Broken Frontier

Even though the Batman is almost seventy years old, it’s surprising just how many spaces there are in the character’s story. Even putting aside how many creators and interpretations Bruce Wayne has passed through, events such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Zero Hour and Infinite Crisis have rewritten, tweaked and adjusted his continuity. In the end, the broad strokes have remained consistent, but Batman’s early years have proven to be fertile ground for “retro-style” projects. With Dark Moon Rising, writer/artist Matt Wagner has taken the opportunity to explore some of those adventures in a vaguely established era in Batman’s history. 

Batman and the Monster Men collects the self-contained first chapter of Dark Moon Rising, an opus described as a bridge between Batman’s simpler rookie years and his introduction into the world of garish lunatics and colorful rogue’s gallery. Set between the fourth and third last panels of Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One, Batman and the Monster Men is based on “The Giants of Hugo Strange”, first printed in 1940’s Batman #1. At the time of Wagner’s tale, Batman has been fighting organized crime and corruption in Gotham City for approximately a year. Having recently forged an alliance with Captain James Gordon, the Batman is a terrifying enemy of corruption and seems to be on the verge of pulling his city back from the brink. With this, his first encounter with Dr. Hugo Strange, Batman is introduced into a new world – one of superhuman monsters and mad scientists – setting him towards a life of endless battles with the bizarre.

Looking at Batman and the Monster Men as a work in its own right, Wagner has crafted an enjoyable tale of the macabre. In the course of adapting Bill Finger’s original 12-page story into 144 pages, Wagner keeps the basic premise (Strange’s genetic monsters wreaking havoc for the mad scientist’s profit) and couples it with some sympathetic motivations. Following a clever switch that introduces Strange, Wagner establishes the doctor’s personal goals as well as a surprisingly altruistic one. A welcome addition to the story is the subplot involving Bruce Wayne (who in the original tale spent all four panels he appeared in smoking and talking to the radio), Julie Madison and her father. Despite his (comparatively) optimistic view of his war on crime, Wagner’s Bruce Wayne persona is gradually retreating into the Batman. Through Julie’s eyes, readers see how quickly Bruce Wayne does indeed become just a mask for the Batman.

Many fans tend to think of the Dark Knight Detective aspect of Batman when a “retro” Batman project arrives. Jeph Loeb’s The Long Halloween is certainly a good example of that element of Batman, but Wagner’s title does a better job of truly capturing a “year one” style character. This Batman focuses on neither the detective of superhero elements, but rather firmly embraces Batman’s roots as a pulp hero. 

This leads to an interesting element of Batman and the Monster Men - the violence. Reading Wagner’s work, I initially was surprised by the amount of graphic blood, but upon re-reading the source material it occurred to me that Wagner has merely updated this aspect. In the original, Batman was quick to use lethal measures, putting out one monster’s eye with a batarang, shooting on criminals with a gatling gun and hanging another monster from a noose. Wagner’s depiction of the savage Monster Men attacks adds a sense of severity to the situation, making Batman’s responses (such as taking out the monster’s eye) seem less radical and more of a tactical decision.

Throughout Batman and the Monster Men, it’s clear Wagner is making efforts to fit his story into the continuity established in stories such as Batman: Year One and Batman: The Long Halloween. Characters such as Sal Maroni and “The Roman” Carmine Falcone both play roles, as does the developing relationship between Batman and Captain Gordon (there’s a couple of references to Batman’s rescue of Barbara and James from Year One, as well as Gordon’s thoughts of Sarah). What really made this feel like a companion piece occurred to me only after re-reading Year One. Like in Miller’s tale, Wagner makes heavy use of first person narrative captions, thereby maintaining not only the tone, but the feel of 1986 comic.

In and of itself, Dark Moon Rising: Batman & the Monster Men is an enjoyable and lusciously drawn pulp adventure, re-imagining a classic 1940s pulp/horror story. Standing on the shoulders of giants such as Finger and Miller, Wagner has added a compelling companion piece to the DC library.