by Dave Scrimgeour & Kevin McCluskey Publication Date- September 1987 Price- $9.95 Writer- Mike W. Barr Illustrator- Jerry BIngham Letterer- John Costanza Editor- Dick Giordano Jonathan Peterson- Assistant Editor Publisher- DC Comics Inc. synopsisBatman is happily going about his regular business in Gotham (and in spectacular fashion too) when, taking advantage of an injury he sustains in a daring mission, Talia al Ghul rescues and reiterates her love for him. A mystery begins to unfold that pulls the caped crusader far outwith the borders of his beloved city, where he finds himself drawn further into a web of international intrigue, not to mention the depths of the al Ghul family. (To be concluded.....) Dave So, back to "The Bat," this time in 1987. Was this done only as a graphic novel or was it split into issues? Kev This was released as a one-off graphic novel, yeh. It was later considered an Elseworld's tale, much like 'Gotham By Gaslight,' because it was never accepted into cannon until Grant Morrison brought the child into his most recent run on Batman as Damien. Dave Reading through this, I can remember this when it came out. Bearing in mind at that time purchasing a graphic novel was no cheap feat by any account. Kev No. They certainly were not cheap back in the day. Was this around a tenner? Dave May have been. Could have been more. Kev That was a lot for a youngster to spend in late 80's money. If I remember correctly, I was loaned this by one of my classmates at school and I took it to read while I visited my brother, who was in hospital at the time. Dave How do you find the writing and artwork in this? It’s classic Batman with the blue outfit and the yellow Bat emblem. Kev I think the artwork is stunning. It's all painted, right? And the writing is good too. Barr sometimes gets a bit of a bad rap from certain fans for his Batman stuff, but I've always liked it. And I love this look for Batman. It was the Batman I first fell in love with. It's very much on that Neal Adams/Jim Aparo model. Dave It’s got a good mood and tone to it and the attention to detail in the Gotham Chemical plant is very impressive. I like those long shots on the first couple of panels in the chemical factory. Kev Bingham is excellent, yeh. I like the four panels of Ra's al Ghul coming out of the fissure in the ground. The warm colour pallet is great and even the panel borders are thick and black and jagged. It's all very evocative and effective. Plus, look how good that boot is in panel 4 of page 5. Beautiful, painted cover by him too. Very blue though. I never quite understood why he made that choice to make the costume shades of blue rather than grey. In fact, I think it used to bug me as an eleven or twelve year old. Dave I know. I used to wonder too. It was probably all to do with the colour palette. It works though. Kev Oh yeh, it totally works. You're probably right. The colour palette is excellent, isn't it? It's probably done in blue to represent a light source. Dave This opening set-piece shows how well Batman operates in a hostage situation, he's utilising all his skills and he takes no prisoners with the beatings. Kev Definitely. This isn't quite Frank Miller 'Dark Knight Returns' Batman, but he's certainly no nonsense and he displays very little sympathy for the terrorists here. Dave That's a great panel on page 5 of 'The Bat' in mid-air-surprise-attack-mode, and the swiftness with which he takes down the terrorists is very impressive. Kev Yep. The entire opening set-piece is superb. It's worthy of any big screen outing. I can't understand why they've never opened a Batman film like this. I suppose 'Batman Forever' is as close as they've gotten. As odd as that feels to say. Dave That’s true. Even if someone was reading this for the first time, maybe someone unfamiliar with the stories of Batman, it is a good showcase for how good a character he actually is. Kev Totally. There's some nice Commissioner Gordon stuff here as well. Particularly with regards to how he and Batman interact with each other. Gordon is very much in charge, he's calling the shots, officially anyway, but he and Batman are working hand in hand at this point. There's no real tension. They're working as a team. Dave Yeah. I love the panel of him standing there, with the cape covering him. That is good wallpaper art in itself. Kev Definitely. I think that little sequence is fantastic. The reveal of Batman as he steps out of the shadows whilst the terrorist counts down from five, only for Bruce to be the one who says, "Time's up," is great. And the guy's demise is very much like Emil from 'Robocop.' Which, like this book, was also released in 1987. Dave This is more a mature story for The Bat. That was quite brutal that bit and he shows no sympathy for that guy. Kev No sympathy whatsoever, eh? Even later on when the doctor is about to attend to the wounded terrorists, he's very curt with his, "I said he can wait." Dave He's been a one man army so far in this story. I mean, next he even takes down a helicopter. Gordon’s reaction to the helicopter crash is one of, ‘Well, he's done the dirty work. We’ll just clean up the mess.’ You're right about the dynamic between Gordon and Batman, it is an enduring friendship. Gordon is obviously very familiar with how Batman operates by this point and just gets out of his way. Kev Yeh, I agree. Gordon is almost using Batman like a one-man SWAT team here. I like the squabbling of the guys in the chopper. "What're you? Blind? Can't you hit anything with that?" "You wanna come back here and try?" Good stuff from Barr. It really shows the unit falling apart in at the sight of Batman, which is, of course, his M.O. And I love that first panel on page 12, with the image of the water in the harbour reflected in the lens of Gordon's glasses. Dave Yeah, it’s cracking use of colour in this. Bruce, once again, shows no sympathy whatsoever for the injured terrorist who, by all accounts, is lucky to still be alive at this point. His anger is showing towards the guy who makes the threat on the pregnant woman's life, which neatly leads into a brief origin scene. Most people know why he became Batman, but it's used here to show his motivation and obsession for what he does. Kev It also ties into the anxiety he has about being essentially fatherless, his desire for a family of his own and his sheer will to protect his unborn child and it's mother. Which becomes all too apparent later on in the story. Dave That panel of him swinging through Gotham is very much like Spider-Man. Or have we just done too many reviews on Spidey at this point? Kev Ha, ha! We probably have done too many Spider-Man reviews at this point, but yeh, the swinging through Gotham stuff is very reminiscent of Spidey, I agree. You're totally spot-on there. Does the husband misunderstand Batman and think he's asking about his wife and his well being, when really he's asking about her and her unborn child? Or is that just me? Dave Looks like it actually. Lucky thing for Bruce that Talia was nearby when he collapsed. Kev Yeh, good job she was just skulking around in the shadows. Again, this ties into his desire to protect women and children, which is only heightened later as it becomes all too personal for Bruce himself. There's certainly no let-up in the pacing of this, so far. It's hurtling along. Dave Yeah, and the attention to detail is great in this. It really does add a real atmosphere and mood to the story. The darkness of the Batman world. Kev Definitely. It has a certain grittiness and griminess too it, doesn't it? Dave Also, the time it was written, 1987, was still during the Cold War. This is keeping it in line with the, then current, USA and USSR feud. Kev Totally. Plus, allusions to the USA's relationships with certain parties in the Middle East. That’s a superb profile shot of Batman on the death-of his-parents-fever-dream scene on page 14. Dave Yeah. the bat shadow is always predominant wherever he goes. Kev It certainly is. There's some cracking use of Batman's shadow by Bingham in this. We're sixteen pages in here before we're even getting to the main body of this story. Everything up to this point has been all set-up, but it's none the worse for it. Dave That's one of the good things about doing a graphic novel, they have time to explore the story, build up, take their time if need be. Not like a single issue comic book where it has to be crammed into so few pages. Kev Yeh, but even still, I feel like this might have benefited from a few more pages here and there. Just to let the story breathe even more. Let some of those emotional beats sink in a bit before we speed off onto the next plot point. Dave I would say that the scene in the office, where Batman discovers the dead body of Harris Blaine, could have been a bit longer, yes. Kev I agree. I do love the three panels of Batman running down the suspects in Blaine's death at the top of page 20 though. That middle panel on the same page, of Pearson handing the file over to Batman, is outstanding as well. Dave So is the panel on page 21, where he is standing with the white background, just before he leaves the office. Kev Yeh, that's a cracking "camera" angle on that panel. Dave Maybe the fast paced story is to keep in sync with how Batman works. He does not want to rest, just relentlessly pursue his case. Kev You could be right there actually, yeh. Dave Why does the landing area in Ra's al Ghul’s lair remind me of the landing dock in the ‘Battlestar Galactica’ TV show from the late 70's? Just in that middle panel when the plane is landing. Kev I hadn't thought of 'Battlestar Galactica.' I was getting evil-James-Bond-villain-lair off it. The mystery deepens here, with Batman discovering that Ra's al Ghul is alive and now questioning Talia's motives. Dave Plus, swiftly taking out one of the guards with a cheeky elbow. Kev Ha, ha! It's a “teachable moment.” Barr is writing Batman as quite verbose here. He's a lot more chatty here than he is often portrayed by other writers. This is more 'World's Greatest Detective' Batman as opposed to 'Dark Knight' Batman. He has definitely focused on Batman being an investigator here. It is an aspect of the character that is often criminally overlooked. Dave It's mostly been instinctual work here and not so much "Bat Computer," etc, but essentially many of Batman’s stories made greater use of the detective aspects earlier on in the character’s history. After all, it’s always worth bearing in mind that Batman first appeared in "Detective Comics." Kev Yeh, at least he's doing a bit of sleuthing here, rather than just punching poor people in the face. Dave Haha, yeah. That’s a really good panel of Ra's al Ghul, overseeing the work on the Lazarus pit. Kev The lighting and colour palette on that panel are superb, yes. We also have the story further tying Ra's al Ghul into real-world events here, with the atomic bomb and Hiroshima. Dave Which also ties in with how old Ra's is too. Kev True. Dave The dinner table at Ra's' house is some size. I like how it is shown as a long shot, to emphasise how ridiculously big it is. Kev I love that panel. It's proper Last Supper stuff. I also like the three panels that follow, they condense that shot into three closer framing shots of the three characters. Dave Yeah, those next three panels are great. They symbolise how Ra's and Batman are squaring off, head on, and Talia is quite literally caught in the middle. Kev Ah, good catch. It's interesting that she's sitting closer to, and facing Batman here, yet her eyes are still on Ra's though. Dave Yeah, I noticed that too. Her chair is very ‘Game of Thrones.' Kev Ha, ha! Maybe she thinks she's Daenerys Targaryen. Dave True dining with the enemy. "And today on ‘Come Dine With Me....." Kev "Ra's Al Guhl serves-up a dinner for three, before offering his daughter, Talia's hand in marriage to The Batman. Dave "Little does Batman realise that the main course is a curried Robin." Kev Ha, ha! Is this essentially a James Bond story? What with the jet-setting, international intrigue, sexy love interest, villain's lair and so on? Dave True. Still, it does work for a Batman story. It’s an interesting change, instead of always being set in Gotham City. Kev I agree. It definitely works. It's good to have a change of location and scenery every now and then. Dave There is certainly more dialogue in this story and it is having to drive the plot onward. And Batman’s still got to look forward to getting laid. Kev Ha, ha! Well, y'know, you've got to consummate that marriage. Come to think of it, Bruce doesn't half leap at Ra's' offer to team up. And of Talia's hand, come to think of it. He just about takes Ra's' hand off, he bites so hard. I mean, Talia's stunning and all, but jeez Bruce, have a bit of respect for yourself. Dave Yep, Bruce is not shying away in this story. I've just noticed actually, in Ra's backstory with Qayin, the panel where he shoves Ra's’ beloved, Melisande, into the pit, was Peter Parker available to be his body double? Kev Ha, ha! You're right. He looks very much like a John Romita, Peter Parker, doesn't he? Dave I don't think Bruce Wayne knew what he was getting involved in earlier, I think he was just wanting some nookie with Talia. Kev Well, as he says, "There's never been any room in my life for a woman...," so it's probably been a while. You can see why this was a story that was not considered cannon for as long as it was; the Bruce/Talia/Ra's interactions have a slightly removed, almost dream-like, quality to the way they are written. They're really pushing the sex appeal of Talia here as well. Again, very Bond-esque. Dave It does go for the more adult aspect of the relationship. Well, when people say "Get a room," Batman and Talia do it in style. We have already seen something similar to the silhouette of Talia undressing in The Punisher: 'Circle of Blood' and the Wolverine mini series, with Angela and Yukio respectively. They're definitely pushing the sex appeal, as you say. Kev Definitely. "The coming storm," this is a nice metaphor for the use of the weather machines in this story, this tenuous alliance between Batman and Ra's, the marriage between Batman and Talia and the potential conflict between the US and the USSR. Dave Definitely. Batman; the fighting coach and the husband. All in the space of a few weeks. Kev And son-in-law too. I like that panel of Ra's and Batman together, as Ra's announces him as his "son." I wonder what the conversations amongst his henchmen were like at the canteen that day. That can't have gone down too well. Dave I think Batman’s pose is a bit cheesy in this one, but it's still a good panel. Kev Ha, ha! Yeh, he's definitely showing-off here, no doubt. There's more Cold War thriller stuff here between Qayin and Assid as well. Dave I like the artwork in the next couple of pages, in Golatia. Coming back to movies, this reminds me of 'Rambo 3.' However this story was done in '87, whereas 'Rambo 3' was '88. Kev They definitely share a certain amount of western pop culture at the time, yeh. That and western ideas of what anything even slightly to the east was like. Dave Qayin isn't half some size. He's a man mountain. He's clearly gonna be a tough opponent for The Bat, physically. Kev Qayin has certainly been hitting the weights, and possibly the HGH too, since Hiroshima. Dave The middle panel on page 34 shows how physically imposing he is. Plus, with the use of shade, it all helps to make a fine little panel. Kev Totally. In fact, the use of lighting on this entire page is superb. Barr's writing is very heightened, even for a superhero tale. Again, it's like a children's tale, a dream-like fable. I love how Bruce has got his feet under the table at the Al Guhls'. His feet are still in his Batman boots, of course, but he's still just hanging-out, playing chess with the old father-in-law, in his full Batman regalia. Dave Haha, yeah. Look at the contrast in the colours used on that page and the previous one in Golatia, they're completely different, but both visually striking. Kev Yeh. It's an absolutely beautiful page. The colours are all Bingham is well. It's stunning stuff. Dave However, keeping the windows open in that weather? Clearly no-one feels the cold over there. Kev Ha, ha! Totally. Just a quiet game of chess, on the balcony, in the freezing temperatures and altitude of the snow-covered mountains. Dave This is essentially a two act story, I feel. The first 36 pages feels like act 1 and then in act 2 we will obviously get into the main body of the story. Is that a knight that Batman’s hand is on? The "Dark Knight" using his knight for a stalemate in the chess game? Kev Yeh. I just noticed that. That's a nice touch by Barr and/or Bingham. I also like the little exchange between Ra's and Batman, with Ra's saying, "I find we have achieved a stalemate. I find that quite fitting." To which Batman replies, "I play to win." Dave I love when an artist can put so much attention to detail in their work, it really enhances the quality of this. Much like the sequel to 'Gotham By Gaslight,' 'Master of the Future,' which also had some great artwork by Eduardo Barreto. The Batman stories definitely have some of the best artwork we have covered in our reviews. But come to think of it so have many of the others. This is not so noir-ish, which is a tone you would normally associate with a Batman story. Kev No. It definitely has as much influence on it by the Denny O'Neil, Neal Adams run on Batman as it does the Frank Miller stuff. And not just visually. Dave There’s certainly less Bat-technology and gadgets used in this story. Kev Yeh, as we discussed earlier, there’s a lot more focus on the detective elements of the character here. It's really good stuff. Dave You got any final thoughts on this first half of the story? Kev Just that I really like it. It's a bit different for a Batman story, which is a good thing. It makes it stand-out a bit and it's therefore memorable. Plus, the artwork really is absolutely superb. What about yourself? Any wrap-up thoughts? Dave I think it is a really good story. As a kid, I probably wouldn't have appreciated the complexity of it and how cleverly it has been written though. The artwork and the colours are great as well. (D) & (K) Next: 'Son of the Demon' Pt.2
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