“This is where you say hello to junior.”

Batman, Garth Ennis

I put Batman stories into one of three categories: The first is the classic Batman fare, one that could easily be turned into an episode of family television, where Batman fights a bad guy’s latest mad brained scheme and wins by the end; the second is an attempt to turn the norm on its head, which is what I think most modern Batman writers strive for, in an effort to say something new about an 80-year-old character; the third is someone writes something that’s actually never been done before in the world of the old Dark Knight, blowing everyone’s mind and making fanboys grumpy on the internet.

This tale falls more into the 2nd category.

Something monstrous is hunting Gotham’s villains, one by one, leaving them all on the brink of death’s door, and its up to a (slightly) unhinged Batman to save them while also figuring out where the mystery assailant came from.

I am, admittedly, not a fan of Garth Ennis’ writing. Don’t get me wrong. I understand completely why he’s so popular, and working in a comic book store when THE BOYS was picking up steam taught me there’s an audience for everyone and my opinion is not the only one that matters. Still, his cynical look at super heroes never struck a chord with me and I disliked a lot of his writing, on a personal level, because of it.

This was a lot of fun, though, with a Batman that’s a little off-kilter, almost delighting in watching something else take down his enemies, while showcasing the intelligence and wit we expect from a bat-themed vigilante.

Liam Sharp’s pencils and color work are dark, twisted, sometimes in line with the scene, sometimes giving you something else altogether. It’s wonderful and the true highlight of the book. Worth it just for that.

BATMAN: REPTILIAN by Garth Ennis and Liam Sharp (Barnes & Noble)

“And after all that, please remember this. In that autopsy room, going after Freeze, hitting Freeze. He was distracted by something. Freeze said it. He wasn’t…himself. He made mistakes. Mistakes he shouldn’t have made.

Don’t turn mistakes into the damnation of an innocent man. If you condemn Freeze, on Batman’s error, you condemn Batman. You say guilty, you put the Bat into that same cold cage.

You all raised your hands. You all said he saved you.

Save him.”

Tom King

Sometimes there’s just pairings in comics that work. This is one of them.

A collection of the times Weeks and King came together to make magic (including the surprisingly brilliant Batman/Elmer Fudd crossover DON’T ASK QUESTIONS JUST READ IT), this volume stretches tales of Batman from the beginning of his career to when he faced his greatest heartbreak to madcap capers with the looneys (pun intended) of Gotham City.

It’s King’s writing, straight to the point with no fluff about who these characters are and what makes them tick, and Weeks’ clean pencil work, getting the point across in an emotionally understandable way. I don’t usually get collections like these, but I’d hand this one off to friends and family to make sure they know what I mean when I say, “Comics are great.”

BATMAN BY TOM KING AND LEE WEEKS: THE DELUXE EDITION (Barnes & Noble)

“So, here’s the thing of it all. This is what I think about. Everybody likes to think they’re special.

Well, not special. Special’s the wrong word.

What everybody likes to think is that they’re cool. Right? Grace under fire. A movie star. An action hero. James Bond. Everybody.

Everybody you know can close their eyes and imagine how they’d react in a certain situation. But in reality, what are you? A hero? A wuss?

You never really know…

Until the moment. The moment of truth. And you never ever know when that moment’s coming.”

Brian Michael Bendis

Yes. That’s his signature on the cover.

Bendis has been a literary inspiration of mine for a long time. In the same way I said that when I read Ennis’ work it immediately didn’t sit with me, reading Bendis for the first time gave me the opposite effect. It latched on and didn’t let go. So to read this, one of his earliest works, it’s stellar to see how far he’s grown as both a storyteller and a writer.

It’s all there, mind you, in this tale of espionage in the Reagan administration and how you absolutely should not under any circumstances trust the CIA, but it’s rougher. Unpolished. And I love these looks at prolific creators in their earliest days because it allows me to see the trail they followed to get where they are now.

Hoping, maybe, I can see the trail I myself might follow.

FIRE by Brian Michael Bendis (Amazon)

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