Between 1986 and 2000, the Batman titles were revolutionised and revamped by one of the greatest talents in comic books. Dennis O’Neil had been instrumental in creating the definitive Bronze Age Dark Knight in the late-1960s and early-1970s, where after two decades of science fiction, fantasy, and colourful baddies who view murder as a step too far, the gothic magic and grittiness of the original Detective Comics tales by Bill Finger was updated for a new era. The Dark Knight succeeded the Caped Crusader, and by the time O’Neil became editor on all the Batman titles, Batman stood out as DC’s darkest and most gothic mainstream creation. During O’Neil’s editorship of titles such as Batman, Detective Comics, Legends of the Dark Knight, and Shadow of the Bat, it was an era dominated by titanic jumbo-sized storylines which – in one case literally – shook the landscape of Gotham City and the world of Batman. From shorter tales like Year One, The Killing Joke, A Death in the Family, and then A Lonely Place of Dying, to monolithic sagas like Knightfall, Contagion, Legacy, Cataclysm, and No Man’s Land, the fourteen years of O’Neil’s editorship was perhaps the most crucial period in the Dark Knight’s 84-year-history. But in-between such colossal tales naturally fell the regular issue-by-issue comic books which just as naturally garnered little attention a month after their initial publication. While that may be true of most titles, the O’Neil run was home to some of the best Batman stories in history, created by some of the best writers and artists in the industry. And between February 1995 and March 1998, the mainstream Batman title became an unmissable comic book. Enter a period when Batman came closest to becoming a horror title…
Writer Doug Moench had been the regular writer on Batman (vol 1) with issue 481 in 1992, having previously written the title between 1983 and 1986. Alongside O’Neil, Chuck Dixon, and Alan Grant, Moench had written much of the Knightfall saga. Meanwhile, artist Kelley Jones had made a name for himself by drawing many of the covers for Detective Comics and Batman during this period. However, he and Moench had collaborated on Batman/Dark Joker: The Wild, and most famously on Batman: Red Rain. Famed for their Elseworlds creations, could Moench and Jones conjure their brilliant magic on the regular mainstream title?
Before we get into this, I should say that I won’t be covering every single issue in the run. That’s mainly because several of the issues tie into larger crossover storylines. Moench and Jones may collaborate on such crossovers, but I wouldn’t be correct covering just one part of a bigger tale. There will also be a few issues which Jones doesn’t draw. I won’t go into these ones in detail, but I will discuss them. For this first review, I’ll be reviewing Batman 516- 519, and 521-524, published from March to November 1995. All the stories here are written by Doug Moench, pencilled by Kelley Jones, and inked by John Beatty.
Batman 516-517 --- Nightmares/Darkness in the Dream Chamber
Although Kelley Jones joins Doug Moench first for Batman 515 – which is the first part of the Troika storyline, which crosses over with Detective Comics, Shadow of the Bat, and Robin (vol 4) – Batman 516 is where the run truly begins! From the first few pages, Moench and Jones introduce us to a new kind of Dark Knight. After Knightfall and Bruce Wayne’s subsequent return, Batman pledges he must be different by becoming “a predatory creature of fear, and of a darkness that knows no dawn.” This is a more gothic Batman, perhaps one not too dissimilar from a horror title. It’s the closest we can get to reliving the gritty golden age tales before Robin emerged.
For this new era of Batman, Doug Moench goes violent and cultish for his first story. A new criminal is present in Gotham, one who cuts out the hearts of people to please the goddess of sleep and death. Sleeper is the main foe here, with her lackey strongman Remmy by her side. Serving this goddess, their bloody spree gets the attention of the Dark Knight. What makes this period more interesting than most other years in Batman’s history is the main hero’s relationship with the police. After Knightfall and Jim Gordon’s disenfranchisement from the Dark Knight, Batman is acting truly on his own – Robin has his own title, and Alfred left Bruce Wayne seemingly for good during the Knightfall saga. Moench writes Batman as a lonesome detective, not as a horrific gory slayer of villains, and that is exactly how it should be.
Batman finds that Sleeper’s victims were scared to death before their hearts were cut out. While this ‘calling card’ creates a great chill, the apparent goals of Sleeper don’t appear to fit in with a Batman story. The use of goddesses and the supernatural feel a step too far out of the Dark Knight’s jurisdiction, but Batman 517 is where the carpet is pulled from under our feet. After Sleeper abandons another of her victims after Batman locates her (before she knocks the Dark Knight out and oddly fails to return to kill off her prey), it’s revealed that all the victims are part of a secret scientific program involving sleep. Sleeper is nothing more than a front for Remmy, who has been employed to cover up the scientific program by killing off its most vocal members. This revelation is truly wonderful, not just because it takes us away from the unsuitably fantastical world of Sleeper, but simply because it comes out of the blue. Bruce Wayne has a meeting with one of the scientists to learn more about the connection between sleep and death. It’s a chilling subject, but the discussion goes on for far too long to remain interesting or even relevant to the story. In the end, Batman defeats Sleeper, Remmy, and his employers, but it feels like there is much more to be explored.
Regardless of the opening story’s faults however, Moench flawlessly establishes a mood. Batman is back as a detective comic book, mixed with elements of horror. There is no need of gore, but a dependence of a truly Dark Knight and a chilling plot.
Batman 518-519 --- The Spidered Face/Web of Scars
One of the joys of the Moench/Jones run must be how the creators utilise Batman’s Rogues Gallery. A typical Batman run would be full of two-parters where in each story, the Dark Knight faces against another of his key foes. Okay, that does sum up the Gerry Conway run of the 1980s, but that was far from terrible. Here, Moench/Jones follow that format, but they are highly creative with the characters they use. Batman 518-519 enjoys the presence of two villains.
Black Mask – with his False Face Society – leads one of the largest gangs in Gotham City. With his robberies of masks from museums, Black Mask is written to be far more insane than ever before. Although never placed in the supreme league of Bat-foes, Black Mask is reintroduced to us well by the writer – after all, Moench had created him in Batman 386 in 1985. Alongside Black Mask, we have Black Spider. Created by Conway two decades prior, this Black Spider is different – Johnny LaMonica is an assassin who wants to join the False Face Society. Black Mask, as a test, gives Black Spider the task of assassinating not Batman, not Bruce Wayne, but simply a guest at the billionaire’s party. This made a refreshing change. After all, I was expecting the contract to tiresomely be on Batman.
At this party, we witness Bruce Wayne still trying to adapt to a life without Alfred. But we also meet Madolyn Corbett. Something of a stalker to Bruce Wayne, she appears several times in the run, but her story continues in Shadow of the Bat, where she kills herself and frames her death on Batman. Moving away from that in fear of jumping into one deep rabbit hole, Black Spider arrives at the party and of course Batman is there to fight him, even if the villain does escape into the night.
Batman 519, along with having one of the greatest covers of the whole run, begins with a good, if not truly shocking, twist. Black Spider – just like Remmy in the previous story – is being hired by an outsider. This mysterious hirer wants Black Mask dead. From here, sadly the story follows the same kind of structure that Batman 517 does – the Dark Knight defeats them all in the end, but admittedly Black Mask does escape. What makes this issue stand out more is the growing emergence of Gotham City politics. James Gordon is sacked from his job as Commissioner by Mayor Krol, and he is replaced by his wife Sarah Essen. Their split has come from the actions of Batman, not Bruce Wayne’s, but Azrael’s. During Knightfall, Azrael’s Batman became increasingly violent and bloody. Krol and Essen became supportive of this new style, while James Gordon backed away. This divide is interesting for two reasons. Firstly, it’s a role reversal. Usually, it’s Gordon fighting for the Dark Knight against a sceptical establishment. Secondly, this has little to do with Bruce Wayne’s Batman. He is simply a witness to the darker world created by Azrael. Why Batman gave the mantle to Jean-Paul Valley after Batman 497 is beyond me, but I digress. While the politics does drown out an interesting Black Mask/Black Spider story, I love Moench’s choice of villains and it’s a pretty thrilling read.
Batman 520 – while by Doug Moench – is not drawn by Kelley Jones. Perhaps because of that, the issue feels like a pause on the run. The Gordon storyline moves no further, while Batman continues his hunt for Black Mask with little success. Batman feels immense guilt for letting the criminal escape – such feelings of guilt were not present in Batman 519. That said, Moench writes an interesting little plot about Harvey Bullock, everyone’s favourite once-corrupt detective, falling in love with a nurse. As it’s Gotham, it ends sadly with her murder. That is what makes the issue memorable. Overall, it is a pretty pointless issue.
Batman 521-522 --- Fast Train to The Wet Dark/Swamp Things
Like Black Mask and Black Spider, Killer Croc was another foe made famous in the 1980s. Created by Conway, Killer Cros was of a darker breed of villains, born with a skin disease that made him an outcast. Here, Moench writes one of the most creative stories in the whole run, perhaps even in the whole Batman title. In Batman 521, Killer Croc escapes from Arkham Asylum, hearing a mysterious call from the swamplands. By taking control of a train full of terrified passengers, Killer Croc heads to where the voices tell him, with Batman trying to stop the train. Well, I say stop. Killer Croc drives the train for hours and not once does the Dark Knight try to hop aboard. Plus, Killer Croc being the hungry creature that he is, surely, he would spend time to snack on some nearby humans. Perhaps these nit-picks should be placed aside, for Croc is so determined to find his destiny in the swamps of Louisiana.
Despite Batman 522 revealing the goods on the cover, readers of DC’s horror comics will know what lurks in Louisiana. Batman follows Killer Croc into the swamps only to find the villain under the protection of Swamp Thing. A character that Kelley Jones has always been in love with (he pencilled a 2016 miniseries featuring Swampy), Moench flawlessly writes Swamp Thing into Batman’s world with moral questions.
With Killer Croc an outsider treated terribly by the systems of humanity, Swamp Thing argues that Killer Croc belongs in the wild among his own kind. Moench places Killer Croc within the Green, that plane of naturistic experience created in Alan Moore’s run of Swamp Thing (vol 2). Batman tries to argue his case, but it’s a lost cause. He is forced to return to Gotham, without Killer Croc paying for his crimes. What makes this story faultless – aside from weaving so delicately and effectively Swamp Thing into Killer Croc’s realm – is that Batman was always doomed to fail – and he doesn’t see that as a failure. Batman begins to question the very idea of justice and how Killer Croc has been let down because of the disease that has plagued him since birth. Perhaps, Batman thinks, Swamp Thing was right. It would have been nice to see Moench perhaps go further during the following issues – to see Batman notice the faults of Arkham Asylum and recognise its failures would be a fascinating idea for a storyline. But overall, it’s hard to argue that Batman 521-522 isn't one of the most unique and creative Batman tales in history. Plus, Alfred finally returns with this issue. What’s not to love!
Batman 523-524 --- Dark Wings Fly Away in Fear/Haunted Houses of The Head
Time for the Scarecrow. One of the more frightening foes in Batman’s Rogues Gallery, it was surely one that Moench and Jones had to feature early on. Sadly, it’s a version of the Scarecrow that I’m not too fond of. To me, Jonathan Crane is at his best when he is testing innocent people with strange mixtures and doses of fear toxin, acting like an unhinged scientist who is fascinated by the Dark Knight. But during the 1990s, the Scarecrow was quite different. Abused in his teenage years by fellow students, Jonathan Crane became a genius of fear and often dressed as a scarecrow simply to terrify crows. It doesn’t help that the Scarecrow is written to be something of a joke figure, but what also doesn’t help is the plot which Moench writes here.
Despite the Scarecrow’s truly shocking appearance and the visible fear throughout with his victims, it’s revealed by Batman’s great detective work that Jonathan Crane is simply going after the bullies who abused him back in his school days. It’s a standard modus operandi, and the story goes onto a typical end whereby – surprise, surprise – Batman turns the fear on the Scarecrow and defeats him. It’s by no means terrible, but simply forgettable and typical.
That said, Moench moves the political side of the run in an interesting direction. With Mayor Krol running for re-election, James Gordon throws his amateur hat into the ring. But they are both behind the popular Marion Grange. With the mayoral plot coming more and more into focus, Moench teases an interesting drama and an intriguing possibility of Mayor James Gordon. These pages shine perhaps slightly more than the enjoyable if bland Scarecrow scenes.
Batman has always had the luxury of being drawn by artists who are often the best the comic book medium has to offer. From Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang to Jim Lee and Greg Capullo, via Neal Adams and Jim Aparo, there have been some wonderful artists. But never has a writer like Doug Moench and the stories he wrote here have better suited an artist like Kelley Jones. It’s difficult to muster the words.
Corresponding with the tone of the stories and the character of the Dark Knight, it's like Batman is a natural part of Gotham’s scenery with his dark blues, greys, blacks, and tall pointed ears that – while they can have a mind of their own in terms of length – somehow don’t look ridiculous. Characters like Black Mask, Black Spider, Killer Croc, the Scarecrow, and especially Swamp Thing, all looked stunning in the eerie lighting and the moody appearance of the title. Jones also adds a 1930s-feel to the appearance of Gotham City, once again recreating that grittiness of the golden age. Sure, this may still be before a time when Jones’s art was at its most refined – there are a few occasions where the art can be either downright ugly or over-muscular, perhaps in keeping with body-building craze of the nineties – but it’s impact in terms of storytelling and that constant feeling of horror cannot be understated.
Plus, John Beatty’s beautifully smooth inks – if an inch flat in one or two places – adds an additional layer of darkness to Jones’s work. Props too must go to colourist Gregory Wright. Comics were beginning to move away from the classic dot-screen method of colouring which had dominated DC Comics for more than half a century. Although computer colouring was to go on its own journey to reach its peak sometime during the 2000s, Wright’s dim pallet was ideal for these tales and it’s no shock that he was to find fame with Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale on greats like The Long Halloween and Dark Victory.
VERDICT
Overall, despite some of the flaws I’ve mentioned above, the Doug Moench/Kelley Jones run of Batman enjoyed a brilliant start. With its twists and darkness, the Sleeper tale placed a confident horror-themed foot forward. Batman’s dual fight against Black Mask and Black Spider is another classic, while it’s nearly impossible to fault the tale with Swamp Thing. The Scarecrow two-parter is easily the weakest of the bunch, but thankfully that feeling of horror and grittiness remains. Overall, if you liked these stories, there are plenty more coming…
Next Week: Batman: The Deadman Connection (Batman 525, 527-528, 530-532, 535). Written by Doug Moench with art by Kelley Jones and John Beatty.
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