Written by Paul Dini, James Tynion IV, Emma Rios,
J.H. Williams III, G. Willow Wilson
Art by Max Fiumara, Andy Kubert, Emma Rios,
Tradd Moore, Greg Smallwood,
Dexter Soy, J.H. Williams III
Published by DC Comics
We live in the time of endless ‘90s reboots, so why not bring back Batman: Black and White?
This old man remembers the first go-round on this premise, where motley crews of big-name comic book talent got to spin short stories about Batman and his cast of characters.
But wait, you say.
This is the second reboot of B:B&W. The first limited series ran in 1996, and the second ran in 2013-14.
Plus the backpage stories that ran in the Batman: Gotham Knights title.
And the ever-growing assortment of statues based on artists such as Steve Rude, Lee Bermejo, and everyone in between.
So, while Batman: Black and White never really went away, it’s back again.
And, yes, the magic continues, with meditations on the Dark Knight ranging from surreal and expressionistic to film noir and the twistedly sentimental.
2020 burrows itself deep into this issue. Many of the B:B&W stories key into the endless nature of Batman’s war on crime, with a metatextual nod to Batman as an 80-year-old publication whose story is told and retold again and again.
It’s hard to live through the past nine months of coronavirus plague, isolation, upheaval and death, and not sympathize with Bruce Wayne’s long defeat. For every battle won, the war keeps going, and the casualties keep mounting.
Emma Rios, in her haunting tale, “Sisyphus,” puts a surrealist spin on a time-honored ritual: the Bat-Signal is lit, and Bruce Wayne descends into the cave, only to emerge as the Batman, racing toward the city he protects.
But in Rios’ story, Bruce metaphorically – and maybe physically – dissolves and rots away. The Batman is given new flesh and bone in this womb that is the cave, and he is born again to avenge the innocent and punish the wicked.
J.H. Williams III evokes genuine excitement from me whenever he turns up on a page. His innovative, evocative, and sometimes all-out bonkers takes on the sequential art form basically defy the term. I could spend hours pouring over his splash pages in his story, “Weight,” as we see beautifully rendered impressions of art throughout Batman’s 80-year history as he encounters his endless parade of foes.
Sadly, the ending – very much a 2020 ending – felt cheap, though heartfelt. Williams employs an art conceit based around mother Martha Wayne’s pearls as a bridge to COVID-19, and that plane just didn’t land for me.
That’s how high the bar is on these Batman: Black and White stories. Even a blunder has to be a thrilling one.
Lucky for us, there are many more thrills and engaging takes on Batman and other characters.
The opening story, “The Demon’s Fist” by James Tynion IV and Tradd Moore, is told from the POV of a fighter in the League of Shadows. In metatextual commentary, this zealot of Ra’s Al Ghul – a nameless, faceless wretch for Batman to beat the crap out of on his way to the big bad – states that he has no identity of his own, for he sacrificed it to his master. Moore’s fluid artwork that depicts Batman’s defeating every single ninja in hand-to-hand combat as a Japanese-styled tapestry of Batman moving in sequence against the horde.
Funny enough, Batman versus a horde of warriors from the League of Shadows shows up again thanks to Paul Dini and Andy Kubert’s “First Flight.” This time, the Caped Crusader battles a bunch of ninja Man-Bats in the Batcave, as he employs a number of historical Bat-vehicles and gadgets. Kubert’s art is as bold and contrast-y as usual, and Dini’s final twist is killer.
Many great Batman stories tell of monsters, and that Batman is Bruce Wayne’s monster to battle other wicked monsters. We see that interplay best in “Metamorphosis” by G. Willow Wilson and Greg Smallwood. Finally, to have these two on a Batman story!
Wilson is most famous for creating Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan and writing relatable characters that push the boundaries of diversity and representation. And Smallwood, after his grand run on Marvel’s Batman, Moon Knight, finally illustrates the proper Dark Knight. This quick story features a ton of your favorite noir angles and plot turns where nobody wins.
Dating back to when Mark Chiarello shepherded the first collection of stories under this moniker, DC has set a high bar for Batman: Black and White as a special kind of limited series. Some stories are serious, others comedy, but all of them draw on Batman’s noir roots and tie into the nature of Batman, both in his world and as a printed character in ours.
This new batch doesn’t disappoint much at all. Even in a time of deep Batman oversaturation, there are still fun things to say about him.
Looking forward to the next issue.
