Books : Batman and the Monster Men

In association with Amazon.com

Rating:

- Forgettable Retro Batman Story
If you haven't checked out Batman Chronicles do yourself a favor and pick it up. It's the first dozen or so Batman stories and it's quite an eye opener for Batman fans. `The' Batman, as he was originally called, fought villains who were much more fantasy and supernatural than his later rouges gallery of gangsters and psychopaths. The stories also contained a darker, more gothic feel to them including Batman's church spire bat ears. It was from these early stories that Matt Wagner drew inspiration. The first story he borrowed from was a July 1939 tale featuring a one appearance villain named Doctor Death. He didn't use the Doctor but he did pinch his Indian henchmen, Jabah. The other was a story from spring 1940 entitled `Professor Hugo Strange and the Monsters'. In that story Strange would inject normal men with a serum that would transform them, after a time, into massive, brutish monsters. Professor Strange manages to inject Batman in the original story forcing him to come up with a cure before becoming a Monster Man himself. Finally, the story is inspired by The Long Halloween which featured the decline of the traditional gangster in Gotham City as the supervillains took over. In Batman and the Monster Men it's Hugo Strange vs. Sal Maroni.

I generally enjoy the Batman retro stories but this one didn't do much for me. The art is a bit primitive but appropriate for this kind of story. There just wasn't anything particularly memorable. The two main threads of the story included a romance for Bruce Wayne (for the millionth time) and the war between Professor Strange and the mob. Between this story and The Long Halloween it would seem that there couldn't possibly be any gangsters left alive in Gotham City. In fact both stories are conspicuous in that the gang leaders seem shockingly calm as there ranks are cut down like wheat. Since this story precedes The Long Halloween chronologically Sal Maroni has yet to toss acid into the face of DA Harvey Dent and certainly before Calendar put a bullet in his head so we know that Hugo Strange can't possibly kill Maroni. In the end Batman and the Monster Men is much better in concept than it is in execution. In a few months I'll probably forget I even read it. If you want Batman retro go with Batman Year One or better yet grab the Batman Chronicles and get the real deal.

Rating:

- Trite, pointless Batman - Wagner can do better
Make no mistake, I am a huge Batman fan and a Matt Wagner fan to boot. Wagner did great work on Grendel, Mage, and even did great work with Batman in Faces, Trinity and Batman/Grendel I & II. But, this is trite. The story has Batman doing the typical heroic stuff we've seen in countless stories by now, hiding his identity from his current flame, having Alfred cover for him, fighting the bad guys and coming up with an impossible escape.

The story is basic, the bad guy is predicitable, to the point of using Batman's DNA as a template for creation of the super-monster as well.

While others may disagree, there is nothing here that is new, inventive or truly original. When compared to other great Batman stories (Arkham, Dark Knight, Year One, etc.) this story is mediocre.

Wagner has proved he can do better, read any of the stories I listed above instead.

Rating:

- An underated classic!
Probably the best Batman story of 2005. Matt Wagner is one of the best Writer/Artist to contribute to batman in the last few years and has produced work that stands shoulder to shoulder with classic stories by the Likes of Frank Miller, Alan Moore and Grant Morrison.
This tale takes place right after the events of Batman: Year One, and reintroduces Dr. Hugo Strange as the first "Super-Villian" to face the Dark Knight. Also like Miller's Year One, the story adapts and expands on the work of Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Taking the 8 page story from 1939/1940 and placing it in current continuity.
Observant readers will also note that the last few pages of this story lead into the classic Batman:Prey storyline (from Legends of the Dark Knight#s 11-15). Another classic Wagner tale, and a worthy sequel to Year One, both in content and quality!

Rating:

- A TALE OF BATMAN'S EARLY CAREER
"Batman & the Monster Men" collects the six issue limited series into trade paperback format and is written and illustrated by Matt Wagner. Wagner sets this story in early Batman history, just about a year or so after the caped crusader first made his appearance in Gotham City. One of the advantages of setting a story in the past like this is that it gives the writer some poetic license to re-envision things as he likes and Wagner takes advantage of this in several ways. One is in the introduction of the Batmobile after Batman's first remote controlled, and rather mundane looking vehicle is destroyed in a crash. There's a rather amusing scene in the book when Alfred sees the car for the first time and wonders why Batman doesn't add tailfins to make it look even more like a bat...and idea that Batman takes quite seriously.

Another new Wagner take is Batman's first encounter with Professor Hugo Strange. Strange first appeared in Detective Comics #36. His appearance actually preceded the first appearance of the Joker by a couple of months. In this story, Strange is regarded as a rather crackpot scientist doing work in genetic research. He rounds up lost, homeless men off the streets to use as test subjects, and eventually mutates several into hulking monsters with a taste for human flesh. Besides Strange, the story's other main villain is local mobster Sal Maroni who is loaning Strange the money for his experiments. What he doesn't know is that Strange is using his monsters to bust up illegal gambling houses run by Maroni and stealing the money. He's using the mobster's own money to pay him back!

A subplot involves Bruce Wayne's girlfriend Julie Madison whose father is wealthy industrialist Norman Madison whose financial troubles also force him to go to Maroni for a substantial loan. Batman has an early encounter with three of Strange's monsters and barely escapes with his life. The battle shows how resourceful Batman is, even at this early stage. Meanwhile Strange is fascinated by Batman's sheer ability and wants to use his DNA for future experiments.

"Batman & the Monster Men" is the perfect story for Wagner's grim and gritty art style. Even the few daytime scenes are overcast against a pink sky giving the story a very noir-ish feel to it. Jim Gordon has not become commissioner yet, holding the rank of Captain, but he's already established a rapport with Batman and doesn't hesitate to call him in when the mutilated bodies are found at the illegal gambling operations. Look quick at the newspaper article about a criminal called the "Red Hood" who falls to his death in a vat of chemicals. This is, of course, reference to the identity of man who would later become the Joker.

Wagner shows why he is one of the best!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

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