John Beatty (2)

Except for some flashbacks, we finally move out of the timespan of Miller's Batman: Year One, into new territory; Shaman covers some of Batman's first winter in Gotham, as artifacts from an Indian tribe where he trained to become the Batman reappear in Gotham. This is the first of a couple Dennis O'Neil "Year One" tales, and probably the best of them; O'Neil and Edward Hannigan are consummate comics storytellers, and know how to write a gripping tale. It's not an amazing tale-- there are show more definitely some odd leaps-- but it is a well-told one. I also liked the reinsertion of some details from Batman's Golden Age origin into Batman: Year One, and the joke at their expense. It's actually a kind of brazen poke at a giant in a way.

Batman "Year One" Stories: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

Batman: Crimson Mist, written by Doug Moench with pencils by Kelley Jones, inks by John Beatty, colors by Gregory Wright, and letters by Todd Klein, concludes the vampiric Batman trilogy that began in Batman & Dracula: Red Rain. Elements of the story and style resemble Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman: The Long Halloween and Dark Victory, though filtered through the gritty horror aesthetic of Moench and Jones. The vampiric Batman, released from his undeath, stalks Gotham, dispatching every show more criminal and murderer, though he makes sure to take their heads in order to prevent them from rising as vampires. Alfred Pennyworth and Commissioner James Gordon realize that they’ve unleashed a monster in their hope to restore the Batman and must decide whether or not to forge an alliance with Two-Face to end the Batman. Each of the previous volumes felt like they were meant to conclude the story, so this one feels a bit tacked-on, but it does work to resolve the remaining plot threads. As part of a three-part story, Crimson Mist works well, but it is not the strongest when read alone. show less

I know I have read some Dennis O'Neil before, but this one stuck out to me. I really enjoyed the writing style for Batman in these issues. The story is sort of an alternate version of an origin story but not really, it's sort of confusing at first to tell when exactly this story takes place. But, the story of the Bat and the shaman really catered to the story of Bruce Wayne and Batman. I would definitely regard this as one of the better and darker tales of the Bat. Really enjoyed this show more villain/arc. show less

"Shaman" was an interesting look at Batman's beginnings--a flashback to his disastrous first mission, as depicted a couple of years earlier in Batman: Year One, and how he chooses to wear the mask of a bat, re-imagined for this storyline, followed by a story with more drama than mystery, but still pretty good.