The Untold Legend of the Batman

   The Untold Legend of the Batman reprints the 3-issue miniseries written by Len Wein. Originally published  in 1980, it features art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo. The book is a virtual encyclopedia of the life and times of not just the Wayne family but the Batman Family as a whole and a few of the Dark Knight's Rogue's Gallery.

    When I first read this book in 1989, I thought this was one of the biggest piece's of crap I had ever read. Dr. Thomas Wayne was the first Batman? Bruce was the first Robin?? And just who the heck was Lucius Fox, Jack Edison, and Philip Wayne?

    I must admit, at age 12, my scope of knowledge about the Caped Crusader was severely limited. So, much of this book felt made-up or in complete error to me. Now with an addition 25-years of reading and watching Batman comics, books, films, cartoons, and much, much more- I must say that this book got it right. Well, they did until the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' erased much of the history contained in this epic miniseries in 1985. No longer did Batman know who killed his parents, Thomas wasn't the original Batman, and a young Bruce now lived with Alfred at Wayne Manor after the death of his parents.

    Then a little bald man named Grant hit the scene in 2000...

    When the Scottish Wunderkind started writing Batman, Grant Morrison re-established many of the previous bat-facts that I thought were preposterous. In a way, it was Morrison's work on the various Batman titles that validated the Untold Legend of the Batman to me. It also made me want to read the book again.

   Fast-forward about 15-years. Last month, I took some books to a used bookstore in hopes of A) making more room and B) getting some new stuff. Well, as I waited for my trade credit totals to come back, I shopped around where thanks to my lovely wife, I finally found a copy of this book!

    The original copies I had were reprints that came along with cassette tapes that read the story to you. I think my mom gave them to me for Christmas or my birthday. The book my wife found was a pocket-sized paperback, reprinted around 1982 by TOR books. I have seen this book a couple of times on Facebook, but that was about it. Needless to say, this book is kinda hard to find. It may not be rare, but it is scarce. (Okay- a quick check of eBay reveals that the online bidding site had quite a few of these. But in terms of running across this at a con or comic book store at a price I liked- I've not been able to find it before.)

 

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.