Just read all of Knightfall and its follow up stories for the first time, but annoyingly, the trade didn't include these prelude issues. The trade did include Vengeance Of Bane, however, which I thought was a cracking good read. They kind of set up Bane and his hench-thugs there, and the first meeting between Bats & Bane near the end of the issue was very well done (they're in a room cloaked in darkness, so Bats never gets a good look at Bane).

I agree though, over the course of the story, it's unbelievable how much Bruce lets himself be run down. As if he forgot that he's a human being in the suit. That in itself is worthy of exploration, but it's a bit overdone in Knightfall. Ok, back to shaxper's thread.

This particular issue was noteworthy because of the talent and death of the young cover artists, Gene Day, who died shortly after doing this cover.

Hey shaxper,


any chance of you finding the time to continue this reviews anytime soon?


I'm currently in my read of "everything Batman from #400 on up" at Batman #454, and soon will have to read on without your always insightful reviews and comments ...


Best regards,

Kantor

Finally back to this thread!



Batman #471 (November 1991)



"Requiem for a Killer"

Script: Alan Grant
Pencils: Norm Breyfogle
Inks: Norm Breyfogle
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Letters: Todd Klein

Grade: A-


We may finally be seeing Grant and Breyfogle come into their own.

That sounds a bit ridiculous when you consider they've been on 'Tec and/or Batman for nearly four years by this point, but they spent much of that time working on Detective Comics while Denny O'Neil was treating it like an ancillary title of no particular importance, so they crafted stylized, moody, mostly done-in-one pieces that weren't overly concerned with the larger shape of the franchise. When they finally did try to tell those bigger kinds of stories, O'Neil essentially blocked them, most significantly with their plans for Anarky (Lonnie Machin) to become the third Robin.

So they continued along doing small stories until Marv Wolfman left abruptly (presumably because of the direction Warner Bros. was dictating for Tim Drake), and the two found themselves unexpectedly working on the core Batman title in his place. But, before they could adjust to the new gig, they were being forced to utilize their stories to shine a spotlight on and develop the third Robin under the watchful eye of Warner Bros (the very fate Marv Wolfman was presumably fleeing).

Then, when the deed was finally done, they were bumped off the title in order to allow Chuck Dixon to write his three part follow-up to the hit Robin limited series.

Then, when that was finally done, they came back only to have a War of the Gods crossover event tie-in thrust upon them.

So now, nearly four years later, they are finally in the driver's seat with no mandates coming down from on-high. All they have to do is keep using Tim Drake in a way that pleases Warner, and they are free to do what they want.


So what do they want?


The first thing they are clearly working at is a more throwback approach to Batman. Marv Wolfman had already done his best to de-Miller the Post-Crisis Dark Knight, but Grant and Breyfogle take it further. We now have a Post-Crisis Bat Family of sorts with Robin, Harold the Hunchback assisting from the sidelines, and now an updated Ace the Bathound, who would have utterly stolen the spotlight for this issue if the rest of what's inside hadn't been similarly brilliant.

I'm not a dog person, per se, but even I find the depiction of Ace and the connection between Bruce and Ace as they work to be touching:





and, to further establish that this Batman is a softy at heart, only severe and terrifying when he needs to be, I love how he approaches the gang of non-violent thieves he has been tracking near the climax of this issue:



How would Frank Miller's Batman (or even Jim Starlin's Batman) have handled this?

It's a fascinating contrast, softening the image of the Post-Crisis Batman while Breyfogle's artwork naturally leans toward the severe. He handles both incredibly well, depicting the softness in those moments between Bruce and Ace, while also showing us how Killer Croc sees him in contrast:



And, while we're on the subject of Breyfogle's art, MAN it's good to be back reading his work. Such a breath of fresh air after looking at the line work of so many of his contemporaries from the era:





Anyway, the other thing Grant and Breyfogle want to do is introduce a Post-Crisis Killer Croc. They'd been hinting his Post-Crisis return since Batman Annual #15, where Croc is an established Batman villain in an alternate future, leaving us to wonder if he is also an established villain in the current timeline. We then got an answer to that question last issue where Grant and Breyfogle managed to tack this little hint of things to come onto the obligatory tie-in story they were less interested in writing:



Croc had been Gerry Conway's baby back during Batman #357 thru Batman #359, and he'd been pretty much forgotten for the eight years since. Back then, his appearance and strength were impressive, but basically he was a brilliant mob boss, more akin to a Dick Tracey villain than a Batman villain.

Now, in the Post-Crisis, Croc is an impulsive, violent villain who never could have helmed a criminal empire:



but that also gives him the opportunity to have a heart beneath it all, instead of ambition and cold calculation. He is truly afraid and hurting, and thus the idea of him falling in with a tribe of homeless people is quite touching. Ever since Len Wein's run, I've loved seeing repeated enduring depictions of the homeless people of Gotham, given real identities and even backstories. Croc's connection to some of them here really really works:



The idea that he is committing crimes in order to give them a comfortable home beneath the surface is totally logical. In a sense, this become's Croc's story, as we are rooting for him to build this place and find the acceptance he seeks, Batman playing a more cursory role in contrast.

That it all goes sour is inevitable. That Batman never ends up being his antagonist is far more surprising. How would this have played out had a torrent of water not burst through the new hideout just as Batman had entered?

But the obligatory climax proves incredibly powerful, even if it's also far too convenient.





Obviously, he's only dead until the writers want him back again, but it was still a hell of a send-off.


Important Details:

- "Aunt Marcy," the kind homeless woman protecting Croc from the other homeless folk may well be the anonymous "fairy godmother" who protected a young Bruce Wayne from the Street Demonz gang, as depicted in Detective Comics #614 (also by Grant and Breyfogle):



Of course, my working Post Crisis Batman Timeline has that event occurring 26 to 28 years earlier, and "Aunt Marcy" looks younger here than she did in that flashback, so it's probably more of a recurring idea in Grant's mind, perhaps an underdeveloped story idea he wanted to explore further.


- Grant does a lot to flesh out the Post-Crisis Killer Croc. His real name is Waylon (last name not yet given), and we are told a great deal about his origins, as well as the nature of his "croc-ishness":




Grant has developed one hell of an endearing villain for Batman; one which I'd like to see return soon.

Although I do enjoy the gangster that Croc once was, Grant's depiction here is the "default" in my mind in that I always kind of see him as he is here, a thug with a heart of gold. He commits crimes, sometimes horrible ones, but deep down he's a decent person.

I'll never forget the issue where Batman discovers where KC lives and is sitting down waiting for him as he enters. It was drawn by Curt Swan and KC just loses it and destroys his own apartment because Batman " ruined " it. 

Well Grant gives him a more elaborate backstory here than he ever had with Conway, but I agree with your larger point. This is basically an entirely new character, with no real connection to the previous incarnation. So why call him Killer Croc? Especially in the age of creator royalties.

Welcome to the community, by the way!