Broken Frontier

Batman’s early years remain rich in story potential as Matt Wagner continues his tale of an early encounter with Dr. Hugo Strange.

In the initial issue of this miniseries, readers were introduced to a slew of characters from Batman’s past. A former love, Julie Madison, and her philanthropist father Norman, crime boss Sal Maroni, a younger version of Jim Gordon, and as a main antagonist, Dr. Hugo Strange. It is unknown as of this time in the series if this takes place before or after Strange learns Batman’s secrets, but that seems immaterial right now. Because Strange isn’t interested in Batman right now, in fact, he’s involved in genetic engineering and in trying to create a perfect man, has instead been creating monsters. This issue starts with Batman being called to help with the investigation into a murder caused by one of Strange’s monsters, which, as always, leads to some interesting discoveries.

When looking into a character’s past, it is best for writers to play close to the archetype. Don’t stray far from the accepted types of stories, keep the characters close to their roots, make sure the dialogue is snappy, and always throw in some retrospective humor. Wagner does all of this. But he also does some interesting things and pays respect to others who have dabbled in this portion of Bat-history. This book is constantly filled with inner monologue, made famous in style by Jeph Loeb in his collaborations with Tim Sale. Interestingly though, Batman himself is never one of those to provide the monologue. Wagner also pays homage to the works of Steve Englehart, not just by using Dr. Hugo Strange as a villain, but thematically with Bruce Wayne’s love life playing a prominent role.

And the same things can be said about Wagner’s artwork. His look is simple and iconic. His storytelling is straightforward and easy to follow and his action scenes are dynamic without being overly complex and stuffed with details. And as with his writing, Wagner’s artwork pays homage to those who have been there before. His image of Bruce Wayne with his square chin looks to emerge from Bruce Timm’s designs on Batman: The Animated Series. One particular image of Jim Gordon reminds of David Mazzuchelli’s drawings of that character in Batman: Year One. And like every Batman story from that era, the artwork is properly shaded to almost promote darkness.

For those who have been chased away from current Batman continuity by Infinite Crisis and have been scared away by Frank Miller’s dialogue in All Star Batman, this is the book for you. It is Batman at his simplest; some might even say his best.