I’ll be honest – I don’t really read a lot of DC Comics anymore and I’ve never really liked Batman. At first glance, that’s probably a bad way to start off a news piece sharing a Batman comic, but I say it simply to illustrate how good this comic is due to its ability to appeal to the exact opposite of it’s target market.
Created by Gerardo Preciado and Daniel Bayliss, “The Deal” is a Batman fan comic that went live almost a week ago and is now making waves throughout the comic blogosphere. Pitting the Batman against his classic clown nemesis and starting pretty much where SE7EN ended, the fan comic is a deconstruction of the relationship between the two timeless and influential characters, all wrapped up in some beyond gorgeous artwork and a surprise quote in the end. It mixes the typical Batman trope for dark and abysmal attitudes with a deeper appreciation for the character than we see on average, perhaps on par with what appeared in DC’s “Solo”, the current “Batman: Black and White” book or even Neil Gaiman’s “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” with Andy Kubert.
I mean, just look at the above image. Don’t you want to know what comes next?
Either way, it is decidedly worth a look. Even if you don’t like Batman. And while Bayliss and Preciado have apparently started their Moonhead Press blogger simply for this comic, I’d be very interested to see what they do next.
