The Scarecrow has always been one of Batman’s most interesting foes. First appearing in World’s Finest Comics 3 way back in 1941, Jonathan Crane has been explored and developed by so many writers. Many find him to be the most definitive and intriguing villain, standing tall next to the likes of the Joker and Two Face. Writers and artists have remade him transforming him since his character, changing him from a nerdy professor who experiments with fear and into a villainous terror that has proven to be unique in digging deep into the psyche of Batman himself. Batman: Kings of Fear embodies this view of the character. Since the 1990s, writers have taken this different approach to his character, with creators like Doug Moench and Kelley Jones both altering the character for the modern world. From that, I suppose that it comes as no surprise that Kelley Jones was picked, almost as if it was his destiny, to draw the story which depicts the villainous relationship between Batman and the Scarecrow, a character that writer Scott Peterson has written for before in Batman: Gotham Adventures title. Together, Peterson and Jones create a story which defines the Scarecrow and his twisted character. This is the modern face of the Scarecrow as it offers a different perspective on the relationship between the two characters. More importantly though, with Jones at the helm of the art duties, will it be terrifying in the way that the Scarecrow should always be? Fear isn’t something that is materialistic or visual. Often, it is our own mind where mentally, those fears exist and manifest themselves…
Batman: Kings of Fear was a miniseries published monthly from October 2018 to
March 2019. It was written by Scott Peterson with art by Kelley Jones. I have read this miniseries in the Batman: Kings of Fear hardcover edition.
THE STORY
In a warehouse somewhere in Gotham City, the Joker and his goons sense that Batman is near. When the Joker murders one of his own men, Batman appears and takes them all out. Later in the Batmobile, the Joker senses that Batman is brooding more than usual tonight and that he is hurt. After the Joker rambles on about both their mental psyche’s, Batman tells him to shut up and he gasses him with sleeping powder. Arriving at Arkham Asylum, Batman hands over the Joker before being attacked by a doctor, who is angry that Batman can just walk into the building whenever he likes and the way that all the inmates obsess over him. Suddenly, the Joker manages to escape on his way to his cell and he unlocks the cells of the other villains, including Bane, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Two Face, Mr Freeze and Killer Croc. Although Batman manages to take them all out, including the Joker, he is informed that one villain has escaped from the asylum: The Scarecrow, and he has a hostage. After leaving the asylum, Batman is quickly confronted by the Scarecrow, who gasses Batman with his fear toxin…
After being gassed by the Scarecrow, Batman hallucinates some of the tragic moments in his life, such as the death of his parents, the death of Robin and when Bane broke his back. Batman then fights the hallucinations, punching what he believes to be Ra’s Al Ghul, but in actual fact it is Commissioner Gordon, who luckily blocks the punch. As Batman returns to sanity, Gordon tells him that the hostage taken by the Scarecrow is Kenneth Rhee, who seemingly has no connection to the villain. Leaving Gordon, Batman talks to Alfred through the Batmobile, telling him to send him the address of Rhee. After stopping and taking out some car thieves, Batman heads into Rhee’s apartment room. Suddenly, somebody shoots at Batman, but misses. Batman restrains the shooter, who swears that he used his gun in belief that he was going to be robbed. The man explains that he lives in the room and that Rhee moved out less than a month ago. Before the man can finish his sentence, Batman leaves and contacts Gordon, telling him to give him Rhee’s old address, because something isn’t right. Patrolling the backstreets of Gotham, Batman takes out some gangsters before suddenly, a building changes shape. Batman then hallucinates again that either Gordon, Alfred, Rhee, his father or himself are going to shoot him. In reality, it is the Scarecrow, who tells him that he needs help as he has major issues, meaning he needs intensive therapy…
As Batman returns to some form of sanity, the Scarecrow falls off the building, but Batman manages to save him. The Scarecrow tells him that he is in no condition to be doing stunts like that and he asks if he is crazy. Batman asks the same and the Scarecrow decides to observe Batman in his natural environment, wanting to know what a normal night for Batman is like. The Scarecrow then reminds Batman thar despite being poisoned with his fear toxin, this is still real… probably. As Batman goes on patrol, the Scarecrow follows him. Suddenly, Batman notices a crook and he throw a batarang near him, frightening the crook so he runs off. This makes the Scarecrow angry, as he questions why Batman watches over nobodies while also tackling the likes of the Joker. Batman doesn’t answer him as he summons the Batmobile, before throwing the Scarecrow in it. Meanwhile, Gordon hides in a building, overhearing the Scarecrow’s men talk about their boss’s crazy plan. At the same time, Batman drives the Batmobile as the Scarecrow continues to talk. Suddenly, Batman stops the Batmobile and jumps out of it, finding a little girl standing in front of it scared. Batman lowers himself so he is less scary to the little girl, who has walked away from her apartment while her mother is working somewhere. Batman happily takes the child home, but the Scarecrow asks him if what just happened was another hallucination. Afterwards, Batman and the Scarecrow arrive at where Rhee is tied up. However, the Scarecrow admits that he has been repeatedly dosing Batman all night with his fear toxin. Suddenly, the Scarecrow gasses him again and tells Batman that the only way to win is to a reach a breakthrough in their agreement so he will release Rhee…
With the Scarecrow taking notes, he asks Batman about his childhood, which is something Batman can never forget. Batman senses that the Scarecrow’s fear toxin is different this time, and the villain explains that he had to improvise with the random chemicals and medicines he found in Arkham, including cleaning supplies. Although Batman states that he might have died, the Scarecrow says that is a risk he takes every single night. Meanwhile, Gordon apprehends the Scarecrow’s men while at the same time, the police turn on the Bat-Signal, which frightens many criminals in the streets. Gordon then manages to take out the gangsters, demanding from one of them to know where the Scarecrow is and what is he planning. The crook refuses to tell Gordon anything, believing the Scarecrow will kill him if he does so. Yet, when Gordon mentions the possibility of being locked up in Arkham, the scared crook tells all. Meanwhile, the Scarecrow asks Batman how he sees himself. Batman transforms into a Superman-like hero, before being shot and losing his heroic qualities. The Scarecrow then demands to know who Batman wants to save. Batman tells him that it is a child, every child, as he believes that no child should go through what he experienced. The Scarecrow believes that that explains a lot because however hard Batman tries, he can’t save them all. The Scarecrow then works out that Batman’s one true love isn’t Catwoman, but Gotham City. When the Scarecrow explains that neither Batman nor Gotham have treated each other well, he presents to Batman a Gotham City without Batman…
In the bright Metropolis-like Gotham City, the Scarecrow tells Batman that this is a Gotham in which Batman never existed. Not Bruce Wayne, but Batman. Suddenly, in a sewer, Batman is attacked by Killer Croc and once he is defeated, the Scarecrow tells him that by simply continually fighting his enemies, they are being encouraged as they are being risen to his own level. The Scarecrow begins to question whether Gotham is Batman’s city at all. Then, Batman has a cage on his back full of his foes, with the Scarecrow sitting on top of it. In the real world, Batman collapses and the Scarecrow tells him that most of his villains wouldn’t exist if Batman didn’t. The Scarecrow explains that: Bane wouldn’t even arrive in Gotham; Mr Freeze would discover a way to for astronauts to be cryogenically frozen for long voyages in space; Poison Ivy would save and expand the rainforests, the Riddler would become a video game designer; Two Face would become even more determined to fight crime after his injury; Catwoman would win a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with abused women and children; The Joker would become the greatest profiler in the FBI; The Scarecrow himself would discover a treatment for schizophrenia and the Penguin will… still be mobster. Not everything is about Batman. The Scarecrow then tells Batman that Bruce Wayne would have taken a different path and through his work, he could have made Gotham more educated and the crime rate would have plummeted. This makes Batman believe that he should never have become Batman. He collapses. Afterwards, the Scarecrow attempts to get Batman up, but he attacks the villain before managing to inject himself with the antidote to the fear toxin. Awakening from the hallucinations, Batman demands to know what the Scarecrow did to him…
As Batman comes close to violently beating the Scarecrow, the villain screams in fear. Batman then notices Rhee still tied up and he asks the Scarecrow why he did what he did. The Scarecrow tells Batman that he is a supervillain, and it is what he does. He (continued)
tells Batman that he hoped he could convince Batman not to be a hero anymore, making his life much easier. Yet, the Scarecrow recognises that Batman has had a breakthrough in something, but Batman refuses to tell him what. Suddenly, Gordon and the police arrive as Batman unties Rhee. Gordon asks Batman what happened, and he tells him that the Scarecrow made him question everything. However, Gordon tells Batman that he saved him, and he couldn’t have done all the work in Gotham without him. Without Batman, Gordon may well be dead. Later in the Batmobile (with the Scarecrow in the boot), Batman tells Rhee that he knows that he wasn’t really the Scarecrow’s hostage, but in fact his accomplice. Batman then works out that Rhee was threatened by the Scarecrow in relation to his family. Rhee believes that the Scarecrow is going to have it in for him and Batman agrees. Stopping the Batmobile, Batman gets the Scarecrow out of the boot and he takes him into Arkham Asylum, throwing him into his cell. Afterwards, Batman meets another doctor, one who wants to speak to Batman. She explains that she owes her life to him because she was nearly killed on her way home once, before Batman saved her. The doctor then says that she is aware of the case of Samuel Sanchez, a villain who used to carry knives. She explains that he once worked for the Riddler, but he wanted out and he was too scared. Batman then appeared to him, which terrified Sanchez. Yet, the doctor explains that it changed his life as he turned him in and after leaving prison, he became a model citizen. The doctor then explains that she has married him and that they have a four-year-old daughter. As she thanks Batman, he vanishes. On the way home, Batman confronts some villains, not by force, but by scaring them and making them apologize. Later in the Batcave, Alfred welcomes his master home and Bruce tells him it was a dark night because of what the Scarecrow did. Alfred tells Bruce that he has never made it secret that he despises Batman because of how it has changed the lifestyle of both Bruce and him. Yet, Alfred tells him that he has had a positive effect on the city and that everything they have sacrificed has not been for nothing. As Alfred leaves, Batman is informed of multiple escapees from Blackgate Prison. Batman heads into the Batmobile to take on his next mission.
MY THOUGHTS
Now, I’m sure that everybody knows what Batman does. He goes out at night, fights supervillains and acts moody. That’s the basics. However, why does Peterson have to tell us that. Surely, it is a well know fact that Batman solves crimes both with his brain and his fists. Well, this is a very different story, one which perhaps couldn’t have been told in the world of the modern stories today. One of the questions I ask myself when reading and thinking about this series is when does it take place? Clearly, this is after Knightfall due to Bane’s presence as one of Batman’s major foes. Yet, where is Robin? Or any other ally of Batman (with the exception of Alfred and Gordon) for that matter. But, due to Batman’s 1990s appearance, I believe that this story must take place during the Doug Moench run of Batman (vol 1) during the mid to late 1990s, which was also by Kelley Jones. There also doesn’t appear to be any reference to No Man’s Land or any other event after the 1990s period. Why is this important? After Knightfall, writers wanted to change Batman. They had written him previously as a determined vigilante, one who would often use his fists too much rather than his mind. In the storytelling of Knightfall, it is partly a reason why he is defeated by Bane. Batman begins to forget he is human and as he still hasn’t forgiven himself for the death of Jason Todd, he is pushing himself too hard to the point where it almost kills him. This story here, despite being published 25 years after Knightfall, has similar themes. In the very first issue, Peterson conveys the status quo, or an ordinary night in the life of Batman. He fights the Joker, takes him back to Arkham before all the
Batman carrying the cage with all his villains it, signifying the huge weight on his shoulders. I also really like the scene in which Batman realises that how ever hard he tries, he can never save the city. It is an impossible task, at least as Batman. The Scarecrow depicts another world in which Bruce works not as a vigilante, but a businessman wanting to change Gotham through more economic methods, which would ultimately make Gotham a much safer place. Peterson writes these scenes incredibly effectively, to the point where Batman himself seems to believe that he should never have become Batman. This is one of the defining scenes of the story as there is a huge shift in Batman’s character. Then, the first moments of the sixth and final issue are incredibly tense for the two characters, as in his rage, it appears possible that Batman could kill the Scarecrow. It seems that the only reason he doesn’t is because of Rhee as a witness to the scene. The rest of the final issue is the argument against the one that the Scarecrow made to Batman, with the likes of Gordon and Alfred giving their reasons for why Gotham and themselves is better with the presence of Batman. This last issue also includes one of my favourite scenes from the whole series, in which the doctor tells Batman about her husband who once was a criminal, before Batman didn’t attack him, but frightened him into giving up crime. This may seem trivial, but when you look at the start of the story, Batman is solving all of his cases with his fists. Occasionally, he will use his brain, but most of the time he punches his way to his goal. In the last part, he uses fear to frighten criminals as a method of almost convincing them to give up crime. The Scarecrow believed that violence actually encouraged Batman’s villains as he constantly fights and punches them. I believe that this is correct and ultimately, like the Scarecrow, fear maybe the best tactic to use. There really isn’t much else to say. I suppose that some of the negatives would simply be that some scenes involving the Scarecrow could often go on for too long, or the scenes featuring Gordon felt rather pointless in the grand scheme of things, but overall, Peterson has written not just a classic Scarecrow story, but a classic Batman story…ory and ultimately to me, it made me much less interested in the Scarecrow as a character. Here, Peterson doesn’t even mention the Scarecrow’s origin, which is definitely for the best since he isn’t really the main focus of the story. The title of the miniseries is The Kings of Fear and those two kings are the Scarecrow and Batman himself. The two characters are written in such a way that makes them very similar, yet very different at the same time. One of the most interesting scenes in the middle of the story is when Batman meets that little girl in the street. Was she real? I don’t think that really matters as the scene depicts that Batman believes that all citizens should respect and follow the law, something he clearly doesn’t do. It is one of the early steps in the story by the Scarecrow to try and disillusion Batman. This takes us to those very in-depth and crucial moments of the story in issues 4 and 5. Here, the main aim of the Scarecrow is to try and make Batman believe that it was mistake to become a vigilante. This is a unique piece of storytelling and the use of hallucinations and the Scarecrow almost acting like a psychiatrist figure (ironically) is a genius way of telling these scenes. It covers most of the questions which intrigue us about Batman, such as his loyalty and commitment to Gotham City and how both he and the city have treated each other badly. Peterson brings Gotham alive in a such a way that I’ve never seen before. In some ways, Batman believes that he is Gotham, but in many other respects, it is the villains who define it as Batman is partly responsible for their being in the city. Its been a common comment that the likes of the Joker and his villains wouldn’t exist in the way they do without Batman and ultimately, I believe that is true in most cases. The scenes in which the Scarecrow explains how villains would have been different if Batman hadn’t become a vigilante are some of my favourites in the story, including the part about the Penguin, who would still be a villain since not everything is related to Batman. It gives a degree of credibility to the Scarecrow’s words. Peterson uses many metaphors throughout the story, such as
Batman carrying the cage with all his villains it, signifying the huge weight on his shoulders. I also really like the scene in which Batman realises that how ever hard he tries, he can never safe the city. It is an impossible task, at least as Batman. The Scarecrow depicts another world in which Bruce works not as a vigilante, but a businessman wanting to change Gotham through more economic methods, which would ultimately make Gotham a much safer place. Peterson writes these scenes incredibly effectively, to the point where Batman himself seems to believe that he should never have become Batman. This is one of the defining scenes of the story as there is a huge shift in Batman’s character. Then, the first moments of the sixth and final issue are incredibly tense for the two characters, as in his rage, it appears possible that Batman could kill the Scarecrow. It seems that the only reason he doesn’t is because of Rhee as a witness to the scene. The rest of the final issue is the argument against the one that the Scarecrow made to Batman, with the likes of Gordon and Alfred giving their reasons for why Gotham and themselves is better with the presence of Batman. This last issue also includes one of my favourite scenes from the whole series, in which the doctor tells Batman about her husband who once was a criminal, before Batman didn’t attack him, but frightened him into giving up crime. This may seem trivial, but when you look at the start of the story, Batman is solving all of his cases with his fists. Occasionally, he will use his brain, but most of the time he punches his way to his goal. In the last part, he uses fear to frighten criminals as a method of almost convincing them to give up crime. The Scarecrow believed that violence actually encouraged Batman’s villains as he constantly fights and punches them. I believe that this is correct and ultimately, like the Scarecrow, fear maybe the best tactic to use. There really isn’t much else to say. I suppose that some of the negatives would simply be that some scenes involving the Scarecrow could often go on for too long, or the scenes featuring Gordon felt rather pointless in the grand scheme of things, but overall, Peterson has written not just a classic Scarecrow story, but a classic Batman story…
Kelley Jones was always going to be the right man for the job. The Scarecrow can be conceived as the embodiment of fear. But then again, so can Batman. Therefore, what better artist is there to draw a story such as this one, which explores the mentality of both characters while telling the story dramatically and in an entirely unique and visual way. Ever since reading stories of the 1990s such as Batman: Knightfall, Jones’s art has always been intriguing to me. That isn’t just because of how unique and separate it looks from other artists, but because it made Batman and his villains look scary again. The likes of Bob Kane and Jerry Robinson did this effectively in the Golden Age and talent such as Jim Aparo and Neal Adams in the 1970s turned Batman back into more of an urban legend with the intent of administering fear on his victims. This story brings this excellent aspect of Batman’s character back and incorporates it into the main story, with great success. I must confess that I find some panels unfinished, particularly in scenes which feature multiple people, since some of them are missing faces or any detail at all. Yet, it is especially clear that Jones takes so much time and energy to perfect his versions of Batman and the Scarecrow. Overall, this art works perfectly with Peterson’s unique script and without Jones, the story wouldn’t be as effective nor great as it is…
VERDICT
Overall, Batman: Kings of Fear is an excellent story if you want to read something unique and different. Peterson’s writing and plotting is incredibly compelling, with both his Batman and Scarecrow written in such interesting ways that it makes the story constantly intriguing. There is genuine weight here to the story as Batman’s character is almost fundamentally changed in just a few issues. Definitely, thanks to both Peterson’s great script and Kelley Jones’s brilliant art, this is one of the best modern Batman stories to be released and is almost up there with the likes of Batman: Year One and The Killing Joke for me.
Story: 9.5/10
Art: 9.5/10
Next Week: The Question: Riddles (The Question (vol 1) 25-30). Written by Dennis O’Neil with art by Denys Cowan, Malcolm Jones III, Bill Wray, Rick Stasi and Terry Beatty. Expected by 15/11/2020.
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