Joker's Asylum

I've read some but not all of the second salvo of one-shots under the 'Joker's Asylum' lineup. They're like what you would have encountered if EC Comics had crafted a Batman villains themed anthology. The Joker is your host, leading through a captivating story about a member of the Dark Knight's rogues gallery, climaxing with a twist ending on par with Johnny Craig, Al Feldstein or Harvey Kurtzman. 

I loved the 3 I've read so far. So finding the first collection for an amazingly good price was a no-brainer.

The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, the Scarecrow and the Joker himself are the stars of the 5 one-shots that comprised the first series. Penguin's tale of true love ruined by his vicious streak brought about by the slightest bruise to his delicate ego was the best story. Amazing tale by Jason Aaron that I could read again and again. Joe Harris's story involving the psychological monster, the Scarecrow, was a frightening yet fun homage to the teen horror flicks of the 80s and 90s with a cerebral ending. J.T. Krul's look at Poison Ivy was a classic Batman mystery tale. There's just not enough of those type of Batman stories these days if you ask me.

The Two-Face one-shot by David Hine was a morality play about human nature and whether man is inherently good or bad. So can a good man be turned into a villain while the most retched of all is redeemed as a saint? Add in Harvey Dent's very literal interpretations of the id and ego and it's definitely not a story for casual comic book readers. This is college level stuff. Plus the level of unease is at least doubled with the ending that the reader determines thanks to a simple flip of a coin. 

My least favorite story was the Joker's tale. Ironic, eh? The Joker rigs a game show in a farce by Arvid Nelson that fell short in my eyes. However, the artwork of the Joker by Alex Sanchez that reflects the many actors who have portrayed the Clown Prince of Crime over the years was exceptional. It's just a bit of a let down when the Joker tries to prove that he's not the biggest, baddest monster in Gotham. This isn't The Walking Dead. I know that the worst monster of them all is man. I don't need the Joker to remind me.

A fantastic read. Why DC will stop of only 2 runs Joker's Asylum one-shots. but put out a dozen sequel volumes of Dark Nights: Metal or DC Undead is beyond me!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 20 stars.

Batman: The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition, Dark Victory- The Sequel

The Long Halloween continues. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale expound on the story of the Holiday killer with Dark Victory, given the deluxe treatment with this 2022 re-release.

A couple of years have passed. Jim Gordon has been made Commissioner of a police force that still has its fair share of dirty cops. On the home front, wife Barbara took their son James and are now living separated in Chicago.

The Falcone crime family is now headed by daughter Sofia, who languishes as a cripple in a wheelchair while trying to reunite the truce with the Maronis. Harvey Dent/Two-Face is an inmate at Arkham, as is Alberto Falcone; the troubled young man who confessed to being Holiday despite looming evidence to the contrary. Dent's wife Gilda went into hiding and hasn't been seen or heard from since. 

Despite accidentally putting Sofia Falcone in her wheelchair, for which the new mob boss has vowed vengeance, Catwoman has agreed to a $1 million bounty to locate the stolen body of Don Falcone and to enact revenge against the perpetrator of the crime. Hopefully, this will eliminate the large bounty that still rests over the jewel thief's head.

There's a new District Attorney; the fiery blonde Janice Porter. She reopened the case against Alberto and is pushing for his release, citing police brutality at the hands of Batman. 

As for Batman, along with Gordon, he's trying to solve a new series of holiday themed deaths. This time, the targets are current and former Gotham City Police with ties to Harvey Dent. Each victim is hanged with a Hangman's puzzle affixed to them. The will they/won't they romance of Batman and Catwoman gets even more complicated when she leaves suddenly for Italy after always seemingly having his back during Falcone involved altercations. As for Bruce Wayne, he's a date with destiny at the next performance of Haly's Circus.

I don't know about you, but my favorite Batman stories are when he's playing detective. There are numerous stories where the Dark Knight has to defuse gang wars or fight through a gauntlet of villains. They're good stories, mostly. But I prefer a more toned down noir story where Batman has to solve the unsolvable. Don't get me wrong. There's a slew of villains from Batman's Rogue's Gallery in this book and they play pivotal roles. Only, at the heart of this story is a mystery and I love it!

The art, while still kinda primitive, has improved dramatically. The Joker seems to have a lot of teeth. Just not as many. Probably because Batman's knocked a few out over the years. Plus, Tim Sale manages to draw several characters similarly in a way to make you think that perhaps one or more players aren't who they really are. I really fell for several red herrings in this book and was nowhere close to solving the mystery! Make that mysteries.

Everybody talks about how great the first Long Halloween miniseries is I think Dark Victory is a forgotten classic and a must read!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

All-Star Batman Vol. 1: My Own Worst Enemy

A story as fractured as the mind of Two-Face. Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr. team-up for this unlikely pairing of the Dark Knight and the dual persona of Harvey Dent/Two-Face. 

Harvey Dent has a plan to put an end to his evil alter ego once and for all. It involves Batman taking Dent to an unknown location in order to exercise those demons of his. Two-Face has a counter plan to keep from being permanently erased by his good side. And the baddie's plan isn't secret like Harvey's. Instead, Two-Face has made a public decoration offering unknown riches if anyone can free the madman from the custody of the Caped Crusader.

As a result, villains and rogues creep out of the woodwork looking to make their fortune. Throw in the citizens of Gotham, Jim Gordon and even a sacred ally of the Batman and it's a mad mad mad world of trouble for the Dark Knight and Harvey Dent.

I thought the first half of this story was just awful. It had so many jumps in time and nothing revealed was ever truly explained. That was until the last third of the story. Plus, it's just so sad seeing the demise of John Romita Jr's artwork. You can tell the arthritis is getting to him as everything is gigantic. There's no tiny detail work which was indicative of his art in the 80s and 90s. 

One thing I was pleasantly surprised with was the addition of Duke Thomas: The Signal. First seen as a youngster in Zero Year, Duke has evolved from being just the latest in the string of Robins to a Batman sidekick in his own right! I used to think Tim Drake was the quintessential Batman assistant. But Duke Thomas might be taking over that title. He's that good!

There's two sides to this volume. A rough, disjointed opening half. A rushed but adequate closure.  Plus, Duke Thomas is highlighted in a short story that has him taking on Mr. Zsasz while dealing with the well-being of his jokerized parents. 

All-Star Batman offers an interesting twist to the Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent history. However, I think if it wasn't for Duke Thomas, this book would've been a complete was of time.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars

Batman Arkham: Two-Face

The dastardly career of Batman's dual villain Two-Face is explored in this giant-sized collection. Over 300 pages of crimes themed around the number '2'. But just who really is Two-Face?

The criminal started out as handsome District Attorney Harvey KENT. In a trio of tales from the early 40s, KENT finds himself partially deformed after Batman deflects a vial of acid thrown at the law man's face by a doomed criminal. This Two-Face's story is a roller coaster of plastic surgery fixes, re-injuries and lovers town apart by tragedy. But by the end, this villain's story ends well.

That would appear to be the end of Two-Face. But with the establishment of the Silver Age of comics, old ideas became new again. This time around Harvey Kent becomes Harvey DENT. This is probably because DC didn't want readers confused with a more heroic Kent, that being the secret identity of a certain Man of Steel, who appears inside in a World's Finest team-up.

With a jump into the 70s, Two-Face's stories become more complex and more deadlier. The 80s see more soap opera type drama between Batman, Catwoman and the Jason Todd Robin. There's also a heavy dose of sexuality with a maimed model turned stripper named Circe.

The 90s and 2000s see Harvey dealing with his daddy issues. Poppa Dent was a loving widower who turned violent during his lengthy drinking binges. Two-Faces crimes are still focused on the number two. But instead of lining the bad man's pockets, the true purpose of these new misdeeds were about payback against anyone who ever wronged Mr. Dent. 

A great time capsule of Batman stories from just about every decade of comics featuring the Caped Crusader. Though I am wondering why there weren't any stories from the 60s? Did the aborted fourth season of the Batman '66 TV series lead to an era of no Harvey Dent?

Found at an Ollie's for a literal song, this massive volume was a great read starring one of my favorite Batman baddies.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures #1 (Family Comic Friday)

Variant Cover C by Turtles Co-creator, Kevin Eastman.

  Earlier this year, the worlds of Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles collided for the very first time. But that comic team-up was aimed at teen and adult audiences. (Very few people know that the Ninja Turtles was originally a very gritty and mature parody of Frank Miller’s Daredevil comics.)

   Well, in order to placate those who called for an all-ages teaming of the two franchises, DC and IDW joined forces again to bring us Batman/ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures. The miniseries which hit shelves with issue #1 this past Wednesday is set in the TMNT Nickelodeon animated universe and the Batman: The Animated Series Universe, marking the return of the original TAS universe in comics form in almost 20 years! When I saw the ad for this series a couple of weeks ago, it immediately went on my wish list and issue #1 did not disappoint!

   In the Batman Universe, a number of inmates from Arkham Asylum have escaped and seemingly vanished without a trace. When the Dark Knight finally catches up with Two-Face, the dual villain rambles on about a world without a ‘Two-Face...without a Harvey Dent… Without a Batman!’

   Meanwhile, in the Ninja Turtles universe, the Shell-heads are facing a problem of their own. Archenemy Kraang and his people have activated another inter-dimensional portal into the Turtles sewer lair. But instead of a bunch of pink brain creatures pouring through it, the guys battle a man made of mud that can change into anything and anyone: Clayface!

   Though the Caped Crusader and the Heroes in the Half Shell never meet, parts of their two universes do bleed over. I believe that there’s supposed to be a total of 6-issues in this storyline. So the two parties are going to come face-to-face. I just hope it’s sooner than later.

     The artwork is primarily in the vein of the Nickelodeon series. But Ninja Turtle  artist Jon Sommarvia along with inker Sean Parsons do a fairly good job in their renderings of Batman, Alfred, Two-Face and Clayface. But there were a couple of characters that really look nothing like the original animated series or the Batman/Robin and Justice League spin-offs for that matter. I’d tell you who they are, but I don’t wanna ruin the surprise yet…

   I really enjoyed this issue. Various Batman titles writer Matthew K. Manning has done a great job thus far and I think this will end up as one of the all-time classic team-up stories that appeal to a wide spectrum of generations of Batman and Ninja Turtle fans.

  

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Batman '66, Volume 4

   Writer Jeff Parker, cover artist Michael Allred, and a slew of other great artists, colorists, and inkers present another thrilling chapter of Batman adventures based on the 1966 TV series. But this volume comes with an added bonus. Along with a King Tut caper, the Joker becoming a superhero, and the Penguin pulling a slew of crimes based on bats instead of birds for a change; Batman and Batgirl visit Japan to take on the Batmanga villain, Lord Death Man! 

   But that's not all that is included in this thrilling volume. Along for the ride is the one-shot Batman '66: The Lost Episode. That story is based on a treatment by acclaimed sci-fi writer Harlan Ellison (City on the Edge of Forever, Star Trek: TOS) that for some reason or another never made it on TV. Lucky for you, the entire original proposal is reprinted along with stunning color photos from the hit series.

    In the lost episode, Two-Face would have been introduced to the Batman '66 universe. Rumor had it that producers were seriously looking at Clint Eastwood to play the role of Gotham DA Harvey Dent, who becomes the deranged villain after half of his body is doused with acid, in season 4. But, alas Batman was canceled after just 3 seasons. Oh, and did I mention, it's written by the great Len Wein (Swamp Thing) with art by the equally great Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (Super Powers)?

   I really loved this volume. It continues to build on the Batman '66 mythos and pits both classic Batman TV series and new Batman comics villains in that funky little corner of the DC Universe. I'm starting to see this book in the light of other comic books based on unused plans for shows that got canceled much too soon (IE Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 9.) 

Lord Death Man by
Sandy Jarrell.

   But this edition holds a place very dear to my heart for another reason. Earlier, I mentioned the Lord Death Man story. Well, it just so happens late last year, I got to meet the artist for that issue, Sandy Jarrell, at a convention in Raleigh. He was doing blank sketches and I commission him to make me a piece with the caveat that he could draw it of any Batman villain, except for the usual suspects of Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, and Penguin. Well, an hour later and Jarrell presented me with my very own sketch of the Japanese Batman adversary. It was so awesome looking, people kept asking to buy my book! (Get in line, folks...)

   Batman '66 is a fun little series that despite getting cancelled recently, doesn't look like it's going to go away anytime soon and I am glad. Right now, Batman and the Man from UNCLE are teaming up in a miniseries and I hope DC has that smarts to either return Batman '66 to store shelves or kept pairing the Dynamic Duo up with more legends from the swinging 60s.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Batman Forever: Official Comic Book Adaptation (3rd Printing)

   Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the movie Batman Forever opening in theaters. That means I was 16 when I took my then 5-year old sister to see the movie. God, I am officially old...

    In honor of that milestone (of the film's release not my being old), members of the Facebook group 'Unite Fans of the DCU Project' decided to either watch the movie again or read/ reread the official comic book adaptation of the film. I hadn't read my copy before, so I went with reading the comic book.

   So how different was the comic from the movie? It was mostly faithful to the movie, but the scenes sequences were skewed. In terms of the beginning of the film, it doesn't start with Batman stopping Two-Face from robbing the Second National Bank of Gotham. Instead, it starts at Arkham with guards discovering that the criminal has escaped the asylum and then it goes to Wayne Enterprises with Bruce Wayne meeting Edward Nygma for the first time. After Wayne refuses to conduct further research on Nygma's sonic brainwave transference device, the action goes to Gotham Bank where the movie original started off.

  After that slight change in plot, the book follows the film's plotting pretty much without any new scenes. There was some extra dialogue thrown in. For example,  Two-Face and Riddler getting high off of Nygma's brain drain machine after the two antagonists first meet. 

  The only other major change in this book is the appearance of Batman. Until the third act, Batman is drawn in the same costume that Michael Keaton wore in Batman and Batman Returns. I'm pretty sure Val Kilmer's Batman did not wear that costume at any point in the film.

    So why the change? It's not like they thought Keaton was going to be playing Batman in the third film. He had made it clear that if Tim Burton didn't direct, he wouldn't wear the cowl. The art team did a very good job of rendering the characters to look like the actors that played them and it's clearly Val Kilmer as Bruce Wayne in the first two acts of this book. So again I ask, why did the artists draw this Batman in the wrong costume?

   For a comic book adaptation, it was actually pretty good. The story was faithful to the source material. The art was near photorealistic and the colors were vibrant just like in the movie. I consider this a dollar well spent and worthy to be a part of my collection forever.
  
   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Robin: Year One

I’ve been a fan of the Year One books since I read the very first one- legendary artist/ writer Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One. This Year One, devoted to the Dark Knight’s original Boy Wonder, Dick Grayson, shares that vintage feel combined with lots of gritty action and dynamic art.

The book doesn’t start with Bruce Wayne going to the circus and witnessing the tragic death of the Flying Grayson’s. Instead, this story starts with an already established Robin. However, his time as partner to the Batman is almost cut short when an early encounter with Two-face almost sends the sidekick to an early grave. Focusing on Grayson’s recovery and a brief suspension of the Batman/ Robin partner, Year One focuses on Robin and his early encounters with the League of Assassins and what will eventually become the minions of Lady Shiva.

By devoting a large portion of the story to Robin’s earliest exploits with the League of Assassins, it really provides more insight into what will make Robin into his own hero as Nightwing. It also opens a door into what the Tim Drake Robin will encounter with Lady Shiva and the Cassandra Cain Batgirl. This is not the Robin you remember growing up with. It’s still Dick Grayson. But instead of “Holy Batboots, Batman!” this Boy Wonder is more edgier, along the lines of the movie version Robin.

 I hated that Robin- I thought Joel Shumaker ruined the Boy Wonder by making the live-action version of Robin cocky, arrogant, and a little crash. Now, as I look back at this storyline and some of the Neal Adams and Denny O’Neal stories of the 70s involving the decaying relationship between a millionaire vigilante and his ward- I  must admit, Shumaker wasn’t off in how he had actor Chris O’Donnell play Robin. I never thought I’d say it, but Shumaker actually got something in the Batman movies right!

Lastly, the art was beautiful. It looks a lot like Miller’s Year One art but with a slightly more nostalgic bent. I kept thinking the art was by the fantastic Darwyn Cooke. I ever kept checking the front cover but it said “Art by Scott Beatty.”  Guess, I am going to have to look more into works by this Scott Beatty because I loved it!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.