Batman '89 'Shadows' Finale 'The Battle For Gotham!' Retrospective

Dave Scrimgeour and Kevin McCluskey

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​Writer- Sam Hamm
Artist- Joe Quinones
Colourist- Leonardo Ito
Letterer- Clayton Cowles
​Editor- Andrew Marino
Senior Editor- Katie Kubert

Published by DC Comics 05/07/2022

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Synopsis

Batman's encounter with Two Face does not end well, resulting in Catwoman and Robin having to take the Caped Crusader back to Wayne Manor to be tended to by Alfred.  Harvey continues down his dark path, even going so far as to murder Mr. Otis and framing Drake Winston for the crime, as well as attempting to blackmail Bruce, using a photograph of the billionaire playboy in his night time attire as leverage.  Selina interferes in Bruce and Harvey's clandestine meeting, ultimately resulting in the former district attorney plunging to his demise in the Batcave, and ripping open an irreparable rift between the Bat and the Cat.  Bruce, inspired by Harvey, fantasises about the life he could have had, and falls further under the spell, and decision making prowess, of his former District Attorney friend's coin.

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Dave
So, here we are, on the final chapter of the ‘‘89’ arc.  This cover is a good one, all the main players are covered, Robin, Catwoman, Barbara Gordon, Dent, the Batmobile and Batcycle (I guess), and a special cameo appearance by The Kurgen from Highlander, doubling as a gargoyle.  It's got a good composition to this, and makes for a suitable cover for the final chapter.


Kev
Ha, ha!  The Krugen.  Good pull.  Yeh, this is an excellent cover.  If I remember correctly, this image was also used as the cover for the Mondo and San Diego Comic Con exclusive 35th anniversary reissue of the Danny Elfman score last year.  I tried to get one picked up for me, but to no avail.  Gutted, I was.


Dave
The first page is cracking.  With the close up of Dent, with the split panels representing the split psyche, and some great writing by Hamm which merits further exploration.  He's really taking a close look at the human psyche, both fractured and not so fractured.  I think the use of the word “normal” would not be right here, after all, a man who dresses up as a Bat is hardly a picture of normality, regardless of how much he fights on the side of the law.


Kev
That first page is just fantastic.  Panel layout, composition, execution, the whole shebang.  Quinones and Ito really have gone from strength to strength as this series has progressed.


Dave
"Evil fears only greater evil.  Monsters fear only other monsters.”  That’s such great insight, and so true.


Kev
Yeh, that line is excellent.  I also like, "Thesis - -  Antithesis - -  Synthesis.”  That’s great as well.  It’s a good riff on the yin and yang elements of the Harvey Dent/Two Face dynamic.


Dave
"But by using the tools of evil to do good…we cease to be good.”  ““We must not be frightened or cajoled into accepting evil as our deliverance from evil.””  This version of Dent is a character exploration into the darkness and the light of the human psyche, the flip sides of the same coin.  It’s far from being a one dimensional character, and it’s written to dig into the complexities of the human psyche.


Kev
Yeh, this is not your stereotypical black and white supervillain, that's for sure.  Despite the suit Harvey is wearing.  I’m also liking this temporary team-up between Drake/Robin and Selina/Catwoman.


Dave
Yeah, the pairing of Drake and Selina is also a good team up, and the dynamic between them is quite interesting.  The next couple of pages take an interesting turn of events, almost mirroring Dent's scenario with the burning building, as it's Batman this time that gets damaged via the explosion.  Notice the interesting reaction from Dent.  He initially seemed upset that Bruce was Batman.  It shows that the human side is still within him, until the darker side takes over and revels in the opportunity that has presented itself to him.


Kev
This is an unexpected turn, alright.  For some reason I didn’t expect Harvey to discover Bruce’s secret.  I like that Bruce still seems to use the make-up around his eyes, despite the fact that this Batsuit has the white eye lenses.


Dave
In the movies, Batman's mask was rubber, as in ‘Returns,’ where he rips it off at the end for the scene with Selina.  The panel with him lying there, unconscious, is more like it is closer to the style of material Pattinson’s, or Bale’s, Batman had for a mask.  Also, I like how when Selina arrives at the Batcave, an unphased Alfred is quick to greet her and basically, politely say, "Take your bloody cat back.”  I like the panel of Selina arriving at the Batcave, and how it's shown from a distance.  It’s an interesting panel, with minimal use of colours, but it’s effective.

"And Bruce Wayne, why are you dressed up like Batman?" "Because his IS Batman, you moron!"

Kev
The Bale and Pattinson cowls have a harder, tactical, body armour look to them, don't they?


Dave
That's the word I was looking for, "tactical.”


Kev
Jeez.  That was a harsh cut and scene-jump back to the Batcave, and yeh, Alfred’s greeting towards Selina is class.  “Ms. Kyle.  What a pleasure to see you.  Will you be taking the cat back?”  He hates that cat.


Dave
Yeah, Alfred seems very relieved that Selina has finally turned up.  To be fair, he's got previous for just randomly letting people into the Batcave.


Kev
Ha, ha!  He does that.  He'll let any half-decent looking woman into that cave.  Always trying to hook-up his employer.  Jeez Selina!  Any other secrets you want to give away to Harvey here.  The cat is out of the bag indeed.  This series definitely has not shied away from the moral ambiguity of these characters.  For example, Drake being aware that Bruce is only keeping him close until he can figure out if he’s a threat or not, and Selina having the insight to realise that Harvey isn’t that different from Bruce, Drake, or herself, except “...., he’s crazier.  And he gets better results.”  


Dave
That panel on page 6, of Bruce and Selina with the sunlight coming through, is cracking.  The last acts can have a tendency to feel either rushed, or too crammed.  I think it's very difficult to find that balance, because if it slows down, then it might be deemed a disappointment.


Kev
Yeh, if anyone's familiar with our reviews at all, they'll realise that this is something I say a fair bit about the last issue of a story.  They'll be thinking, "Have you not got anything else to offer, you lazy hack?"  And they'd be absolutely correct.


Dave
To be fair, it's practically an impossible task to please everyone with the last act of any story anyway.  How many reviews have you read, or heard, where the final act is always criticised as not being as good as the rest of the movie?  It's just how it is.


Kev
Totally.  It's difficult to stick the landing for a 10.  This is motoring along at a fair pace.  Dare I say it even feels somewhat rushed?


Dave
Oh yeah, the plot is getting more intricate here.  The corruption runs thick in Gotham, but it has always been like that, the underworld figures in the same bed as the "respected" public figures.


Kev
Absolutely.  That is one small tier of panels at the foot of page 5 though.  That’s Daniel Warren Johnson, or manga levels of tiny panels.  There is a lot going on in this issue.  It’s been pretty dense comicing, so far.  “A whole year went by.  You didn’t know whether I was alive or dead.”  Ah, so this is set a year after ‘Returns’ then.  And you're right, that is a cracking 3rd panel on page 6.


Dave
And this version of Batman is willing to kill off Jim Gordon as well.  Interesting indeed.


Kev
I know, right?  I wonder if they would've been brave enough to do that in any of the Burton movies.  That panel at the foot of page 7 is outstanding.  Almost Frank Miller’s Sin City-esque.  And then another swift cut.  It’s perhaps unsurprising that Harvey sees himself as a Robin Hood-type figure.  This is an excellent exchange between Harvey and Jerome.  “...sooner or later, you get the face you deserve,” as we see the conflict between Harvey and Two Face contemplating offing Jerome.  And, of course, ultimately letting the coin make the decision.


Dave
I love that panel of Harvey on the bottom of page 7.  You're right, it is very Sin City-esque.  The coin admonishes him of any real, actual decision making, as we know what the outcome is.  I like how Jerome remembers him when he was younger, "Handsomest man in Burnside.  The young girls used to swoon when you smiled at ‘em."  It makes this all the more tragic.

"Said it was blue, when ya blood was read, that’s how ya got a bullet blasted through ya head."

Kev
Yep.  And Billy Dee Williams could've pulled that handsomeness off as well.  He was a good looking man, in his day.  Still is, to be fair.


Dave
I also like how Sam Hamm reminds us that Harvey is in extreme pain right now with his physical transformation.  "My skin…burns.  It festers.  It reeks.  It hurts to talk.  Hurts to smile.  Hurts to breathe."


Kev
Yeh, I'll be honest, I'd never thought about the smell of the rotting flesh on Harvey's face before.  That's pretty visceral.  Aaarrrggghhh!  This is jumping around too much for me now.  It’s too fast and crammed.  I wonder if the scheduling issues this series experienced perhaps contributed to this.


Dave
Yep, it’s ramping up quickly now, and the jumps between Harvey killing Jerome, to Drake suddenly appearing, to Bruce in the Batcave with Harvey suddenly appearing, throw you off a bit, I agree.


Kev
There's just too much going on, and a lot of the time, all on the same page.


Dave
Robin’s line to Dent is good though, "Mr Dent, when I get through with you……the ugly side's gonna be the pretty side."


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh, that's a pretty badass line, right there.  I like how Bruce has to tell Alfred to stay out of his meeting with Harvey.  He knows full well that Alfred will have his back, likely to a detrimental degree to his plan, as well as the butler's safety.  This is another excellent exchange, as Harvey attempts to blackmail Bruce.  Props to Sam Hamm, the dialogue in these scenes has been outstanding.  And yet another fantastic panel.  This time, the last one on page 11.


Dave
Yeah, that panel is great.  The artwork and colouring firing on all cylinders.  The colours on that panel are superb.

It's the Burtonverse meets the Nolan Trilogy.

​Kev
Yeh, with that sepiatone look.  It's brilliant.  Quinones and Ito have just gotten better and better as this series has gone on.


Dave
Bruce thought he had Harvey played until Selina flings a spanner, or should I say, a giant coin in the works.


Kev
That pesky Selina!  I love the way she is crouching on the Batmobile, and not coming to Harvey’s aid, in that last panel on page 13.  You were right in what you said regarding a previous issue, in that this definitely has a Chris Nolan ‘Dark Knight’ vibe to it in its treatment of Harvey as the hero Gotham really needed, yet doesn’t deserve.  Or perhaps in him, as Two Face, it gets exactly what it deserves.  Arguably even nurturing the environment from which it creates exactly what it deserves.  More of this theme of duality, chance and fate.


Dave
And it's interesting, in that Batman has taken a backseat (if you pardon the pun), with Bruce being in a wheelchair and all in this issue.  This is the final act of the story and Hamm has opted to incapacitate its main character.  That’s a bold choice to make.


Kev
That's a really good point, man.  I hadn't even realised that was the case.  It kind-of ties back to something that we said way back at the start of this series when we discussed issue one, in that it's really a Harvey Dent tale, isn't it?


Dave
Kind-pf, yeah.  I like the colouring on page 14 a lot.  Also, there is less dialogue as Dent slowly comes to his demise.  The last three panels have this feel of volcanic red and orange colours, whereas the previous three panels have a mixture of blues.  It’s a nice contrast.  And it continues over onto the next page, with the same panel layout and colour format, that is really making it a cut above the standard look for storytelling.


Kev
Yeh, but is it just me, or is the panel layout, and hence the storytelling, across pages 14 and 15 confusing?  And is the print run too dark as well?  It’s a bit difficult to make out and understand what's happening.  Particularly in the first panel on page 14.  Harvey’s gun, the gloved hand he’s wielding it in, and Bruce’s top all kind-of blend into one.  It’s difficult to differentiate between them.


Dave
I actually like the colour contrast on those pages.


Kev
Must just be me after all then.  Actually, as much as it pains me to admit this, being a firm believer in physical media and print, it's significantly clearer on the digital version.


Dave
Oh, and we also get a close-up of Selina’s arse as well.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh, if I had to criticise, I'd say that Selina is perhaps a little overly sexualised.  Even more so than in 'Returns.'  But that's Catwoman for you, I suppose.


Dave
And Dent shedding a tear before the cable snaps.


Kev
Oh, absolutely. That second last panel, the one of Harvey’s face, pained expression and all, is so well realised by Quinones and Ito.  Amazing stuff.

And just like so many of his '80's movie villain contemporaries.....

...., Harvey "Two Face" Dent plummeted to his demise.

​Dave
Also how, on page 15, Selina just looks on, with no interest in helping Bruce.


Kev
Nope!  None whatsoever.  She's absolutely done with him by this point.


Dave
Also, Dent is highly delusional in his final words, "The two Gothams.  They're one now......It was all worth it.  They don't need us anymore.  We can...We can...finally......let go..."  Gotham is still screwed.  The only difference is that he has reached the end of the line.  Get it?


Kev
Ha, ha!


Dave
But also, I like how, in his last scene, the human side of Harvey has re-emerged here, not the twisted side.


Kev
And that's what makes it all the more tragic, eh?


Dave
Definitely.  I'll tell you what though, Bruce Wayne is not the person you would want to have helping you if you are dangling from a rope or building.  He couldn't save Jack Napier from falling into a vat of chemicals, and he has repeated this here with Harvey Dent.


Kev
Ha, ha!  That's true.  Bruce needs to hit the climbing wall, work on the old grip strength.


Dave
Also, Two-Face is not your conventional villain.  He’s a real case of dual identities in a constant state of conflict.


Kev
Nope, he certainly is not your stereotypical, one dimensional, "comic book" villain.  And was motivated by a desire to do some real good here too.  Albeit misguided by the coin.


Dave
I think Bruce had a real moment of realisation though.  How perhaps he was deluded in thinking that he could "save" Dent and Selina, and change their lives.  About time, I say.

Isn't it a little uncomfortable when your Cat(woman) is in heat and keeps presenting to you?

​Kev
Yeh, he was on a hiding to nothing on both counts there, unfortunately.


Dave
I love those panels of angry Selina, they really do look a lot like Michelle Pfeiffer.  Even after she has lashed out, she is still bending over in front of him on the last panel.  And I like the twist, how the cat was miked up.  Clever Selina, and dumb Bruce and Alfred. 


Kev
I really enjoyed that too.  It felt like such a forehead slapping, "Duh!" moment.  


Dave
The car, on page 17, is the same one used in ‘Batman’ and ‘Returns.’  That’s another nice nod to the movies again there.  Also, I noticed, as Bruce and Drake enter Bruce’s garage full of cars, it resembles Schumacher's ‘Batman Forever’ scene when Bruce and Dick go into his garage full of cars.  A nod to ‘Forever’ there?


Kev
I would imagine so, yeh.  This is kind-of like the connective tissue between them in a way, I suppose.  Yet another fantastic exchange here, this time between Bruce and Selina.  “You’re a poor little rich boy - - arrested at age…eight, or whatever it was.  And if you ever had to earn a living - - feed a family, like everyone else…… Batman wouldn’t exist.”  Yep.  No doubt.


Dave
Also, it was unexpected, the parting of relations with Bruce and Drake.  Again, not the conventional Batman and Robin relationship.  This was a case of them working together, but then going their separate ways.  And a little in-joke at the end about his name, with no actual mention of Robin, as we all know that.


Kev
Yeh, this is very morally ambiguous.  First, Selina essentially sends Harvey to his doom, Bruce messing up the coin switch, and Alfred letting Selina into the Batcave, knowing full-well what she would do, there is a lot of grey here.  The only black and white is on Harvey’s suit.  And then we’re just trading a poor, orphaned, young girl around like a pawn here, and cutting deals that ensure secrets are kept for ten million dollars.  These guys are the very definition of flawed heroes.


Dave
Oh yeah, they are written with questionable ethics at times.  And now we have a bitter, or just plain conniving, Selina sending Barbara Gordon a reveal of Bruce as Batman (the letter writing captions reminded me of the ‘Year One’ captions a bit).  Would she have done this regardless of Bruce's last interaction with her, or not?  The levels of moral ambiguity in these characters makes them questionable.


Kev
I reckon this was always on the cards with Selina.  Bruce was never going to "rule the city" with her, and as soon as he made that clear, she was always going to turn on him.  Those two can never make it work in a real and "normal" relationship.


Dave
I’ve got to say, I also like the last panel on that page, as Drake/Robin is in the background watching Catwoman.  Is he on to her actions?


Kev
I think you might be right there, yeh.  He wasn't whipped the same way Bruce was.


Dave
That panel also resembles the ‘Batman Returns’ end, as the back of Catwoman's head pops up when we see the Batsignal.

"This place is cruel, nowhere could be much colder.....Living just enough, stop giving just enough for the city."

Kev
Definitely.  That panel is no accident.  Nice touch with the use of “oracle.”  Bravo Mr. Hamm.  You know how to lay an Easter egg.  Man, that last page is foreboding, and fascinating.  Bruce slipping into Harvey’s madness of fantasising about the possibilities of alternate realities and futures, as well as relying on the coin to make decisions for him, this is intriguing stuff.  It sets-up the follow-up perfectly, so I hope we get to explore a lot more of all this in ‘Echoes.’


Dave
Yep, Bruce is yearning for a normal life, even though he knows he will never have one, and that little dream sequence is really insightful.  Indeed, how much did Harvey get inside Bruce's head, as we see him flipping the coin at the end?  From the looks of it, the Bat-signal has gone off, but will he show?  That's a stellar ending for sure.


Kev
​I agree, it's a fantastic ending.  That reliance on the coin does not bode well.


Dave
Also, I like the Keaton pout on the last panel of Bruce as he flips the coin.


Kev
Ha, ha!  Yeh.  You’ve got to love a Keaton pout.


Dave
So, that's us come to the end of another limited series.  What did you make of this issue in comparison to the earlier ones?  Also, what do you make of this take on Batman, the ‘89 version?


Kev
Despite it feeling a little overcrowded in places, I think this issue absolutely stuck the landing.  I loved this.  The exchanges between characters, the grey morality, the ambiguity of the ending, all fantastic stuff.  The art was also superb, and completely sold the idea that you were back in that Burtonverse Gotham.  Like I said, I can't wait to have a look at the only relatively recently compiled 'Echoes' as well.


Dave
Yeah, it has been a very different take on Batman, but sticking to the ‘89 movie character, which is what we came here for.  Also, it's interesting that Sam Hamm, when he was asked to write a sequel to ‘Batman,’ wanted to make it about Two-Face, but Warner Bros. wanted it to be about Penguin.  So he never got to write his incarnation of Two-Face, and this is how he would have written him, give or take a few changes, I assume.  Bearing in mind it's been about 30 years, and there have been a lot more Batman movies added to the fold.  I see the Nolan vibe in this, as we discussed, with the dialogue and exchanges as well.  But still, it's been a great series, and the ending was perfectly written.  Nothing was wrapped up in a neat bow here.  It was left wide open.  Also, I’ll always give a big shout out to the talents of Quinones and Ito.  The artwork and colouring were nothing short of superb, and consistently so throughout the entire run.

(D) & (K)

The end.