| Comic Review | Dana Place |
Batman
and the
Mad Monk #1 (of 6)
Story and Art: Matt Wagner
Colors: Dave Stewart
Letters: Rob Leigh
Plot: Set in the early days of Batman’s career, when Jim
Gordon was “captain” and no one knew of the Batman. Batman
has his second run in with the Catwoman and starts to wonder
why there are so many costumed villains suddenly popping up
all over the place. Meanwhile, his personal life as Bruce
Wayne is obviously taking a back seat to his night job and
his social life is suffering. A pattern of murders start
popping up all over town where the victims are all drained
of their blood.
Review: I am little leery of reviewing Matt Wagner’s run on
Batman because I have never read a Matt Wagner book I didn’t
like and I think he is one of the few writers I lose my
objectivity with. That said, this one is no different. Matt
seems to have a good handle on the basics of the Caped
Crusader’s underlying issues, and blends them effortlessly
in this book. His
run
has been (and in this continuation still is) more of a
detective story than a superhero book and I think that is
the best way to play these early Batman stories. The book
reads and looks like a 40s detective comic starring a
detective with extraordinary abilities who happens to wear a
cape and cowl. Being a fan of the Batman character and
comics I think fellow fans will really enjoy Wagner’s take
on his early years. The book as a comic is a good read and
even the casual reader will enjoy the story enough to make
it a regular monthly buy.
Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of
Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance
preview books for review purposes.
