BATMAN #514 - January 1995

One Night in the War Zone

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Ron Wagner (penciler), Joe Rubenstein (inker), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Robin provides Batman with a list of the three worst offenders released during Two-Face’s scheme: Strake, McCone, and Cheung.  Strake targets his former partner in the drug trade, McCone invades the home of the man who testified against him, and Cheung searches for people who cheated him out of gambling profits.  All three are located in Battergate, an area of Gotham nicknamed “the war zone.”  One by one, Batman locates the fugitives and incapacitates them.  Sirens continue to blare after he’s finished, reminding him that Batman’s work is never done.

Irrelevant Continuity:  I thought the worst neighborhood in Gotham was supposed to be called “the Hub,” as seen in the earlier chapters of this crossover?

Review:  The emotional hook for this issue is Dick Grayson’s struggle to truly become Batman, a job he knows he isn’t suited for and doesn’t expect to keep for much longer.  This would seem to be a better avenue to explore than the previous arc’s relentless pushing of Two-Face as Dick Grayson’s personal boogey man, but the story doesn’t really make being Batman seem like such a bad job.  There are no moral quandaries, nor are any of the fugitives pursued by Dick particularly challenging threats.  On the bright side, the issue has solid artwork by Ron Wagner, and there’s more than enough action to distract from Dick’s half-baked character crisis.  Judged mainly as a one-issue action story, this is fairly entertaining.

BATMAN #513 - December 1994

 

Double Deuce

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Gustovich (penciler), Romeo Tanghal w/Rich Burchett (inkers), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Two-Face takes a hostage, forcing Batman and Robin to allow him to escape.  He returns to his hideout with the access disc he stole from the courthouse.  Using the disc, Two-Face is able to cause chaos in court and police schedules.  Soon, a police bus overpopulated with prisoners crashes into a movie theater.  The criminals take the theater hostage, but Batman and Robin are able to subdue the convicts and rescue the civilians.  Meanwhile, Two-Face turns his attention to Batman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Unfortunately, Two-Face is back in his repugnant orange and plaid suit this issue.
• The courthouse basement was filled with computer servers last chapter.  This issue, it’s packed full with giant stacks of paper.  I can only assume some miscommunication occurred between writer and artist.

Total N00B:  You guessed it; Robin #0 is obliquely referenced again.

Review:  Nothing really to see here, unless you were only reading Batman in 1994 and didn’t know any of the plot points from the previous month’s worth of crossover issues.  All of those are competently recounted, without actually advancing the story an inch.  In fairness, Two-Face’s plan makes more sense this issue (or is at least explained better), and Mike Gustovich isn’t bad at drawing Batman in action, but in the context of a reprint collection, it feels like a wasted chapter. The screw-up in-between chapters regarding computer servers versus giant stacks of paper also stands out egregiously when read in a collected edition.  And at the risk of sounding like a panelist on E!’s Fashion Police, it’s hard to believe anyone thought it was a good idea to keep using that horrid ‘70s (?) look on Two-Face.  The animated series had already produced a much better suit, and Phil Jimenez tried to work it into the comics last chapter, only to have it revert back to sheer hideousness just a week later.  Oh, well.  Eventually, they learned, right?

BATMAN #512 - November 1994

Prodigal: Part 1 - Robin and Batman

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Gustovich & Romeo Tanghal (artists), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Bruce Wayne relinquishes the role of Batman to Dick Grayson.  Meanwhile, Killer Croc emerges from the river.  He targets a mobster he has a grudge against, Paretti, and goes on a killing spree.  Batman and Robin track down Killer Croc and stop him from killing Paretti.  Later, Commissioner Gordon expresses doubts to his wife over working with Batman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Gordon isn’t fooled this time when meeting yet another new Batman.  Gordon also informs Mayor Krol that the violent Batman he supported was never the “real” one.

I Love the ‘90s:  Dick Grayson’s famous ‘90s mullet is in full display this issue.

Total N00B:  Okay…Dick and Tim reference Alfred leaving, but there’s no indication of where he’s gone.  There’s also a vague reference to Dick’s traumatic first meeting with Two-Face.  Killer Croc apparently had a run-in with Paretti in a previous issue.  He also references a gangster called “The Squid,” which I’ve never heard of.  Finally, Dick mentions a time Robin teamed up with him during his Nightwing days in New York.  No footnotes on what story that’s supposed to be a reference to.

Review:  You might’ve noticed that the editors have skipped more issues.  “Knightsend” wasn’t long enough to fill one of these phonebook trades, so the “Prodigal” event has also been included in the book.  That’s fine, but it looks as if any story that doesn’t say “Knightsend” or “Prodigal” on the cover has been skipped (except that Azrael solo story from Showcase.)  There are issues in-between these events, however, and it’s safe to assume that they set up what exactly we’re seeing this issue.  Aside from a few references to Bruce needing to make a change, there’s really nothing setting up his decision to leave on some mysterious journey; nor are we given any particularly good reasons for Dick “His Own Man Now” Grayson to give up his Nightwing identity in order to become Batman.  Also missing is Robin #0, the story of the first meeting between Dick and Two-Face mentioned earlier, which gets referenced repeatedly in the upcoming issues.

All that said, the basic hook behind “Prodigal” is strong.  (Oh, but here’s another nitpick.  If the title is a reference to the Biblical story of the prodigal son, Dick Grayson doesn’t fit the profile.  He never squandered the Wayne family fortune on wine and prostitutes, unless there’s an era of DC continuity I’m very unfamiliar with.)  I think most kids wondered if Robin might replace Batman one day, so the opportunity to actually see it happen -- not as a gimmicky one-off story, but as the titles’ new status quo -- should be a big deal.  This storyline never got the hype of the previous “Knight” events, but I imagine it’s because a certain amount of “event fatigue” had already settled in.  Having Dick Grayson become Batman just doesn’t seem that daring following everything that’s already happened to Batman since Vengeance of Bane was published.  Regardless, Dick as the insecure Batman, unsure if he can fulfill the role, has a lot of promise.  He also has a nice rapport with Tim, which gives the stories a welcome break from the grimness of the past two years.  Killer Croc isn’t that great of a villain to start off the new era, but he fulfills his role as punching bag, and Dick is given an opportunity to contrast himself with Azrael and show some compassion towards the villain in the end.  It’s also kind of amusing to see Dick bluff his way through his fight with Croc, an established villain who deeply hates Batman but Dick has never heard of.  

BATMAN #510 - August 1994

Return of the Bat

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley & Joe Rubinstein (artists), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Jean-Paul refuses to surrender and attacks Batman.  Meanwhile, Selkirk’s men target Catwoman, Nightwing, and Robin.  The battle sets Selkirk’s penthouse on fire.  Eventually, one of Selkirk’s guards uses a helicopter to shoot at the heroes from above.  While trying to control Jean-Paul’s grapple, Batman inadvertently causes it to latch on to the helicopter.  They swing above the city, as Catwoman jumps onboard the helicopter, demanding Selkirk give her the neural enabler.

Irrelevant Continuity:  In the previous chapter, the “neural enabler” was called the “cybernetic enabler.”

Review:  Following the previous chapter’s cliffhanger, you might think this issue would be the climactic battle between Bruce and Jean-Paul.  Surely this storyline couldn’t drag on much longer, could it?  Now that Bruce has regained his confidence as Batman and Jean-Paul has been exposed as a loon, there aren’t a lot of places left to go, so it’s best to draw things to a close, right?  Unfortunately, Batman was released as the first Bat-title of the month.  That means the crossover has to continue to drag on until the last Batman title of the month is released, and that’s Legends of the Dark Knight (not counting the two epilogue chapters in Robin and Catwoman.)  Instead of a conclusion, the creators have to kill time with some explosions and chase scenes; four issues worth, in fact.  In fairness, there is a decent amount of Batman vs. Fake Batman action this issue, which is what the readers have been anticipating for months, but it’s intercut with numerous pages of Robin and Nightwing fighting generic goons, things blowing up, and Catwoman chasing after that nebulous plot device.  The flagrant amount of filler is hard to forgive, and you’re just left tolerating these chapters while waiting for the true climax to begin.

BATMAN #509 - July 1994

 

Spirit of the Bat

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (penciler), Dick Giordano (inks), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Shiva dons the mask of Tengu and kills a martial arts master in combat.  His seven former disciples, now masters, vow vengeance.  Later, Shiva tells Bruce Wayne to don the mask to complete his training.  He soon realizes that he’s been framed for murder and each of the seven masters will pursue him.  Bruce brings the first defeated master to Shiva, unaware that she’s going to kill him.  After defeating the second master, and realizing that Shiva killed the first, Bruce lets him go free.  Meanwhile, while stopping a gun running operation, Batman comes across a medallion once owned by LeHah.  He swears vengeance.  

Irrelevant Continuity:  Batman lists Jigsaw as one of the menaces he’s stopped since taking over the role.  He’s referring to the Marvel villain, I’m assuming, who appeared in the two Batman/Punisher crossovers that occurred in the early ‘90s.  This is one of the very few explicit references to a Marvel/DC crossover ever made in a regular monthly title.

Total N00B:  The goons working for the gun running operation talk about someone named LeHah, who apparently ran a munitions operations now overseen by another mystery figure, Selkirk.  Jean-Paul recognizes LeHah as “the master of the System” as the story has a one-panel flashback to the Sword of Azrael miniseries.

Review:  This issue marks the beginning of “Knightsend,” the final crossover of the Jean-Paul Valley era.  To mark the launch of “Knightsend,” every Bat-title released this month was double-sized, even though some of the chapters arguably didn’t need the extra length.  When the month is over, you’ve consumed a lot of Bruce vs. Ninja pages.  This chapter actually holds up pretty well, thanks largely to Mike Manley’s knack for drawing martial arts action.  Doug Moench also has a clever opening to the issue, as we discover that the ninja master Shiva has engaged in combat truly is an expert in “unarmed” combat.  The ending is also strong, as Moench has Bruce stand at the edge of a skyscraper, unable to perform the classic Batman-swinging-from-a-rope move we’ve all seen a thousand times.

The main problem with the issue is Bruce Wayne’s willingness to go along with Shiva’s plot in the first place.  As soon as he discovered she murdered the original master (“murder” might be too strong a word, but she is responsible for the death of a man who’s not obviously guilty of anything), Bruce should’ve done everything in his power to apprehend her.  Instead, he plays along with her game, and even stupidly brings her the first of his opponents after he defeats him.  After she kills him for no real purpose, that makes Bruce indirectly responsible for two deaths.  That should bother him, but he’s pretty unemotional about the affair.  I understand that the storyline is supposed to show how far Bruce is willing to go to get back into the condition he needs to be as Batman, but he just comes across as too passive and annoyingly out-of-character.

BATMAN #508 - June 1994

 

Mortal Remains

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (penciler), Joseph Rubenstein (inker), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman races to a warehouse owned by the Etchison family, while Robin uses the Batcave computer to research Abattoir’s most likely hideout.  Robin arrives just in time to see Batman chasing the Abattoir into a foundry near the warehouse.  Inside the foundry, Batman leaves Abattoir dangling above a vat of liquid metal.  Batman has a vision of his father and St. Dumas arguing over Abattoir’s life.  Paralyzed by indecision, he doesn’t move as Abattoir falls to his death.  Robin watches below.  Later, Graham Etchison is killed by Abattoir’s torture device, while Batman weeps in the Batcave.

Review:  Batman’s inner monologue assures on the first page that “Gunhawk can wait.”  This week, he’s back to chasing the Abattoir.  Reading all of these issues in a row, it’s hard not to laugh at Batman’s sporadic interest in the Abattoir case.  Of course, he’s only veering back and forth because one of the titles isn’t participating at all in the story, while the other is only doing so halfheartedly, but it’s still a clumsy transition.  I don’t understand why this arc couldn’t have been contained to Batman while the other books pursued other stories, unless DC simply felt that tighter continuity between the titles would help to sell the overall event.  (And judging by the finished product, the continuity is far from “tight.”)

Moench opens the issue with yet another reminder that Jean-Paul is not qualified to be Batman, as he nearly runs over a prostitute while en route to the Abattoir’s hideout.  And, just a few pages later, Robin helpfully points out that Jean-Paul either doesn’t know or care that he’s leading more people into the Abattoir’s path by chasing him into the foundry.  But I guess the final nail in Jean-Paul’s career as Batman comes when he allows Abattoir to die during one of his schizophrenic freak outs.  When Robin finally rats Jean-Paul out, this is the offense that turns Bruce Wayne against him.  Perhaps this story has meandered so long in order to reach this point in this specific month, allowing Abattoir’s death to be fresh on the readers’ minds as Bruce Wayne returns in this month’s Robin.

As the breaking point in Jean-Paul’s career as Batman, it’s pretty weak.  We already know Jean-Paul is seeing visions, and we already know he’s cavalier towards human life, so this doesn’t seem like much of an escalation.  If anyone had to die due to Jean-Paul’s incompetence, thank God it was the Abattoir!  And it’s not as if Jean-Paul even decided to go Charles Bronson on the twisted serial killer; the guy died merely because Jean-Paul was having a psychotic episode, not out of willful malice.  I think Jean-Paul’s worse crime is not investigating the warehouse and finding Graham Etchison -- the person he’s been allegedly trying to rescue for the past three months.  And even if Jean-Paul’s too out of it to search the place, why didn’t Robin?  It seems to me that he has more to answer for than Jean-Paul in this case.

BATMAN #507 - May 1994

Ballistic

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Jim Balent (penciler), Frank McLaughlin (inker), Willie Schubert (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  The Malevolent Maniaxe burn down the warehouse, forcing Batman and Ballistic to rescue the unconscious smugglers while they escape.  Batman and Ballistic then travel to a nightclub owned by Raf Luxor, another figure from Abattoir’s past.  They run into the Maniaxe again, and during the melee, Luxor is killed.  Batman forces one of the Maniaxe to reveal who placed the hit, which leads to Batman and Ballistic confronting Henry Etchison’s lawyer.  Batman takes a list of Henry Etchison’s properties from the lawyer, while Ballistic collects the bounty and decides to leave Gotham.  The lawyer is left for the police as Batman continues to hunt the Abattoir.

Total N00B:  I can only assume that Raf Luxor played a role in the previous Abattoir storyline.

Review:  Thankfully, this moronic digression with Ballistic and the Maniaxe is over.  Even though there’s a lot of running around, the plot’s barely advanced as the same characters just end up confronting each other under the same conditions, followed by more pointless fight scenes.  Ballistic exits the story when he simply steals the blood money without completing the job, contributing absolutely nothing to the plot.  If this was supposed to be the showcase that decided whether or not Ballistic got his own series, he didn’t fare any better than Joe Average or whatever the last loser’s name was.  Moench does virtually nothing to make the character likeable or even slightly interesting.  As a straight man for Batman’s cruel, dismissive one-liners, he’s good for one solid joke throughout the entire storyline.  Having accomplished that, he needs to be returned to Extreme Studios.  And, ugh, there’s more of the Malevolent Maniaxe to tolerate this issue.  Painfully unfunny and just flagrant page filler, I pray that no one revives them before this event is over.

BATMAN #506 - April 1994

Malevolent Maniaxe

Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (penciler), Josef Rubinstein (inker), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Graham Etchison’s father orders a hit on the Abattoir from prison, attracting Ballistic and the punk group turned street gang, the Malevolent Maniaxe.  Batman searches for the Abattoir by tracking down his former accomplices, a plan that puts him in the path of the Maniaxe.  They meet at a warehouse, where the Maniaxe pick a fight with a group of smugglers.  Shortly after Batman enters, Ballistic crashes through the wall.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Ballistic is another enduring creation from DC’s “Bloodline” annuals.
•  A few subplot scenes remind us that Mayor Kroll is still pressuring Commissioner Gordon to support Batman’s new tactics, Bruce Wayne has rescued Tim Drake’s father but now must find Shondra (none of these events ever appear in this reprint collection), and Tim Drake is continuing his career as Robin without Batman.
• Batman must physically return to the Batcave to retrieve his files on the Abattoir, ignoring the updates to his costume that have already occurred in Shadow of the Bat #25.

I Love the ‘90s: Stolen VCRs are being smuggled through the warehouse.  The Malevolent Maniaxe are also referred to as the remains of Gotham’s answer to “Seattle grunge.”

Review:  After conveniently forgetting about the Abattoir for the entirety of Shadow of the Bat #25, Batman has returned to this critical mission.  And he’s joined by some of the lamest characters to wander into this storyline so far.  Ballistic is an ex-cop who now takes mercenary jobs to make ends meet, but feels obligated to only take out the people who deserve it.  This might sound like a respectable premise for a new character, but Ballistic looks like such a dumb collection of ‘90s clichés it’s impossible to take him seriously.  (OMG!  Prime’s gone tribal and stolen Cable’s guns!)  I don’t know if he was intentionally designed as a Rob Liefeld parody or not, but placing him in a Batman story just doesn’t work.  The other new characters congesting the story are the Malevolent Maniaxe, a dimwitted group of failed musicians turned criminals.  The joke is that they’re a punk band that looks and acts like the Three Stooges…a joke that Doug Moench doesn’t tire of, even though he runs it into the ground three pages after their debut.  Three Stooges tributes used to periodically show up in mainstream comics, although I don’t recall ever laughing at any of them.  That brand of slapstick doesn’t exactly translate into a series of static images, and honestly, what on earth is a Three Stooges parody doing in the middle of a story about a serial killer methodically murdering every member of his family?

BATMAN #505 - March 1994

Blood Kin
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (penciler), Bob Wiacek (inker), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman, while investigating the murder of a family, is suddenly beset by images of his father and St. Dumas.  They argue over Jean-Paul’s loyalties, and eventually St. Dumas stabs his father.  The vision ends, and Batman proceeds to investigate the murders.  He deduces that the killer is Arnold Etchison, the Abattoir.  Abattoir targets members of his own family, leading Batman to follow Abattoir’s cousin, Graham Etchison.  Etchison is attacked by Abattoir while doing charity work with orphaned children.  Batman rescues Etchison and the children, but is forced to allow Abattoir to escape.

Irrelevant Continuity:

•  The Abattoir first appeared in Detective Comics #625.  (An “abattoir” is a slaughterhouse, apparently.)  As far as I can tell, in his previous appearances, Abattoir’s cousin Henry Etchinson used Abattoir to kill his wife.  Graham Etchison is Henry’s son.
•  While talking to the image of St. Dumas, Jean-Paul defends his father by saying that the System brainwashed him into becoming a killer.  I have no idea what he’s talking about, but it's possible this is material covered in the original Sword of Azrael miniseries.
•  Jean-Paul meets Leslie Tompkins for the first time, although their meeting is left off-panel.  (She’s in charge of the charity Graham Etchison is volunteering for.)
•  Following his battle with Abattoir, Batman declares that he needs to upgrade his costume.  Using the System for guidance, he begins to design a new costume on the final page.
•  The footnote on the final page says the story is continued in Shadow of the Bat #26.  The next story reprinted is actually Shadow of the Bat #25, which will present a different motivation for Batman’s new costume.

I Love the ‘90s:  One of the police officers arriving at the Abattoir’s murder scene references Unsolved Mysteries.

Review:  The Abattoir is another one of the serial killers introduced in the Batbooks back in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s.  I’ve never heard of him before, and don’t see anything in this issue that elevates him past generic “grim and gritty” status.  His gimmick is that he murders members of his own family, and at this point in his career, he’s down to his cousin’s children.  Moench uses Abattoir’s family issues to segue into Jean-Paul’s own family problems, although this is all very vague for anyone unfamiliar with the Sword of Azrael miniseries. (Or maybe it's intentionally vague?)  The recurring appearances of Jean-Paul’s father and St. Dumas as hallucinogenic apparitions are getting old at this point, to be honest.  It’s already obvious that Jean-Paul is unbalanced, we don’t need to see him hallucinate repeatedly to get the point, and whatever character drama this is trying to develop just feels stale.  The Punisher is a dark, driven vigilante with a psychological profile worth exploring.  Jean-Paul Valley is a lunatic brainwashed into continuing the Crusades (or something) since childhood.  It’s hard to develop empathy for the character, and he rarely brings anything interesting to the stories.  Plus, his “dark nature” seems to be an excuse for the writers to keep wheeling out these monotonous serial killer villains, and that’s also getting old fast.

BATMAN #504 - February 1994

Dark Dance
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman pursues Catwoman, and finds himself unable to defeat her.  Meanwhile, the police are notified of their fight and race to the Tuscany Building.  Batman and Catwoman fight to a stalemate.  When the SWAT team enters, Batman points to the canister, which he believes to be Xyklon-C, on the floor.  He implicates Catwoman in the robbery and leaves.

Review:  This is an extended fight/chase scene between Batman and Catwoman, and really...that’s it.  Jean-Paul’s internal conflict isn’t as engaging as it was in the previous issue, and there’s nothing added here that the last chapter didn’t cover.  The action looks great, though, and Moench tries to liven the story up with explosions, colossal Sprang-esque props, and a giant gargoyle statue crashing through a police car.  As one chapter in the trade, it’s fine, but it’s an unusually thin plot for a Batman comic of this era.

BATMAN #503 - January 1994

Night Becomes Woman
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman spends the night consumed by thoughts of Catwoman.  The next day, Commissioner Gordon asks him to protect the trade summit from terrorists.  Batman suspects Catwoman is involved, following her previous robbery of the chemical warehouse.  He tracks her down and, to his surprise, finds her to be his physical match.  She exits the fight, after stealing Benzotrilene, a harmless chemical than could double for the deadly Xyklon-C.  Batman vows to stop her.


I Love the ‘90s:  The story makes a few references to the 1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.  Later, we’ll see that the trade summit is happening at the Gotham equivalent of the Twin Towers.

Review:  I have to admit that Doug Moench gets a lot more out of Jean-Paul’s first meeting with Catwoman than I would’ve expected.  It’s obvious that Jean-Paul’s “programming” is intended to have some thematic links to Christian doctrine, although the creators have been careful to avoid any overt religious bashing.  This issue explores Jean-Paul’s repressed sexuality, which is absolutely enflamed after his first meeting with Catwoman.  Apparently unaware of how to deal with “those” kind of feelings, Jean-Paul finds himself reverting to the type of twelve-year-old who's obsessed with, say, Jim Balent’s Catwoman.  “I did dream about her…all the way to darkness.  And the dreams were…shameful.”  And this isn’t the first double-entendre.  The story’s filled with them: “Maybe I’ve fallen, and fallen hard…but she still goes down.”  Batman’s also going to “penetrate her mystery” and “make the cat howl.”  I love the idea that Jean-Paul isn’t even consciously aware he’s doing this; anyone somehow unaware of the sexual connotation of these terms would take this as typical Batman dialogue.  And, oddly enough, this does work in humanizing Jean-Paul a bit.  He’s not so far gone that he can’t develop a crush, which makes him more interesting as a lead.

BATMAN #502 - December 1993

Phoenix in Chaos
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (pencils), Mike Manley & Joe Rubenstein (inks), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman chases Mekros, but loses him.  Mekros, responding to Batman’s claim that the mobsters never intended to pay him, goes back to them and demands more money.  Meanwhile, federal agent Skyler is sent to bring back Mekros.  After handing an incriminating recording of the mobsters to Commissioner Gordon, Batman trails Skyler and eventually finds Mekros.  Mekros kills Skyler, and several civilians, after Batman chases him inside a supermarket.  As Batman defeats Mekros with his own grenade, Mayor Krol informs Gordon that he should embrace Batman’s new techniques.

Irrelevant Continuity:  

• Batman begins to make rumblings about designing a new costume.  He doesn’t get around to it until months later.
• Gordon, only now, believes that this Batman is not the original.

I Love the ‘90s:  Mekros’ armor generates roller blades when he needs to make a fast getaway.

Review:  Here’s something we rarely see during the AzBats era -- Jean-Paul actually using his brain.  Yes, he has “The System” within him, which enables him to go on Rain Man binges and design new equipment, but rarely does Jean-Paul come across as genuinely bright during his adventures.  Having Jean-Paul lie to Mekros about the mobsters' scheme not to pay him, thus inspiring him to confront them in person and enabling Jean-Paul to record their conversation, is pretty clever.  And it’s a welcome break from the genre standard, which has the hero always somehow unable to prove anything against a gangster.  I also like the new setup for Gordon this issue; he knows this new Batman is dangerous, yet he’s under political pressure to support him.  It’s an interesting dilemma to put the character in, and it’s a decent use of the otherwise generic Mayor Krol.  Finally, as much as I would’ve preferred to see Jim Aparo remain on one of the Bat-books, I have to give Mike Manley credit for continually rising to the occasion.  These are exceptionally nice-looking issues.

BATMAN #501 - November 1993

Code Name: Mekros
Credits: Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman saves gangster Mercante from a mob hit.  He tells Mercante that he owes him now.  Leaving the scene, Batman soon alienates Robin and Commissioner Gordon even further with his brusque attitude.  Later, Mercante hires the infamous assassin Mekros.  Mekros’ first target is rival mobster Santos Varona, who he easily kills.  Mekros then takes aim at Batman during his meeting with Mercante.  When Batman suspects Mercante has set him up, he quickly ducks out of the way of Mekros’ bullet.  Mercante is killed instead.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Mekros is a rogue government assassin that’s undergone hypnosis and mental conditioning in order to become the greatest contract killer alive.  He wears a suit of armor that looks exactly like something out of Terry Kavanagh and Alex Saviuk’s run on Web of Spider-Man.

Review:  The first issue of Batman following the fall of Bane, Doug Moench uses the opportunity to explore how Gotham’s underworld responds to the new vacuum of leadership.  And, predictably, they all want to kill each other.  This turns out to be the only story to address what happens to Gotham’s underworld following Bane’s arrest (or the only one reprinted in the second Knightfall collection), which is surprising given how much time was spent on making Bane the city’s newest, and strongest, crimelord.

And since this is 1993, any mob hitman has to at least wear a suit of cybernetic armor, if not be an outright cyborg himself.  The latest Generic Armor Guy is Mekros, who Moench obviously intends to be an ex-CIA assassin, even though he goes out of his way never to refer to the CIA by name.  Mekros’ gimmick is that he’s a self-created sleeper agent, which means he only speaks in a peculiar combination of old Christian hymns and self-help slogans.  There’s not a lot behind the concept, but the action in the issue is great.  Mike Manley, whose style during this run is a mix of Jim Aparo and Klaus Janson, knows how to draw a shootout.  He’s also one of the few artists that can manage to pull of AzBat’s ridiculous costume.  Speaking of Jean-Paul, he’s still annoying, but this issue does a good job of making his interactions with the rest of the cast enjoyable.  His casual dismissal of Robin, who’s broken into the Batcave a second time, is actually kind of funny.  This kind of humor was sorely missing from the rest of the storyline, which is probably one reason why Jean-Paul wore on the nerves so quickly.

BATMAN #500 - October 1993 (Part Two)

Dark Angel II:  The Descent
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Mike Manley (artist), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman finds Bane after he announces himself on an electronic billboard.  He cuts off Bane’s Venom supply and chases him on to the city’s elevated trains.  Bane kills a conductor and takes control of a train.  Robin arrives to rescue the passengers as Batman has a brutal confrontation with Bane.  Eventually, the train goes off the tracks and crashes into an abandoned building.  Batman has an opportunity to kill Bane, but leaves him for the police.  Later, Robin admits he was wrong and tells Jean-Paul he’s earned the mantle of Batman.

Irrelevant Continuity:  Bane’s message on the electronic billboard reads “‘Batman’ Now.”  Gordon notices the quote marks, but isn’t willing to believe that Batman has been replaced.  Gordon’s inability to realize that the original Batman is gone stretches credibility quite a bit, unless the reader is supposed believe Jean-Paul can perfectly mimic Batman’s voice and body language.

Review:  Talk about commitment to a misdirection -- the story actually ends with the skeptical Robin admitting he was wrong and giving Azrael his blessing to become Batman.  Moreover, this follows a lengthy dramatic sequence that has AzBats fighting “the System” and refusing to kill Bane when he has a chance.  So, Gotham has a darker new Batman, but one that still isn’t willing to cross that final line.  Even though this was never intended to be permanent, it reads as a more sincere attempt to sell the replacement hero than any of the Spider-Man clone comics I can think of.  (And Marvel was actually serious about their ridiculous hero swap!)  

While several of Moench’s previous issues would lead you to believe he was apathetic towards this event, he seems to be putting a real effort into selling this as the conclusion to the long running Bane storyline, and the true beginning of Jean-Paul as Batman.  And it’s as about as brutal as you could expect a Comics Code Approved fight featuring Batman could be at the time.  Visually, this is the best Batman/Bane fight so far.  The setting of a runaway elevated train adds more suspense to the fight, and gives Mike Manley some cool visuals to play with.  (Hmm… fight scene during climax of the story set on an elevated train running through the worst areas of Gotham…could this be another moment that influenced Nolan?)  

Robin even gets to do something more than complain this time, as he rescues the civilians that Bane has trapped in the final car.  Now, here’s another instance where it’s hard to tell what Moench is going for.  Leading up to this scene, we see Jean-Paul race past an elderly woman that Bane has pushed aside, and arrive too late to stop Bane from killing the train’s conductor.  (Robin sees none of this, which would help to explain why he’s willing to give Jean-Paul his blessing later.)  No civilians are saved by the new Batman this issue; nor are there any narrative captions or thought balloons to indicate that he’s even given them a single thought.  Is this Moench’s way of subverting the superficial point of the story, by allowing Robin to be the true hero while Batman is concerned with beating up the guy who beat him up first?  If so, it totally went over my head as a kid.  I finished the issue convinced that DC was absolutely serious about this new Batman.  Not that I truly expected the change to last, but I had no idea the creators already had the resolution mapped out.

BATMAN #500 - October 1993 (Part One)

Dark Angel I:  The Fall
Credits:  Doug Moench (writer), Jim Aparo (pencils), Terry Austin (inks), Ken Bruzenak (letterer), Adrienne Roy (colorist)

Summary:  Batman drops off the scaffold and maneuvers his way to the ground.  He lands in a fountain, but there isn’t enough water to protect him from injuries.  Bane escapes.  Later, Robin confronts Batman about his methods, but Jean-Paul refuses to listen.  That night, Nightwing arrives and discovers Bruce Wayne is no longer Batman.  He advises Robin to trust Bruce’s judgment and allow Jean-Paul to continue as Batman.  Meanwhile, Bane replenishes his Venom supply, as Jean-Paul designs a new Batman costume.

Irrelevant Continuity:  We learn that Harold has been living in a hidden room (apparently attached to the Batcave), spying on Jean-Paul.

Total N00B:  I’m assuming the dog that briefly appears in the Batcave this issue is the ‘90s Ace.  He walks away from Jean-Paul and is then fed by Harold.  I read this issue as a kid and had no idea what to make of that scene, but I understood that I was walking into a huge event and my knowledge of certain areas of Bat-continuity was spotty.

Gimmicks:  A foil-enhanced alternate cover by Joe Quesada was also released for this issue.

Review:  I can still remember Denny O’Neil appearing on The Today Show, promoting this issue in the summer of 1993.  He didn’t drop the façade for one second; anyone watching that interview would assume DC had created a new Batman for the gritty ‘90s and that Bruce Wayne was now retired.  Issue #500 is the obvious issue to use as the lynchpin of a major marketing campaign, which likely explains why this is the issue that finally shows Dick Grayson’s response to the events of “Knightfall,” and provides at least a brief flashback to the past of the new Batman, Jean-Paul Valley.  (Only existing readers would understand that scene with Harold and Ace, but it’s a mere two pages out of a double-sized comic, so I doubt anyone was truly bothered by it.)  

I had been reading comics enough years to be cynical about major changes to the status quo by this point, but I have to admit that the prospect of a darker, more violent Batman appealed to me in my early teens.  I didn’t necessarily want to see Bruce Wayne replaced by a new character, but I didn’t object to the prospect of Batman himself becoming colder and more willing to kill.  (This is fairly consistent with Tim Burton’s portrayal of the character from the movies, which were inanely popular at the time.)  The speech Jean-Paul gives Robin about meeting your opponent on his own terms and “chivalry is just a handicap” seems tailor-made to appeal to a teenage boy’s bloodlust; I remember reading it and thinking that it made perfect sense.  And if you’re still wondering why Christopher Nolan ventured into ‘90s continuity when making his final Batman film, another line from the speech might provide a clue.  What’s Jean-Paul’s response when Robin tells him that he’s becoming like Bane?  “Maybe so.  And maybe Gotham will fear and hate me when I’m done.”  Is this the origin of Nolan’s bizarre theory that Gotham must hate Batman in order for him to fulfill his role?  That Gotham is not only willing, but eager to turn on Batman?  

As I’ve said before, knowing in retrospect that this was all done to prove a larger point about heroism and reaffirm the true Batman’s value system makes the whole affair seem genuinely remarkable.  The adolescent readers (and adult readers with adolescent attitudes) got their nasty, faux-Miller Batman for a year or so, and then Bruce Wayne returns to set things right and show why this thinking is all wrong.  Of course, DC couldn’t leave well enough alone and couldn’t resist making Bruce Wayne increasingly unstable and antisocial years after this event had made its point, but that’s a rant for another time.