Best Of Batman Part 2

This is one of the most memorable and praised runs on Batman, and rightfully so. If I were to recommend a Batman comic even to non comic-fans or casual bat-fans , this is definitely one of them.To help clear things up, this classic run is pretty much the birthplace of the Joker from the first Tim Burton Batman movie and the Bruce Wayne you know from the Batman TAS (no need for more precisions now !). Since this is mostly Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers (allahi Yarhmu) run (though credit should go to Len Wein , Walt Simonson and the rest of the staff too...), I will also cover the sequel to this run , the "Dark Detective" mini (which happens to have a weirdass unpublished sequel ! Huzzah ! My thanks for that info, John...).

Since I all in all enjoyed the hell out of it (...I should stop stating the obvious by this point ! Drat you Speedwagon !), here are my impressions:


+ It's frigging BATMAN ! Suave,badass,even-tempered and with a heart of gold ! This is one of the runs where we got to see his life and internal conflicts. Even though he does kick ass and take names , he is still faillible and has his moments of doubts (a lot of them are effectively heart-wrenching !). This particular Batman has been named the "definitive" take by some people and... well I can't disagree really, Bruce is definitely lovable here (special mention to the way he enters Miss St-Cloud's room in the "Laughing Fish " story. Oh Bruce, you cad ! XD ) .

+ Silver St-Cloud is simply great. Most of the time , I never really cared about Bruce's girlfriends (ONLY 2 others did keep my attention .Riddle me this, which ones ?), but Miss St-Cloud, snow-haired venus that she is, deserves my undivided fascination. She simply has a great dynamic with Bruce. Englehart's writing made their relationship feel so natural that I perfectly bought how she ended up guessing that Batman was Bruce at some point ( it helps that she still had some doubts after the first time she made that assumption).

+ The Joker. THIS is simply one of the PLATINUM-tier Jokers (you'd be surprised to know the few others that really deserve this distinction !). Nicholson fans must know what I am talking about ! Here, Mr J is basically in full-blown Robert McKimson style : He is brutal, loquacious, aggressive , pushy and deliciously hammy ! Remember to vote for him or he'll fucking kill ya !

+ The Hugo Strange come-back is one hell of a story ! Picture this : Dr Strange (gag ! PFAHAHAHAHAAA !) manages to drug Bruce for weeks and to "steal" his identity , pretty much defeating Batman and planning to sell it to the highest bidder. But then , he ended up being beaten to a pulp by Ruper Thorne's gang . Instead of spilling the beans wbout the caped Crusader, Hugo prefered dying (rather boldly might I add) and called himself a fool for having tried to sell the secret of a worthy foe !  

+ The Penguin and Deadshot story was actually tons-of-fun. I gotta say that Oswald is one inventive fellow ! And people ask why I love the Penguin. Maybe because he's one polyvalent mofo for starters ? Then again, the masses are oblivious to TRUE nuances and depth !

+ Clayface III is the most sympathetic villain of the entire run. (you'd think DC would fucking pick ONE Clayface and develop him ! GODDAMNIT !)

+ The fight with Dr Phosphorus was quite good (especially since Bruce had to use every last inch of luck and focus to not get touched directly by the guy !) . By the way , does anyone else think that Phosphorus was the prototype for Blight/Dereck Powers ?

+ Harvey Dent's plan was ...errr... weird ! He managed to get himself cloned thanks to Dr Double X (damn, where's Action Man when you need him ?) and actually gets along with his new brother. Until the Joker kills him.... What a jerk. And THEN we discover that there's a 2nd clone whose face basically Two-Face's acid burn on his entire face ! And to top that...errr... One-Face HATES Harvey but likes Batman (even calling him "bro" !). You know, Harvey is MANY things , among being one of my all-times favorite characters, but "hilarious" does not really come to mind when I think of him. Points for making me laugh then !

Sooo that covers it.
Our lesson for today ? Quality is always more important than quantity (I mean this run is very short even if you count the "Dark Detectve" mini)!
The next Batman creative team might make you hurl at me, but then again , I am always game for a reaction...