Batman '89 #1. Written by the 1989 film's writer Sam Hamm, with art by Joe Quinones. Something I have been waiting for. But did the anticipation drive up expectations so that reading the actual comic book falls short?
The first part of the issue is essentially a set up to get the reader back into the Batman '89 mindset. Except it quickly becomes obvious this is not really Batman 1989, i.e. a bridge between Batman and Batman Returns. No this is more like Batman '94, set some time after Batman Returns. And in a lot of ways, this issue seems to have a lot more in common in tone and character portrayals with the Daniel Waters penned Returns than with Sam Hamm's own 1989 script.
Harvey Dent is the main character of this issue, and we open on his marriage proposal to Barbara Gordon. Wait... what? Yep, you read that right. Now, I'm not much of a Barbara Gordon fan. It seems like whenever she pops up in a franchise, things go down hill. The 1960s Batman TV Series. Batman The Animated Series. Batman & Robin (although technically that was "Barbara Wilson"). So to see her right off the bat in this comic... eh. Harvey's fixation of a double headed coin, not referenced at all in the 1989 movie, is heavily explored here, and then we get a great Batman action sequence that involves a giant penny. Harvey visits Bruce at Wayne Manor to try to get him to join with him to rid Gotham of Batman, and force Commissioner Gordon out of the police force. This seems vaguely like a rehash of the Max Schreck story line from Batman Returns. We get more background, sort of an origin, on Harvey. Then Batman attempts to stop a robber who stole diapers and baby food for his kid, and Batman is ambushed by another costumed figure who is obviously going to turn out to be either Barbara Gordon or Drake Winston.
Joe Quinones' art is excellent, but only Billy Dee Williams' likeness is truly captured. All the other characters, like Bruce, Jim Gordon, and Alfred, have a more vagueness to them. Bruce, in particular, is far too gray. Perhaps DC couldn't get clearance to use the actors' likenesses... but do they need permission if they own the original material? Gray area, I know. Quinones puts in a lot of Easter egg callbacks to Prince's Bat Dance video.
Sam Hamm's script is, frankly, a far cry from his 1989 movie script, or his unused script for Batman II, but it is still miles better than most of the Batman comic book scripts of the past decade or so, and after this six-issue miniseries ends, I'd love to see Hamm and Quinones become the regular creative team on either Batman or Detective. However, making Barbara Gordon such a major character so quickly in, and the rumors the comic will utilize the Batman Returns concept of Marlon Wayans as Drake Winston/The Kid, a choice that was widely and universally panned, instead of the actual 1989 concept of Ricky Addison Reed as Dick Grayson/Robin, factors into the answer to the question I asked at the beginning of this review. Does this issue fall short of the anticipation and expectations? In a word, yes. This issue earns a C+.
1 comment:
I just don't see Billy Dee Williams playing a villain. Tommy Lee Jones replaced Dee Williams for Batman Forever and Jones did an amazing job as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Tim Burton wanted to cast Kieffer Sutherland as Robin/Dick Grayson in Batman'89, but he was never used. Marlon Wayans was cast for Batman Returns, but never used again, due to too many characters. Then Chris O'Donnell finally played Robin in both Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. That's why Batman'89, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, and Batman & Robin were part of the same universe, despite the what if comic book follow up to the first two and three different actors.
Post a Comment