While there’s no era of “Batman” that’s ever truly overlooked, the year 2000 for the Caped Crusader is not one modern comics readers tend to look back to. It’s an odd duck to say the least. Coming out of the sprawling, status quo breaking No Man’s Land, the main “Batman” title decided to take a step back and find out just what it wanted to be. Well, in this case, what it wanted to be was an episodic thriller brought to us by industry legend: Larry Hama.
Bet you didn’t know that, did you?
Cover by Karl Story,
Patrick Martin,
& Scott McDanielWritten by Larry Hama
Illustrated by Scott McDaniel
Inked by Karl Story
Colored by Roberta Tewes
Separated by Wildstorm FX
Lettered by John CostanzaA terrorist called the Banner takes aim at Gotham’s newly restored status as part of the U.S., putting the city under siege in his extreme fight against the Federal Government. Batman and the FBI stand together to stop him, but can Gotham survive such a fierce battle?
As a primary ~consumer~ of media in a post-9/11 America, these two issues are truly fascinating to me. “Batman” #575 centers around Batman fighting The Banner, a right-wing terrorist who tries to blow up a federal building while #576 sees Batman trying to save the kidnapped boy prince of Qatar from a Gotham-based terrorist lead by Cipher. I know these don’t sound like anything out of the ordinary for a “Batman” story but when you consider these issues are only a year and a half away from the likes of The Banner becoming a heroic figure and those like the Qatari Sheik becoming persona non grata, it stands out.
I bring this up at the top because the issues themselves don’t have a ton to dig into. Both are stand alone issues with the express purpose of establishing a new status quo post-No Man’s Land and the tensions that are present. #575 shows how an avatar for the American right, which at the time was likely far more of a caricature than in 2022, responds to the return of federal oversight and a functioning government. #576 shows how modern organized crime is reacting to Gotham reopening to the world and thus an influx of visiting dignitaries and the like.
Hama is quick to take a couple jabs at the institutions that are positioned as the heroes, what with setting up Wayne Enterprises’ involvement in Cipher and the treasury building being a paramilitary force with anti-aircraft guns on the roof. It’s hard to tell if that second one was intentional or just my reading but considering this is Gotham right after it being cut-off from the rest of the world for an entire year, I wouldn’t be shocked if Hama meant this to play as just another Gotham thing.
But that’s really the long and short of the issues, plot-wise. They’re almost all action; a showcase for Batman to be Batman as he goes from set piece to set piece, which means the issues go by quite fast. Hama keeps the dialog to a minimum, though that’s more true for #576 than #575, which has some pretty silly lines that make me prefer the quieter second issue. This does mean there’s very little internality to the characters thanks to a lack of narrative captions or thought balloons.
Even with this dearth of dialog – it’s actually a moderate amount, with a lot at the start of #575 – Costanza letters things like a champ, keeping panels from being too crowded and injecting a little fun into the sound effects. Side note: is it weird to say I genuinely miss the look of a well hand-lettered comic? Because Costanza’s work here reminded me of how much I love the slight warble and angle it gives to words. It’s strangely warm and feels more integrated to the page. Just me?
Moving on, I enjoyed Scott McDaniel’s art, with Karl Story’s inks, and Tewes’ coloring. The team works quite well together to create a unified aesthetic. The thick character outlines and solid black shading contrast nicely against the solid colors. I really like how the Bat books of this era leaned into a simplified color scheme that played to digital coloring’s strengths at the time. There’s some simple gradients present but mostly this is the turn-of-the-century equivalent of classic four-color comic coloring.
Additionally, I never felt like the action was hard to follow. It’s nice and clear, with few panels per page, dynamic posing, and a sine-wave flow. McDaniel’s facial expressions aren’t super varied but are sufficient for the number of emotions present. That said, not everyone will like McDaniel’s angular, slightly-chunky style and it took me a bit to get used to and it leads to some pretty silly looking panels in what is otherwise a serious (read: earnest) comic.
Despite my gripes, I had fun reading these issues. Their brevity made them easy to read and get through without feeling overburdened but they weren’t too slight as to make me feel like I would’ve wasted my money. It’s the right balance for a series trying to chart a new course, a course we’ll be checking out in just a week. If the cover to “Batman” #577 is any indication, I think we’re in for a chomping good time. See ya later, alligator.
