I did say "I consider..." so I don't necessarily expect everyone (or, indeed, anyone) to agree.

I 'm just glad DC had the sense to veto Miller's dream Batman project: Batman Murders Every Muslim in the World! (a.k.a. Holy Terror, Batman!).

If only they had done the same with unmitigated pile of fetid dingo kidneys that is All-Star Batman and Robin. (And has there even been a more inaccurately named comic book?)

I actually really like where that story was going before it dropped off the face of the Earth. It was an attempt to tell the Batman mythos in reverse: if there was a crime-infested city that spawned a crime victim obsessed enough to become a costumed avenger and fight back, what kind of a person would he be? It not only justifies the over-the-top DKR Batman, but those last few issues showed thee character beginning to evolve out of his manic vigilante mode into something that might begin to resemble a hero, tucking his demons away in the closet and allowing them to drive his hunger for justice without driving his actions completely.

After all, Miller's justification for Batman's extemism in DKR is the death of Jason Todd, which sent him into retirement and, presumably, over the edge. Before that, he was something closer to the Year One Batman -- a man with issues, but not taking out villains with rubber bullets and spine cracking.

Oh absolutely, the art and storytelling in DKR is just incredible. The book is a big pile of chaos with a zillion panels and captions but it works so well. I think in terms of the emotional impact of the comics form it's Kirby's dynamic explosive ethos taken to the next level. The art plays on so many levels. There is no model sheet. How the characters look depends on what their role is in that one moment, jumping between naturalism and expressionism panel after panel. Textures play a role in the story, with gridded lines being omnipresent and the force of Batman's soul being represented by the breaking of those grids. And Lynn Varley's color work is unparalleled, mixing saturated and desaturated colors in a way that just wasn't possible in the 4 color system and communicating in a way that was mostly unheard of in American comics.

Sadly it seems like the majority considers DKR to be an ugly book ruined by artwork. Ugh.

I liked that direction as well, once Miller actually started going there. The end of the "yellow" issue is very powerful and a glimmer of what Miller once was, but overall it is too little in the scope of the whole awfulness of it all.

Even though Jason Todd is, on the surface, the reason for Batman's outlook in DKR, I never needed that excuse. Batman had been eternally 28 for years, forever youthful. Miller gave us a Batman who has moved beyond that youth and besides having experienced horrible things is also the grumpy old guy telling kids to get off his lawn. He is the older generation getting back in the saddle to tell Generation X how it's supposed to be done.

I definitely believe that was Miller's goal.

Even in the mid-80s Batman was still hanging onto a lot of old fashioned ideas, some of which had been held onto for nearly 50 years. Miller threw it all out and imagined what Batman would be if he was a product of the 80s. The big innovation was violence. Criminals are not a superstitious lot, nor are they inherently cowardly. They aren't going to be scared of a Halloween costume, they're going to be scared of being thrown through a window by the guy in that costume. The costume becomes a herald of the pain they are going to experience and it is that pain that they fear. Miller also looked at the legal ramifications. Batman, and all superheroes really, would be vigilantes working outside the law. Miller wisely gave Batman the self-awareness to recognize this. He operates outside the system because the system doesn't work and if that system wants him in chains then too damn bad. Miller's point is that a Batman that can work within the system is a Batman that has no reason to exist.

Superman was also thrown into a very harsh light, an even harsher one because the character had fallen so far from where he had been. At some point Superman had stopped standing up for whats right and had started standing up for the system under the logic that the system is always right. Miller pushed the right buttons in making his Superman. If you're sworn to hold up truth, justice and the American way, and the tenets of that vow include obeying the law and support the government, what are you going to do when the President commands you to go to war in a banana republic? Batman, who is accepting of his inherent criminality, would tell the Pres to stick it up his ass but Superman? Duty calls. It also helps that a lot of Batman's actions in the book are reminiscent of Golden Age Supes' behaviour including psychological torture, assault and outright urban terrorism. This version of Superman gets a lot of flack from people saying Miller doesn't understand the character but it seems to be Miller absolutely understands the character, or at least this contradiction. It's a deconstruction, a criticism, and the gaping holes Miller revealed have been recently filled.

And I agree that TAS has the ideal Batman (even if it's not my absolute favorite, it's definitely #2). I think the great thing about that version of the character is that it could be used to tell stories from any era. Batman Beyond went even darker than Miller did and was perfectly in character while on TAS Batman often went up against Sprang-esque giant props and other absurdities. Noir, science fiction, fantasy, camp and outright superheroism in Justice Leage, TAS Bats could do it all.

Obviously to have Dick Grayson grow up there needs to be some passage of time. I think Post-Crisis there was more of a sense of Batman being older but before, which was helped by having so many major events. It felt like he had been at it around 15 years before they rebooted.

Batman #460



"Sisters in Arms, Part One, It's a Man's World"
writer: Alan Grant
pencils: Norm Breyfogle
inks: Tim Sale
colors: Adrienne Roy
letters: Todd Klein
asst. editor: Kelley Puckett
editor: Dennis O'Neil
Batman creator: Bob Kane

grade: A

It's well documented that I have not been a fan of Alan Grant up to this point, but it's become apparent as of this issue that he's doing what I love best -- building a strong continuity, full of rich supporting cast members with their own story arcs. It's what made Moench's Pre-Crisis run my favorite, and I suddenly feel like I'm reading those old stories again as we've got the relationship between Gordon and Essen, Catwoman's battle with the media, Vicki Vale's emotional instability and troubled relationship with Bruce, and even the return of old supporting characters Legs and (sigh) Joe Potato.

Looking even closer though, is it possible that Grant is explicitly borrowing from Moench? Gordon's health crisis comes right from that run, as does Vicki Vale's emotional instability and troubled relationship with Bruce, as does Catwoman's battle with how the media depicts her, and Joe Potato, as a comedic floundering sidekick who thinks he's more hard-boiled than he is, feels like a less threatening Harvey Bullock. Heck, even Batman is characterized as a generally nice guy with a more concealed edge/darkness to him, just as Moench used to write him.

Really, I think Grant has simply transposed Moench's run into the Post-Crisis, incorporating the Year One Selina Kyle into it. And I'm okay with that. Great as Moench's run was, it had some serious flaws. If Grant can make Vicki Vale a little more likable this time and keep away from Julia Pennyworth, I think we'll be okay.

Grant has been writing Batman for half a decade now, but it's clear that moving to the main Batman title and finally getting more freedom over the franchise has given him ideas. I'm so glad he's widening his scope.

And Breyfogle -- you can tell he's excited about this issue, as his pencils haven't been this striking in a long time!









Important Details:

- This is a very early credit for Tim Sale. His Challengers of the Unknown debuted on shelves this same month. These together mark his second and third jobs for DC after leaving Comico.

- Selena is now living with Arizona, a young runaway that she looks after that reminds her of Holly.

- Implied that Catwoman has some sort of compulsion to accept challenges offered to her. This is new.



Minor Details:

- Why is it that in both Alan Grant Catwoman stories, the media is going crazy over her exploits and yet, while it's suggested she's been continually active beyond the scope of these stories, she's never mentioned in any other issue?

- Batman doesn't really do anything in this issue beyond saving a bumbling Joe Potato from the Batmobile's security system. Great shades of Percival Popp!



Harold Watch: nope



plot synopsis in one sentence:

Catwoman raises eyebrows once again by saving a couple of mugging victims on her way back from a heist, Joe Potato is trying to get Batman's help in investigating a modeling agency that hires young girls that are never seen again, a TV reporter outright challenges Catwoman to try to rob a museum exhibit about Egyptian cats, and, as she accepts the challenge, it becomes obvious that the curator of the Egyptian cat exhibit is expecting Catwoman and is also likely responsible for the missing girls that Joe Potato is investigating. To be continued...

It never occurred to me that the story counted in-continuity (as so little that occurred in ACW ultimately did). Thanks much for this reminder.