| Batman Confidential #11 |
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| Posted by Mladen Luketin |
07:24 AM Wednesday, 28 November 2007 |
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 The Batman Confidential title has had a difficult go of it since its first issue. Originally created as a tie-in to the Batman Begins franchise, depicting ‘early' adventures of the Batman of Gotham, the series has attempted to cover similar ground to Marvel's ‘Ultimate' line. The results have been less than stellar, especially since DC's popular and innovative ‘Legends of the Dark Knight' series was discontinued to make way for the Confidential title. With fans already inclined to despise the title, and the first awful six issue arc of the series, the current arc has had its work cut out for it. Batman Confidential #11, is the penultimate issue of the title's current "Lovers and Madmen" six-issue arc, written by "Heroes" writer/producer Michael Green and illustrated by classic DC artist Denys Cowan. It depicts a new origin for Batman's arch-foe, the Joker, and has already been met with hostility from the online fan community. It should be noted that although a fair amount of the criticism levelled at it is fair and justified, the current arc is actually much better that popular opinions keep perpetuating. What we are actually getting, for the first time, is a Joker origin which makes sense, a pre-transformation ‘Jack' who is actually interesting, and an imbalanced and unpredictably dangerous ‘young' Batman to match. Green is relatively new to writing comic books, and it occasionally shows, as he resorts to hackneyed and amateurish plot devices to move the story forward, including the much-abused ‘kill/maim the love interest' trick. But the man knows how to write a convincing Joker/Jack, and the interior monologues have thus far been more than perfect, and extremely engaging on nearly every level for this type of book. Dismissing the frankly nonsensical ‘one-bad-day' origin of that other Joker origin (from Alan Moore's classic The Killing Joke) Green has turned Jack's transformation inwards. Before his physical change into the Joker, he is a snake-like, self-obsessed and exceptionally skilled hitman who has lost the passion for his work, shooting and killing out of boredom. He goes as far as to contemplate suicide in the first issue of the series, but the first sight of the ludicrously costumed Batman in action makes him crack a smile for the first time in the run, and the series kicks off with an enticing promise. Jack has at last found a worthy foe, but recognises the irony of a man seriously fighting crime in a Halloween outfit. Throughout his issues as pre-joker Jack, Green writes the character with a keen sense of wit and irony, as well as a shark-like instinct and sociopathic attitude. The transformation builds for days (and issues) before the acid-bath, as Jack grows in audacity and learns to desire the escapism and theatricality of the masked/costume villainy, including the unique touch of having Batman himself inflicting the facial scars which give Jack his memorable grin. While issue 10 (the real highlight of the series) showed us Jack's final acid-wash transformation, issue 11 marks the first full-issue with the Joker in his familiar role as the Clown Prince of Crime. In this issue, Batman, frustrated at his own mistakes and the fact that he himself is responsible for the monster's creation, goes into one of his typical moody and broody states, while the Joker decides to bring a bit of absurdity back to Gotham... of course, by mentally (and physically) scarring children and parents at the circus and launching a ready-to-ignite zeppelin full of razor-sharp pieces of glass over the skies of Gotham, among various other violent acts. The capers themselves are typical of the more extreme unprejudiced crimes we'd expect to see from the chaotic post-Miller Joker, in which the character simply seeks to inflict the most pain and hurt on as many people as possible, usually without any motive other than his own twisted sense of absurdist sadism. If these types of crimes meet your preferred type of Joker story, all the better. Joker's frustration grows as Batman fails to show up to foil the crimes like he used to, all the while Alfred attempting to convince Bruce that he has a responsibility to actually, you know, do something. I must say that this issue really is just padding for the final show-down to come in the arc's next and final issue, and should definitely not be picked up by any reader who has not first read issues seven to ten. I personally found Green's writing for Jack to be much more interesting than his Joker characterisation, and as a whole the Joker himself to be much more dull than the Jack many of us have grown to love in the previous four issues, but Green's Joker is still much more entertaining and multi-faceted than most other attempts to write the character. As for the artwork in the series and this issue, Denys Cowan's work is unique yet uneven. Cowan abstracts and contorts the characters to suit the dynamics of the page and the pace of the story, often to excellent effect. The faces of characters are very intentionally imbalanced, with bodies stretched to physically impossible limits. It may just be an issue of personal taste for readers, but those seeking a ‘straight' looking superhero comic will be disappointed, while those who admire the more abstracted comic-book style will appreciate Cowan's work, especially amid a sea of Jim Lee impersonators. In ‘Confidential', Cowan steers away from his own more classically-proportioned style which we saw in ‘Batman: Blind Justice' and pursues a style similar to his more absurd and physically contorted work on "Lobo: Blazing Chain of Love", yet unfortunately lacking the finesse or control he gave to that excellent comic. Confidential is nowhere near Cowan's best work, but is still a solid effort, and it is good to see an established and prolific artist attempting something new. The characters and environments are drawn in sketchy, frantic serrated inks, while the colouring is sharp and visually appealing, awash in deep purples and muddy oranges, throwing out the toned-down ‘Batman palette', in favour of a louder ranger to suit the roughness of the work, obviously meant to fit the themes of an ‘younger' and ‘rougher' Batman. But although Cowan's intent is clear, only a few panels have been outstanding (the majority of which were in the excellent tenth issue), while the covers for the series, although clearly eye-catching and intentionally simple (so as to stand-out on a shop shelf packed with flashy covers), seem for the most part to be incomplete and rushed, which is a real disappointment after the outstanding and graphically pleasing cover for issue 7, the first in this arc. The overall effort from Cowan comes across as slapdash and uneven over the range of issues, but at times is excellent, and still unique among a sea of dull trend-followers. But despite its many flaws, and ignoring the typical fan-response (which of course is to not read it and then pretend to others that you have done so), Batman Confidential's "Lovers and Madmen" arc is easily one of the best Joker origins ever told. This may be a contentious claim, but the fact that Green is not afraid to do away with the baggage of the classic Batman and Joker origins, including the campy ‘Red Hood' concept, or Moore's overly poetic and illogical ‘one bad day' scenario, is testament that he really is trying something which has only been hinted at previously in Joker stories, but never actually delivered. Green and Cowan offer the frightening question of what happens when the coldest and most dangerous professional criminal in Gotham loses all semblance of morality, self control, and sanity. Let the shark loose in the waters, and watch how he plays. Pick this series up from issue 7 if you can, rather than issue 11, or wait for the collected trade. Be warned, the violence in this arc and (especially) this issue is definitely not for children. Comments (0) |
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