul Lama (teaching pressure points on the body as a mode of combat, the rival student who is corrupt and self-interested at heart) than from any of Bruce's studies with his various martial arts trainers. Slight correction to this observation made in my review of Robin #1. The touch of death trick used in the Day of the Samurai episode was more likely borrowed from the vibrating palm technique Bruce Wayne learned from Kirigi (Batman #431). Perhaps Dixon was borrowing from that story as well. |
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Post by Action Ace on Jan 7, 2015 19:33:56 GMT -5
What's interesting, though, is how the classic Batman Animated Series episode, "Day of the Samurai," seems to borrow more from Tim's training here with Rahul Lama (teaching pressure points on the body as a mode of combat, the rival student who is corrupt and self-interested at heart) than from any of Bruce's studies with his various martial arts trainers. Slight correction to this observation made in my review of Robin #1. The touch of death trick used in the Day of the Samurai episode was more likely borrowed from the vibrating palm technique Bruce Wayne learned from Kirigi (Batman #431). Perhaps Dixon was borrowing from that story as well. A move perfected by Bart Simpson  |
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Post by Action Ace on Jan 7, 2015 19:37:35 GMT -5
also slightly in the Bat Family in November 1990  |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 7, 2015 19:57:53 GMT -5
Slight correction to this observation made in my review of Robin #1. The touch of death trick used in the Day of the Samurai episode was more likely borrowed from the vibrating palm technique Bruce Wayne learned from Kirigi (Batman #431). Perhaps Dixon was borrowing from that story as well. A move perfected by Bart Simpson I actually think of this every time I type the phrase "touch of death," which, I think, was never actually said in any of the Batman issues I'm referencing. Damn you, Matt Groening  |
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Post by shaxper on Jan 21, 2015 20:53:19 GMT -5
Detective Comics #625  "Abattoir!" writer: Marv Wolfman pencils: Jim Aparo inks: Mike DeCarlo letters: John Costanza colors: Adrienne Roy asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Denny O'Neil grade: B- Ah, the start of the Michael Golden Detective Comics covers! I didn't care for these as a kid (especially as they never pertain to the story within), but I find them breathtaking now. This issue also marks the return of Wolfman and Aparo to the Batman franchise after a brief departure, only now running the Detective title instead of Batman. In a previous decade, the difference might only have been cosmetic, but here its significant. The tone and scope of this story confirms what I'd always assumed had been the editorial outlook towards the two titles under Denny O'Neil: Batman is where all the important stuff happens (and is the title that O'Neil, consequently, watches with greater interest) where Detective is a much more free space for writing smaller stories about (generally) street level villains. O'Neil broke this tradition several times to do stories he was personally involved in planning, but pretty much ever since Wagner and Breyfogle arrived on the title half a decade ago, the general scope has been street level stories that are more mature in tone. And it's clear why that's appealing to Wolfman at this point, who, it seems evident, left Batman after experiencing frustration with the conflicting editorial promises and mandates he'd been handed about the development of Tim Drake. Now, free of both Drake and editorial expectation, he drafts the first Batman story we've ever seen him tackle under O'Neil that doesn't appear to be fulfilling some larger agenda. There's no attempt to further develop Bruce Wayne, Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox, Dick Grayson's relationship with Batman, Batman's grief over losing Jason Todd, nor Tim Drake and the whole bag of fun that came with him. This is simply a street level detective story, and should Abattoir ("slaughterhouse") take off in the same way that Cornelius Stirk, the Ventriloquist, or the Rat Catcher did, well royalties would be a nice perk too. That being said, this story does make one significant decision regarding the Post-Crisis Batman franchise: it begins to paint Vicky Vale as somewhat psychologically unstable, first hinting that she's been doing heavy work with a therapist and then having her become totally unhinged when confronted with a maniac bent on killing her. It's actually refreshing to see someone writing a character who experiences realistic psychological repercussions from being in the standard super-villain death-trap, of course, but I'm curious to see where Wolfman is going with this and if, in fact, he can be the first writer in Batman history to make Vicky Vale into an interesting character. As for the story itself, it has its ups and downs. The solution to the mystery is a very good one, but the execution is rough, especially as everything is discovered and explained far too hurriedly at the end when the cleverness of the mystery and of its unraveling should have been the central focus. Instead, Wolfman spends the bulk of his time on establishing Abattoir as a character. He seems intended to fit among the sick and twisted monsters Wagner and Grant had given us in this title, but it all feels a little too forced and unnatural. This really isn't Wolfman's department. Additionally, while DeCarlo has a tendency to make a mess of Aparo's art as a regular habit, a lot of the art in this issue is particularly ruined by bad inking and just looks ugly. In short, a good premise with a poor execution. Hopefully, Wolfman and Aparo's next outing will be a more successful one. Important Details: - First confirmation since the out-of-continuity Dark Knight Returns that Batman's chest plate is bullet proof - First appearance of Abattoir - Vicky Vale becomes psychologically unhinged after nearly being murdered by Abattoir - We're reminded, once again, of Gordon's significant persistent cough. Apparently, Wolfman is headed somewhere similar to where Moench went in the Pre-Crisis. Minor Details: - From Gene Colan, to Alan Davis, to Todd McFarlane (back when he had talent), to Norm Breyfogle, to Mike Mignola, to Dick Sprang, to Michael Golden, I honestly have trouble remembering the last time Detective didn't have a powerhouse artist on the cover. I did actually go back to check, and it's Detective #554 (by Klaus Janson, who also did #568, but that cover was a good one). - Depending on your calculations, Batman has been active for between 11 and 15 years by this point (see my own Post-Crisis Timeline here), so why is Gordon so surprised at how quickly Batman is able to scare an average criminal into confessing? Wolfman repeatedly writes their relationship in this issue like it's still Year One and Batman and Gordon are still getting used to one another. - I'm utterly lost on how Batman defeated Abattoir. Abattoir pulls Batman into a pile of bones, Batman gets out first, and then leaves Gordon and two beat cops to capture a guy who is so infused with crazed strength that even Batman can't take him down. Did he just sink under the bones and pass out off panel or something? Harold Watch: Nope plot synopsis in one sentence: We are introduced to Abattoir, an inhabitant of Arkham who eats people in order to reclaim his own soul, an elaborate plan is executed to bust him out of prison by an enigmatic mastermind, he is taken to a party hosted for a candidate running for mayor and assassinates the mayor's wife, Batman tries to stop him, and Vicki Vale ends up becoming the focus of Abattoir's murderous obsession, and though Batman is able to save her, she is visibly disturbed by the ordeal and taken to a hospital while Batman unravels the mystery of how Abattoir got out of Arkham and who was behind it, ultimately finding and defeating Abattoir, as well as the man who hired him (his cousin, the mayoral candidate). |
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Post by thwhtguardian on Jan 22, 2015 11:49:24 GMT -5
Detective Comics #625 "Abattoir!" writer: Marv Wolfman pencils: Jim Aparo inks: Mike DeCarlo letters: John Costanza colors: Adrienne Roy asst. editor: Kelley Puckett editor: Denny O'Neil grade: B- Ah, the start of the Michael Golden Detective Comics covers! I didn't care for these as a kid (especially as they never pertain to the story within), but I find them breathtaking now. This issue also marks the return of Wolfman and Aparo to the Batman franchise after a brief departure, only now running the Detective title instead of Batman. In a previous decade, the difference might only have been cosmetic, but here its significant. The tone and scope of this story confirms what I'd always assumed had been the editorial outlook towards the two titles under Denny O'Neil: Batman is where all the important stuff happens (and is the title that O'Neil, consequently, watches with greater interest) where Detective is a much more free space for writing smaller stories about (generally) street level villains. O'Neil broke this tradition several times to do stories he was personally involved in planning, but pretty much ever since Wagner and Breyfogle arrived on the title half a decade ago, that's the general scope has been street level stories that are more mature in tone. And it's clear why that's appealing to Wolfman at this point, who, it seems evident, left Batman after experiencing frustration with the conflicting editorial promises and mandates he'd been handed about the development of Tim Drake. Now, free of both Drake and editorial expectation, he drafts the first Batman story we've ever seen him tackle under O'Neil that doesn't appear to be fulfilling some larger agenda. There's no attempt to further develop Bruce Wayne, Wayne Enterprises, Lucius Fox, Dick Grayson's relationship with Batman, Batman's grief over losing Jason Todd, nor Tim Drake and the whole bag of fun that came with him. This is simply a street level detective story, and should Abattoir ("slaughterhouse") take off in the same way that Cornelius Stirk, the Ventriloquist, or the Rat Catcher did, well royalties would be a nice perk too. That being said, this story does make one significant decision regarding the Post-Crisis Batman franchise: it begins to paint Vicky Vale as somewhat psychologically unstable, first hinting that she's been doing heavy work with a therapist and then having her become totally unhinged when confronted with a maniac bent on killing her. It's actually refreshing to see someone writing a character who experiences realistic psychological repercussions from being in the standard super-villain death-trap, of course, but I'm curious to see where Wolfman is going with this and if, in fact, he can be the first writer in Batman history to make Vicky Vale into an interesting character. As for the story itself, it has its ups and downs. The solution to the mystery is a very good one, but the execution is rough, especially as everything is discovered and explained far too hurriedly at the end when the cleverness of the mystery and of its unraveling should have been the central focus. Instead, Wolfman spends the bulk of his time on establishing Abattoir as a character. He seems intended to fit among the sick and twisted monsters Wagner and Grant had given us in this title, but it all feels a little too forced and unnatural. This really isn't Wolfman's department. Additionally, while DeCarlo has a tendency to make a mess of Aparo's art as a regular habit, a lot of the art in this issue is particularly ruined by bad inking and just looks ugly. In short, a good premise with a poor execution. Hopefully, Wolfman and Aparo's next outing will be a more successful one. Important Details: - First confirmation since the out-of-continuity Dark Knight Returns that Batman's chest plate is bullet proof - First appearance of Abatoir - Vicky Vale becomes psychologically unhinged after nearly being murdered by Abattoir - We're reminded, once again, of Gordon's significant persistent cough. Apparently, Wolfman is headed somewhere similar to where Moench went in the Pre-Crisis. Minor Details: - From Gene Colan, to Alan Davis, to Todd McFarlane (back when he had talent), to Norm Breyfogle, to Mike Mignola, to Dick Sprang, to Michael Golden, I honestly have trouble remembering the last time Detective didn't have a powerhouse artist on the cover. I did actually go back to check, and it's Detective #554 (by Klaus Janson, who also did #568, but that cover was a good one). - Depending on your calculations, Batman has been active for between 11 and 15 years by this point (see my own Post-Crisis Timeline here), so why is Gordon so surprised at how quickly Batman is able to scare an average criminal into confessing? Wolfman repeatedly writes their relationship in this issue like it's still Year One and Batman and Gordon are still getting used to one another. - I'm utterly lost on how Batman defeated Abattoir. Abattoir pulls Batman into a pile of bones, Batman gets out first, and then leaves Gordon and two beat cops to capture a guy who is so infused with crazed strength that even Batman can't take him down. Did he just sink under the bones and pass out off panel or something? Harold Watch: Nope plot synopsis in one sentence: We are introduced to Abattoir, an inhabitant of Arkham who eats people in order to reclaim his own soul, an elaborate plan is executed to bust him out of prison by an enigmatic mastermind, he is taken to a party hosted for a candidate running for mayor and assassinates the mayor's wife, Batman tries to stop him, and Vicki Vale ends up becoming the focus of Abattoir's murderous obsession, and though Batman is able to save her, she is visibly disturbed by the ordeal and taken to a hospital while Batman unravels the mystery of how Abattoir got out of Arkham and who was behind it, ultimately finding and defeating Abattoir, as well as the man who hired him (his cousin, the mayoral candidate). Ah, so this is where Abattoir comes from, he shows up in Knightquest and he was treated as if we were supposed to know who he was...and I never did. |
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Post by foxley on Jan 22, 2015 16:56:45 GMT -5
This era gave us some great additions to Batman's Rogue's gallery. Alas Abattoir was not one of them. It is like someone went "Many of Batman's foes are insane killers" and ran with that, giving us someone who killed people without motivation, and ignoring all of things that actually make Batman's foes interesting.
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Post by shaxper on Jan 22, 2015 16:58:10 GMT -5
This era gave us some great additions to Batman's Rogue's gallery. Alas Abattoir was not one of them. It is like someone went "Many of Batman's foes are insane killers" and ran with that, giving us someone who killed people without motivation, and ignoring all of things that actually make Batman's foes interesting. Yeah, I think Wolfman was trying to follow in the vein of Wagner and Grant, but Abattoir was no Cornelius Stirk. |
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Post by Action Ace on Jan 22, 2015 22:45:12 GMT -5
This era gave us some great additions to Batman's Rogue's gallery. Alas Abattoir was not one of them. It is like someone went "Many of Batman's foes are insane killers" and ran with that, giving us someone who killed people without motivation, and ignoring all of things that actually make Batman's foes interesting. Yeah, I think Wolfman was trying to follow in the vein of Wagner and Grant, but Abattoir was no Cornelius Stirk. He's no Random Thug #3 much less Cornelius Stirk. Michael Golden's covers in this stretch of Detective Comics were really good. |
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