Batman #436

"Batman, Year 3: Different Roads"
writer: Marv Wolfman
pencils: Pat Broderick
inks: John Beatty
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
assoc. editor: Dan Raspler
editor: Denny O'Neil
creator: Bob Kane

grade: C+

Odd that, on the cusp of the new Batman film, which (to my recollection) will be mainstream media's first ever brush with a solo Batman, the mega arc hitting newsstands is focused on his meeting the first Robin, reflecting on the loss of the second Robin, and laying groundwork for the introduction of the third Robin. Don't get me wrong -- I'm glad O'Neil didn't attempt to bow to the film depiction of Batman and abandon everything else; I just find the pairing odd, especially since O'Neil is consciously preparing these books for new readers coming off of the Batman film. Of course, we do know that Warner Bros. merchandizing department was furious that Robin had been killed off a year earlier and put a lot of pressure on O'Neil to correct this. Perhaps they demanded that a Robin-related story be on the stands at the time of the movie's release? Tim Drake's introduction in this storyline and his subsequent evolution into the third Robin were almost certainly a reaction to such pressure.

On a related note, I've often wondered if the reason Year 3 was published so long after Year 1 and 2 (which were practically published back to back) was because the movie had been in development by the end of Year 2 and O'Neil hoped to save this (perhaps the most significant aspect of Batman's origin after Year 1) for the release of the film (remember, Sam Hamm's original script did have Robin make his introduction late in the film).

Year 3 is odd, though. Whereas Years 1 and 2 were straight depictions of the major events that occurred in those years, Year 3 juxtaposes a current day gangland plot that appears to have no connection with Batman's past against flashback retellings of the origin of Anthony Zucco and, later, the Dick Grayson Robin. Batman is nothing more than supporting cast in this story that barely counts as an origin tale.

Surely, spending so much time on Zucco is a miscalculation on Wolfman's part. I get the thematic groundwork he's trying to lay -- depicting the coldblooded/murderous direction Dick could have gone in (and may still go in if Zucco is freed) and that Batman may be heading in as a response to Jason's death, but it's still an awkward choice, with his spending 11 of these 22 pages on the gangland killings and Zucco's origin before it becomes apparent at all how this is a Year 3 story, or even what the focus of this story might be.

Pat Broderick on pencils? You've got to be kidding me. I don't know if Broderick had some past heyday and longstanding reputation that allows him to get these jobs, but his last stint on Detective was atrocious, and his work here isn't much better. He draws kids like demented dwarfs, his faces are inconsistent, his panel arrangements are weak and awkward, and just look at how he annihilates the otherwise powerful death of the Flying Graysons on page 1 with terrible, terrible faces. This man should not be allowed anywhere near a comic book. Why in the world would O'Neil put Pat Broderick on the book that's supposed to win over new readers coming off of the Batman film?

So Dick is worried about Batman's sanity in this issue, but I don't see any signs of that over-the-line Batman we were seeing in earlier issues, here. In fact, I'd expect a more troubled Batman to let the gangland thugs "off" each other instead of working so hard to save them because their crimes don't excuse their murders.

Odd that this seems to be the first Batman story in months to actually mention Jason. Clearly, his death is the reason Batman has been acting differently, but I'm not sure we've actually heard his name being used since #430.

Probably the most significant aspect of this issue is that it provides the first appearance (in flashback) of Tim Drake, simply referred to as "Tim," here. He's a young boy who is present when the Flying Graysons are killed, awed both by their performance and by his first glimpse of Batman.

Continuity points:

- Dick stopped being Robin two years ago.

- Jason has only been dead for a few weeks (I found this surprising since he's been dead for 8 months in real time and hasn't been mentioned in quite a while).

- According to Alfred, the Flying Graysons were killed "almost ten years ago." This messes up both my timeline and O'Neils. O'Neil would have the Flying Graysons killed 7 years ago (He sees Batman starting ten years earlier, this occurred in year 3), and my own timeline I worked out from all the facts presented post-Crisis would have them killed 8.5 to 9 years ago. I suppose 8.5 to 9 can count as "almost ten," but it's a stretch.

- Of course, this story contradicts its own timeline with Zucco's attorney stating that he's already served 12 years in prison. I suppose he could have served two years, been paroled or escaped, and then served the rest after killing the Graysons, but that's certainly not implied here.

- Tim Drake appears to be anywhere between 2 and 4 years old at the time of Year 3 (Wolfman clearly doesn't have any young kids since Tim talks like a 2 year old, but is left with a life-long inspiration after seeing Batman and the Graysons that would require a 4 or 5 year old attention span). If we average it out to 3, then (following Alfred's timeline) Tim is about 13 in current time, and (following Zucco's attorney's timeline) Tim is more like 15.

- Minor detail, but the Clown at Haly's Circus who befriended a young Dick Grayson is Harry. I'm relatively sure it was determined in DC Comics Presents #31 and again in Batman #337 that his name was Waldo in the pre-Crisis, unless this was a different clown from Haly's Circus (who, incidentally, was later revealed to be the friend of a young Jason Todd).

- Batman is still wearing the Year One chest symbol in Year 3, yet he was wearing the modern one in Year 2. Oops.

- At least one on-looker is convinced Batman is wanted by the police. This both links back to the events of Year 2 and suggests that Batman's reputation had not been firmly established by this point. Clearly though, he's not seen as an urban legend, as O'Neil tried to make him out to be early on in the reboot.

- Dick was originally sent to St. Jude's Orphanage before Bruce took him in.


minor details:

- I'm not sure how many times Dick's origin has been retold since Detective #38, but Wolfman does a nice job of adhering to the original details, fleshing out "Zucco" and even having the triple spin be a stunt performed in both tellings of the final Flying Graysons performance.

- Dick describes Wayne Manor and states:

"There's always some new work of art. Or furniture. Or something imperceptibly different that I know has changed and yet can't pinpoint. Only Bruce could keep track of everything he owns."

Since when has Bruce ever taken an interest in Wayne Manor and all the "stuff" within it? This just doesn't sound like him at all.


- Wolfman is truly trying to make Dick and Bruce seem like strangers to one another, with Dick returning to the cave and viewing it as if he has no relationship to the boy who played there. As a reminder, Bruce and Dick initially parted on friendly terms, both in Batman #217 (pre-Crisis) and Batman #408 (post-Crisis). Starlin revised the second parting in flashback, presenting it as a conflict that ended in hostilities between Bruce and Dick in Batman #416.

- Alfred's depiction of the Graysons' final discussions before their last performance is sickeningly saccharine, especially as Dick's mother randomly asks him if he's happy at the circus or wants a more normal life. I suppose one could argue that Alfred is intentionally presenting it this way for the benefit of the parole board, but I doubt it. I generally love Wolfman, but he's far from a perfect writer.

- Okay, I know that this has been canon from day one, but explain to me both why a local mobster would be hitting up a traveling circus for protection money (a traveling company wouldn't be familiar with Zucco's reputation and wouldn't be around for long anyway) and how his men would have cut the ropes so quickly after that discussion. I mean, if Dick saw them and ran back to tell his parents, he wouldn't notice the men going in the same direction, or wouldn't spot them in the catwalks while he was up there, waiting to perform?

- Alfred concludes by saying "I've come to you each year since he's been eligible for parole, and showed you how this man has not repented."

Uh, no he hasn't. His entire point (in the story he allegedly tells every year that Zucco comes up for parole) has been that Zucco did something terrible ten or twelve years ago. He's made absolutely zero mention of who Zucco is today. And, while we'll inevitably see that Zucco is still a bad seed today, does Alfred truly believe that criminals can never reform? That certainly doesn't seem to be the Batman line of philosophy, endlessly returning criminals to prison or to Arkham in the hopes that they'll change, rather than intentionally crippling or killing them because they'll just be paroled and do it again. Perhaps Wolfman and his depiction of Alfred should be working with the Punisher?

- That cliffhanger ending: "Ha! Nothing could've survived in there -- NOTHING!" I guess they killed Batman...for good. Wow. Who saw that one coming?


The plot synopsis in one long sentence:

Batman is trying to stop a series of gangland killings and figure out who's responsible, Alfred shows up at Anthony Zucco (the murderer of the Flying Graysons)s' parole hearing to argue why he should not be paroled, he recounts Zucco's origin and the death of the Graysons, explains that he worries what Zucco's being freed will do to Dick, and Dick returns to Wayne Manor, worried about Bruce after Jason's death.


I love Wolfman. I really do. But he's written some true stinkers and, so far, this is one of them. I'm at least enjoying getting new info about the Bat continuity, but Wolfman even screws that up with the discrepancies in how long ago Year 3 occurred.

...and Pat Broderick's pencils are not helping.

Okay, I've updated and expanded my Post-Crisis Batman timeline and finally worked out a major kink, getting it to sync with references in Batman #431 and The Cult, as well as Denny O'Neil's assertion that Batman had been active for 10 years when the continuity rebooted Post-Crisis.


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The Post-Crisis Batman Timetable

19 years prior to Year 1 -- The Reaper retires after a career of protecting Gotham through murderous vigilantism (stated as having occurred 20 years prior to Year 2 in Detective Comics #575).

18-19 years prior to Year 1 -- Alfred Pennyworth's father dies; Alfred takes his place as butler to the Waynes (all immediately prior to the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Batman Annual #13). Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered (20 years prior to Year 2, as stated in Detective Comics #578, 18 years prior to Year 1, as stated in Batman #404). Bruce is taken in by Dr. Leslie Thompson. Alfred watches over Wayne manor and remains involved in Bruce's upbringing (Detective Comics #574 and Batman Annual #13).

12 to 13 Years prior to Year 1 -- Bruce attends college and studies criminal justice (presumed. Detective #574 implies he attended college in Gotham since he was still under Dr. Thompson's care. I'm assuming he attended before going abroad for 12 years, that he would have been at least 18 at the time, and that he was no more than 12 years old when his parents were killed -- the same age Dick Grayson was when Bruce took him in. Going with this timeline, Bruce only would have attended a year or two of college. This makes sense since he did all of his learning outside of class and therefore wouldn't need four years of classes.

12 Years prior to Year 1 -- Bruce goes abroad and does not return to Gotham until Year 1, presumably in preparation for his war on crime (Batman #404). This potentially conflicts with the implication in Batman #431 that Bruce began his training less than a year prior to Year 1.

2 Year prior to Year 1 -- Bruce spends six months training with Henri Ducard (established that he had already trained for ten years prior to this in Detective #600, which agrees with Batman #404 that Bruce trained for 12 years, but contradicts Batman #431's implication that he trained for less than a year).

6 months to a year prior to Year 1 -- Bruce Wayne studies under various mentors/trainers (studied under Kirigi ten years before Batman #431, which occurs in Year 10.5. It's implied that Kirigi was the first, or one of the first, mentors Bruce sought out "Kirigi would be but one of many...". Batman #434 also indicates that a significant number of the experts Bruce sought out were at the peak of their careers 7 years prior to year 10.5, including those in fields with short career spans such as a body builder and race car driver, suggesting the same approximate time frame).

Year 1 -- It's likely Bruce trained well into Year 1 before returning to Gotham (giving him 1 to 1.5 years to train under Kirigi and the 16 other people we're known to have trained him as of Batman #435). Bruce Wayne completes his training and returns to Gotham. Jim Gordon moves to Gotham and rises to the rank of Captain. Batman begins his career. James Gordon Jr. is born. Catwoman begins her career. Batman forms informal partnerships/friendships with Gordon and Harvey Dent. (Batman #404-407).

Sometime after Year 1 -- Jim Gordon begins to foster his niece, Barbara Gordon, after her parents die. Jim Gordon's wife divorces him and moves to Chicago with James Jr. at some point afterward (Secret Origins #20).

Between Year 1 and Year 2-- Batman switches to the yellow chest symbol (Presumed since he has it in Detective Comics #575, the beginning of Year 2). The Joker begins his career (presumed from the end of Year One in Batman #408, though this jibes uneasily with the events of Year 2, which suggest the Reaper is Batman's first major villain) after falling into a vat of chemicals while pursued by Batman as The Red Hood (assuming the Joker is telling the truth in The Killing Joke, though even he casts doubts on this). Jim Gordon is promoted to commissioner (Batman #575).

Year 2 -- The Wayne Foundation building is constructed. Batman fights The Reaper, who is implied to be the first major villain he has fought (Detective Comics #575-578).

Year 3 -- Dick Grayson's parents are murdered by Anthony Zucco. He is initially sent to St. Jude's orphanage under the care of Sister Mary Elizabeth (Batman #426). He is taken in by Bruce at age 12, becomes Robin at age 13 (presumed, working backwards from Batman #416)

Year 3-8 -- Most of Batman's rogues gallery is active for some time prior to Dick's retirement, but presumably not until after the events of Year Two (since it's implied that Reaper is Batman's first majro villain), including Two Face, Penguin, and Joker (Batman #408 and Detective comics #575-578)

Year 8 -- The first Robin is retired at age 19 and presumed dead by the general public (assuming Year 3 counts as a full first year when Dick tells Bruce he fought by his side for six years in Batman #416).

Year 9 -- Bruce takes in Jason Todd. Dick attends one year of college, leads the Teen Titans, drops out, becomes Nightwing, and "started a new life as leader of" the New Teen Titans (presumed from the timeline provided in Batman #416, which seems to imply that Dick formed the New Teen Titans after becoming Nightwing and never led it as Robin, yet Batman Annual #13 indicates that he did initially lead it as Robin).

Year 9.5 -- Jason becomes Robin six months after Bruce takes him in (Dick confronts Batman about Jason being the new Robin 18 months after his retirement in Batman #416; the preface for Death in the Family states that Jason became Robin 18 months after Dick retired). The general public believes it's the return of the same Robin (Batman Annual #13).

Between Years 9.5 and 10.5 - The Mike W. Barr run, featuring a younger, less jaded/impulsive Jason Todd (Presumed, though it is debatable whether this run counts in Post-Crisis continuity at all)

Year 10.5 -- the events of Batman #416 (takes place one year after the confrontation between Dick and Bruce over Jason becoming Robin, which occurred 18 months after Dick retired). The events of "The Cult" (indicates that Batman has been active for 10 years, presumably takes place after Batman #416), Batgirl retires and is paralyzed by the Joker (occurred in The Killing Joke prior to Jason Todd's death in Batman #426). Jason Todd is killed (occurred between Batman #416 and #431). The events of Batman #431 (Indicates Bruce trained under Kirigi ten years earlier and prior to becoming Batman, so could not have occurred later than Year 11, and we must assume Bruce needed at least 6 months to train under Kirigi and the mentors who were implied to follow before the events of Year 1. It's more likely he trained well into Year 1 before returning to Gotham, giving him 1 to 1.5 years to train under Kirigi and the 16 other people we're known to have trained him as of Batman #435).

Continuity glitches:

-Bruce's training. Batman #404 and Detective Comics #600 indicate he trained abroad for over ten years prior to Year 1, but Batman #431 implies he first began his training less than a year prior to Year 1 (Batman #434 roughly agrees with this, indicating that a significant number of the experts Bruce sought out were at the peak of their careers 7 years prior to year 10.5, including those in fields with short career spans such as a body builder and race car driver, suggesting the same approximate time frame).

-Year 3 and its distance from Batman #436. According to Dick, the events of Batman #436 take place only weeks after Jason Todd's death, yet Alfred claims the events of Year 3 occurred almost ten years earlier (making Death in the Family and all that followed occur in Year 12.5), and Anthony Zucco's attorney claims that Zucco has served twelve years in prison since that time (making those stories occur in Year 15 if Zucco was convicted and sentenced promptly after the events of that story).


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Post-Crisis Batman Jumps from Year 10 to Year 14: A Working Theory

Edit: This theory is now confirmed by Robin II #1, which takes place around a year after the jump, and has Tim at about 14 years of age while he was about two years old in Year 3.


So for the one deranged person out there reading this who cares about post-crisis Batman continuity as much as I do, we have two glitches in the timeline right now, and I now believe both were intentional changes made because of what they did to the ages of characters.

1. Batman's age

One of the discrepancies is in whether Bruce trained for twelve years before returning to Gotham (first mentioned by Frank Miller in Year One, reaffirmed by Sam Hamm in Blind Justice) or less than one year (supported by James Owsley in Batman #431, reaffirmed by John Byrne in The Many Deaths of the Batman). Clearly, Miller's original idea of Batman training abroad extensively for such a long period of time is more believable...until you consider how old that makes Batman.

Bruce attended college before going abroad (Detective #574) and one must assume he would have to be at least 18 anyway to go abroad on his own without his guardian (Leslie Thompson, who clearly remained in Gotham). 18+12 makes Bruce 30 years old at the beginning of Year One. Not a problem until you consider that Year One occurred approximately ten years earlier, both according to numerous references in the books and to the words of Denny O'Neil himself. 18+12+10=40. Batman at 40 is not an impossibility, but who wants to START a rebooted continuity with an aging Batman beyond his physical prime, a full generation older than Clark, Diana, and Wally? How long could he be expected to continue as Batman in the rebooted continuity?

So, reducing his training to 1 year allows him to be as young as 19 in Year One, and 29 in the present. He would have adopted a 12 year old Dick Grayson at the age of 22 -- really JUST old enough to be a believable guardian, and still young enough to have years of crime fighting ahead of him.

I therefore assume that the length of Bruce's training was changed intentionally and, as improbably as it seems for a man to train under 17 or more experts in the span of a single year (especially if he still trained with Ducard for six months), it allows Bruce to remain as young as possible in the new continuity.

2. Tim Drake's age

The other major glitch is when Year 3 happened. By all accounts prior to Batman #436, Year 3 occurred 6.5 years earlier. However, in Batman #436, Alfred indicates that Year 3 occurred 10 years earlier, and Anthony Zucco's attorney indicates it's been 12. I won't attempt to explain the disparity between those two characters' timelines, but either way, Year 3 suddenly needed to be further in the past than 6.5 years because of Tim Drake's age.

In the flashback in Batman #436, Tim Drake appears to be two years old. He is still sounding out common multiple-syllable words and does not speak in sentences. Considering how advanced Tim will prove to be, he could even be one. 2 + 6.5 = 8.5 years old. Tim clearly isn't 8.5 years old when he appears in the present day in Lonely Place of Dying, and certainly, a Batman who had just lost Jason Todd wasn't about to let an 8 year old fight crime by his side. Instead, Alfred's new timeline makes Tim 12 in the present day (the same age Dick was when Bruce took him in [Batman #416], and the same age Bruce was when he lost his parents [presumed, working from Detective Comics #574 and #578], and Zucco's attorney's timeline would make him 14.

Now, there's certainly a chicken and egg question here. Did Wolfman (or O'Neil) change how many years ago it had been since Wolfman had depicted Tim so young, or had he or O'Neil already decided to set Year 3 10 years in the past for some other reason, creating the need to make Tim so young in the flashback? Whatever the reason, Year 3 can only work 10-12 years in the past in order to make Tim old enough to be Robin in the present.

So what does this mean for the continuity? I'll wait and finish Year 3 (and maybe Lonely Place of Dying) before deciding, but it looks like:

- Bruce trained for less than one year prior to Year One
- Blind Justice and Henri Ducard may be out of continuity entirely
- The present day is now Year 14, and assuming no other references to the past have changed beyond that, Jason Todd was now Robin for 4.5 years as opposed to 1.

Batman #438

"Year 3, Chapter 3: Turnabout"
writer: Marv Wolfman
pencils: Pat Broderick
inks: John Beatty
colors: Adrienne Roy
asst. editor: Dan Raspler
editor: Denny O'Neil

grade: C-

Hmmm. Right on the cusp of the Batman film release, and yet no "creator: Bob Kane" credit in this issue? With DC going so far overboard to thrust Kane into the spotlight over the release of the film, I find this omission fascinating. I'm pretty sure DC had a legal deal with Kane requiring them to credit him in this way. Maybe the ghost of Bill Finger had a hand in this little snafu?

Anyway, I must begin by saying that this issue was PAINFUL to start. Truly. No matter how much I try, I'm never prepared for just how awful Pat Broderick's art can be, and Alfred's weird manic face on that opening page is no exception, nor is most of the art that follows in this issue, especially the Joker's completely disproportioned face that makes him look like a puppet on page 4. Somehow, Broderick did a nice job with Batman and the crime bosses -- maybe he took that aspect of the story more seriously or something, but the rest is just so awkward and clumsy.

On top of that, Wolfman begins to feel like a total tease here, reneging on so much of what he'd laid out on the previous issues. For one, it takes Alfred all of two seconds at the beginning of this issue to determine that he cannot kill Zucco when the big reveal at the close of the last issue was that he would. For another, Alfred is no longer worried about how Dick will react to learning that Zucco is free (even though that's what he explicitly said all along); he's worried how Bruce will react instead. Finally, whereas the first chapter of this story contained the glitch that Alfred outright said the events of Year 3 (beginning with the death of Dick's parents) took place 10 years ago and Zucco's attorney said they took place 12 years ago, Alfred now explicitly states that Bruce Wayne adopted Dick Grayson 11 years ago. C'mon, Marv! You're driving me nuts here!!

As the story progresses, there are ultimately some positive moments. I really enjoyed the contrast Wolfman deliberately draws between Dick's meticulous detective ethic and whatever the heck Batman has become (though he explicitly draws attention to this contrast ad nauseum). Additionally, Batman's uneasy team-up with the mob bosses is pretty fun to watch. You almost start to like it until "Grenada" tries to take it too far and Batman has to draw the line for him. Finally, Dick and Bruce's reunion in the Batmobile while awaiting Zucco's release was sort of touching, especially with Dick explaining prior to this that he loved Bruce and suspected Bruce had felt the same about him. Wolfman is the first to turn this often resurrected rift between Bruce and Dick into a paternal love story. I enjoyed that. It's far more mature and rewarding than the soap opera Starlin treated us to back in Batman #416.

So let's talk about Zucco's black book. His having written down everything he ever heard or witnessed in organized crime is what has given him power over everyone else. I've certainly heard of real crime bosses having less comprehensive notebooks used in similar fashions, but I have to ask:

1. Why would anyone in organized crime ever let a guy who was clearly writing everything down ever get close to them?

2. To what extent could anything in that diary be considered proof? We learn that Zucco's hold over his parole attorney is that he has information in his book that can prove he once bribed a judge, but what would that proof look like? Couldn't any crime boss produce such a notebook after the fact and put in it anything that suits them? Besides, all crime bosses keep some records and have some memories of past events that would prove incriminating to others. I'm just not sure I fully get this concept that Wolfman is leaning upon so heavily.


Minor details:

We learn that Batman took down all of Jason's memorabilia in the Batcave and told no one about the death. I'm assuming the Jason monument has not been put up in the cave yet either.

Why are the assassins still flying around in the same traffic copter with the same markings on it? I'd expect the police to be a little more prepared and on the look out for this chopper a second time around. Couldn't they have at least painted over the call letters?

Why would Alfred bribe Zucco to leave town? First of all, why does he have access to limitless supplies of Bruce's cash, allowing him to offer "anything it takes. Anything"? And how would he rationalize this to Bruce later? Maybe this all goes back to the fact that I truly don't see the threat that Zucco's freedom poses to Bruce's sanity. Wolfman hasn't sold me on it. It isn't the same kind of lynchpin that having your kid sidekick murdered by your arch rival is. Beyond that, there's also the issue of what the heck makes Alfred think Zucco would honor the deal anyway? If Zucco took the money and then didn't cease his activities in Gotham, what would Alfred do? Call Batman? Wait, why not just do that in the first place and screw offering him all that cash?

In "From the Den," O'Neil seems to be barely concealing his disappointment in the new Batman film, absolutely refraining from offering any praise and expressing a desire to take time collecting his thoughts and hearing the reactions of others before sounding out. True, the film had taken a long series of departures from the Sam Hamm script that O'Neil apparently loved enough to offer Hamm work on Blind Justice, and true, the film had its share of weak points, but I'm a bit surprised to see O'Neil so honest and restrained here when he's already begun building an empire on over-the-top endorsements for storylines and plot ideas he often hasn't even read. Quality film or not, more readers going to see the film generates more buzz for the film, which generates more readers for Batman. Surely the film wasn't SO bad that O'Neil couldn't put his name behind it.


The plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence:

Alfred decides he can't kill Zucco, Dick continues and continues to reflect upon how Jason's death changed Bruce, he investigates the latest gangland execution and finds clues while reflecting on the training Bruce gave him, Gordon proposes a meeting between the crime families and a city representative (possibly suggesting it should be Batman -- who is already doing this, though not in a legitimate/straight-side-of-the-law way) , Alfred decides to meet with Zucco and tries to bribe him to leave town, but Zucco makes it clear that he's planned this release since almost the beginning and has no intention of putting aside his plans, Batman and Nightwing both discover that Zucco is about to be freed, Batman and the mob bosses shake down one of Zucco's men for information, Alfred reflects some more on Dick's upbringing in the cave, Batman and Nightwing meet while waiting to watch Zucco leave prison, Zucco is executed by another traffic copter, and Nightwing flips out at Batman, claiming he knew this was going to happen.


A mostly poorly executed chapter, though it had some truly worthwhile high points. I really do respect the complicated relationship Wolfman is trying to build between Bruce and Dick in the Post Crisis, and I feel that's the one saving grace of this entire storyline thus far: rich and Intelligent emotional conflict that isn't just sensational and over the top fluff for the sake of stirring up trouble. These two are still closer than best friends at heart, even while they often act like enemies to one another.

Batman #439

"Year 3, Chapter Four: Resolutions"
writer: Marv Wolfman
pencils: Pat Broderick
inks: Michael Bair
letters: John Costanza
colors: Adrienne Roy
assoc editor: Dan Raspler
editor: Denny O'Neil
creator: Bob Kane

Grade: C+

A nice culmination of a story that certainly didn't need to be four issues long. Wolfman contrasts the current void between Dick and Bruce with a flashback to Dick's custody trial, showing just how much love Bruce was able and willing to offer him back then. Again, the entire strength of this storyline has been Wolfman's ability to portray that strained, multi-faceted relationship in a believable way. It continues to work here. Bruce and Dick don't really reach a resolution -- that would be too convenient for the messiness of their emotional realities, but Wolfman does leave both heroes admiring the other just a little bit more by the end. The mystery of Zucco's book gets answered as well, but truly, who cared? It was the obligatory plot through which Wolfman could explore the far more important issues between Dick and Bruce.


Minor details:

- We never explicitly learn who it was that was killing off all the gangs. It would appear to have been Taft, but this is never outright acknowledged.

- On page 2, Dick appears to be referencing the KGBeast as the criminal Batman nearly let die, "locked away in the subway tunnel." Dick brings this up as evidence that Bruce has been losing it since Jason died, except that Jason was still alive when that happened. Perhaps more importantly, Dick states that the KGBeast escaped. Sure enough, Wolfman will be writing a story featuring him in the very near future.

- Why was Zucco content to rot behind bars indefinitely, controlling his criminal empire by remote? If he had the ability to get out all along, wouldn't it have made sense to have gotten out as soon as possible? Besides, if no one is maintaining the ledger while he's behind bars, then there are new criminals entering the underworld each day with which Zucco has no pull. Eleven years later, you'd expect him to already be on his way to obsolescence.

- Confirmed in this issue that the reason Zucco was put away was for the murder of the Flying Graysons, and Wolfman is sticking to the 11 years ago timeline in this issue.

- This issue finally explains why Dick was Bruce's ward rather than his adopted son. Dick requested that it be done that way, not wanting Bruce to replace his father.

- The original Batmobile appears in the cave on page 9. Yet Bruce has only been Batman for 13 years by the timeline established in this issue. I guess car styles change fast in the DCU.

- Is it obvious to anyone else that Wolfman had just watched Vertigo before writing this chapter?

- Why wouldn't Dick or Bruce use some of their immense fortune to prevent St. Jude's from being torn down? It clearly holds tremendous importance to Dick and does a world of good for Gotham's orphans.

- The ending to this story is an odd one. Dick's needing to reconnect with his deceased parents has not been a theme running throughout this storyline at all, so why end with it? Shouldn't the resolution somehow deal with how Dick and Bruce relate to each other?


The plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence:

Nightwing confronts Batman about the fact that he's been going over the edge since Jason died, Batman swears he didn't know Zucco was going to be killed, Taft makes a public statement about the ledger, driving criminals all over Gotham to beat each other up looking for it, Bruce figures out that Taft is doing this because the ledger contains something against him, Bruce refuses Dick's help, not ever wanting a partner again, we flashback to Dick's custody hearing, Nightwing and Batman both figure out that Zucco hid his ledger in the bell tower at St. Jude's, Nightwing struggles with Taft at the top of the bell tower before Batman enters, startling Taft and sending him over the edge Vertigo style, Bruce reflects on how capable Nightwing has become, and Dick visits his parents' grave to catch up.

Not a necessary story by any stretch of the imagination (especially at four issues in length), and barely a "Year 3" story, but it does lay some important emotional groundwork for the next story arc and Batman's transition into taking on a new partner.

Detective Comics Annual #2

"Blood Secrets"
writers: Mark Waid & Brian Augustyn
pencils: Val Semeiks
inks: Michael Bair
letters: Todd Klein
colors: Adrienne Roy
assoc editor: Dan Raspler
editor: Denny O'Neil
creator: Bob Kane

grade: A+

It's funny. This was definitely one of the first ten comics I ever bought, and yet, of all those early issues, I somehow never got around to reading Batman Annual #13 (no real loss there) and this issue. I'm very sorry I didn't read this one earlier. It's a brilliant story -- an honest to goodness solid detective story for Detective Comics. Sure, I had a basic idea who the killer was all along (his presence as an unquestioned trusted accomplice was suspicious from the start), but I was absolutely wowed when Bruce connected all the pieces together in the end. I'm still not positive why Cloris Pratt was trying to contact the killer( to beg him to stop, to tip him off?) but everything else connected beautifully.

Plus you get the whole theme about controlling your anger, with Dr. Falk being a foil to Bruce, and Bruce feeling the need to visit and torment him each year in order to remind both of them that anger and revenge do not bring back the dead.

Minor note: Why would Harvey Harris have studied under Chu Chin Li? Doesn't quite seem to suit him. Harris is an awesome character that I was sorry to see go by the end (would have loved if he could have stayed around and teamed up with Batman from time to time), but the Chu Chin Li connection isn't quite working for me. Laid back elderly Southern detectives generally don't seek out martial arts legends in far away countries, no matter how good they are.

So the other major contribution to this issue is that it answers some new questions about Batman's post-Crisis timeline, though it also creates new problems as well. While the writers were careful to leave themselves some leeway in the dates and time-frames they establish in this issue, most obviously omitting a death date on Harvey Harris' tombstone, they really messed up by giving us one problematic fixed date -- Richard Hunt died in 1951.

Waid and Augustyn had good intentions with what they were trying to do with the post-crisis timeline in this issue. A previous problem we'd had was that Barr and Miller had both suggested that Bruce Wayne had gone abroad to begin his crime-fighting training as an adult, which would mean that he'd either have to train for a very brief time or already be approaching middle age at this point in Batman continuity. They side-step this problem by having a clearly younger Bruce Wayne traveling abroad and training prior to his turning 18 and (presumably) prior to his attending college.

Like the other recent and conscious change made to the post-crisis continuity (Year 3 now occurred 11 years ago as of Batman #438 and #439), this new information about Bruce's training does contradict info that came before. Detective Comics #599 clearly shows an adult Bruce Wayne studying under Chu Chin Li, and it shows Bruce being dismissed from his school without Li ever recommending Bruce seek out Harvey Harris. However, this story outright contradicts that one for the sake of making other aspects of the continuity work better.

But, again, that 1951 date creates problems.

Before I get into that, though, here's what we actually learn in this issue:

According to Judge Nelson (no, not Judd Nelson), The Paladins of the Cross massacred the shantytown forty years ago. The group disbanded immediately after and Richard Hunt died at some unspecified time after.

Mrs. Sykes hadn't seen the cross in forty years. She seemed to equate Richard Hunt's dying in 1951 with that symbol passing into obscurity. Thus, 40 years prior to current day is 1951. So the present day in Batman's world is 1991. Hmmm. A little bit off. This story was printed in 1989. Let's assume then that Mrs. Sykes blurred a few years together and, in fact, the raid on the shantytown occurred in 1949, with Richard Hunt dying two years later.

Judge Nelson also indicates that the current day of the story (which, in itself, takes place in the past) was 25 years after Richard Hunt died (1951+25=1976). Bruce is 17 in this story. Thus Bruce is 17 in 1976, meaning he was born in 1959 and is thirty years old in current continuity.

This all sounds good, but if Bruce was born in 1959, and we assume that the current day is 1989 (the real year these stories were published) and that it is currently Year 13 (Batman #438 and #439 just placed Year 3 11 years in the past), that would have Bruce being born 17 years prior to Year One, which contradicts all sorts of information provided by Both Barr and Miller in Years 1 and 2. It then makes Bruce 17 in Year One, once again creating the problem it tried to solve of leaving Bruce no time to train before becoming Batman.

I also don't buy the idea that Bruce was only 19 when he took in Dick Grayson (30 - 11 years earlier = 19). I can't see the courts going for that.

So I'm not sure how much of the info presented in this issue we can take at face value. The Post-Crisis timeline is clearly damaged beyond repair in some respects at this point. I suppose, if we omit the 1951 date given in this issue, we can still just assume that everything else happened the way other writers said it did and that Bruce just started his training a few years earlier.

Oh well.


Finally worth noting in this issue is the next batch of Who's Who entries it contains. While Batman Annual #13 provided entries for good guys in the Bat Universe, these entries are all for villains. Some of them were a bit disappointing, though. The Poison Ivy one, in particular, reminded me why I don't read the old Secret Origins stories. Some of the post-Crisis reboot ideas for characters were downright terrible and deserve to be forgotten.

Joker: The entry largely entertains the "Killing Joke" origin, though it concedes this is only one possibility. It lists his status as “active” even though it also states he is presumed dead after Batman #429.

Catwoman: The entry largely follows the events of the 1989 Catwoman mini series, including the fact that Ted Grant (Wildcat) trained her and that her sister is a nun.

Penguin: follows the story from Secret Origins Special #1

Riddler: This entry (sadly) favors the Riddler origin from The Question #26 over the one from Secret Origins Special 1 (although it does mention his running the Finger Junkyard). Name is Eddie Nashton. Changed name to Edward Nigma. Leaving riddles is a psychological compulsion. Generally an unimportant ex-Batman villain.

Scarecrow: Does away with explanation that he was driven to crime because people thought he looked poor. Wanted more fame and prosperity, so used fear to turn to crime. “Sonic skulls” from Barr run are alluded to but largely dismissed. He primarily works with fear gas. Unstable after being exposed to a lot of it himself. The entry says he’s never killed, but Secret Origins Special #1 (published just this same month!) said he'd killed sixteen people.

Poison Ivy: Here's where I get really angry. According to the entry, she became a villainess for the sole purpose of meeting Batman. She was boy crazy from age of 5, and everything that drives her comes from a desire for or a hatred toward men. The entry further indicates that she has a limited control of plants, contrasting her abilities against Swamp Thing's (what the heck? Do you compare Zatanna's ability to use magic to the Spectre's?). Ivy studied under Jason Woodrue in college (later becomes the Floronic Man). Not sure when Ivy picks up the eco-terrorist twist (there was some early hint of it in Batman #400), but she still hasn't clearly adopted that persona at this point.



The plot synopsis in one ridiculously long sentence: Batman has returned to again tell someone a story that relates to Klansmen raiding a shantytown 40 years earlier, he begins by telling parts of his origin story (leaving out details that would expose his secret identity), and then recounts meeting up with detective Harvey Harris (upon the advice of former mentor Chu Chin Li) who teaches him detective skills and (more importantly) how to manage his rage at injustice as they attempt to solve a series of murders in a quiet Southern town, all of which end up relating back to a group of Klansmen called the Paladins of the Cross raiding that shantytown, and the one surviving boy from that town seeking revenge upon them (who ends up being the person Batman keeps revisiting as a form of punishment for what the killer did -- I won't reveal the killer's identity).


All in all, a fantastic detective story that makes some well-intentioned contributions to the post crisis timeline and contains some obnoxious Who's Who entries in the back.