Batman and the Mad Monk #1 of 6
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: Matt Wagner
Company: DC Comics
One of the most compelling things to me about the Batman “mythos” is the fact that he is just a man dressed up in a bat suit, swinging from buildings and fighting bad guys. He isn’t an alien like Superman or an Amazonian Princess molded from clay like Wonder Woman. He is just a man. During Infinite Crisis and a bit before, Batman was the dominant animal and Bruce Wayne (an interesting character in his own right) was left in the dust. Sure, Grant Morrison and Paul Dini are trying to bring that idea back to the forefront, adding their own unique flairs and allowing Bruce Wayne the scene a little more, but so far I’m not quite sold with their takes on the idea. Both are missing something, something crucial, a kind of balance between Bruce Wayne and his alter ego that a Batman title needs.
Enter Matt Wagner. Early this year, Matt Wagner (Trinity/Mage) and DC released Batman and the Monster Men, a re-launch of Batman during his early days. It takes place a year after Frank Miller’s Batman: Year One and was one of the best Batman books I’ve ever read. It managed to do what I thought a Batman book needed. Being a quintessential mystery that was both heartfelt, well spun and had beautiful artwork, it also gave every character the limelight they deserved, including Bruce Wayne. It was exactly what I wanted and the Batman that starred in it was exactly the Batman I fell in love with as a kid. There were no gimmicks, no armor or Oracle, no Robin or Nightwing, there‘s just a man in a costume, a master tactician, an uber-detective and a millionaire armed with nothing more than a utility belt and a need to do right in a city gone wrong.
In Batman and the Mad Monk (another six issue mini-series), we find that same man, flawed and still learning the ins and outs of the city he has sworn to protect. But now, with the Monster Men gone and the Falcone mob on the ropes, there is a new threat that looms on the horizon, one even more dangerous and murdersome. Two bodies have already been found, their throats torn out and their bodies drained of blood. Can Batman; a mere vigilante that is barely trusted by the populace put a stop to this new threat?
Filled with awesome appearances by Catwoman, James Gordon and love interest Julie Madison, Wagner’s storytelling alone goes above and beyond what I had expected it could, building yet another tale rife with mystery, murder and swift action that just grabs you and doesn‘t seem to let go. He gets these characters, knows their essences and mannerisms. He’s inside their heads and allows you, the reader, to view the mindset of every single character that happens to appear on the page, even Bruce Wayne/Batman‘s, which is almost unheard of and can be considered a rare gem.
Wagner’s writing ability is only rivaled by his own artistic talents. The two pieces blend perfectly in this book. His art is gorgeous to look at and captures the gloom and doom of Gotham’s cityscape, while still allowing the rich characters and all of their abundant energy to burst off of the page.
This is what I want my Batman books to be. If every single Batman had this same feel and look, this much energy, I honestly would buy every issue instead of waiting for the trade. This is a definite must for any Bat-Fan out there and even if you’re not a fan of the Caped Crusader, give it a try. You never know, you might like it.
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Batman and the Mad Monk, like Monster Men, is a perfect blend of everything that makes Batman who he is and should be. Elements from Year One and the Loeb/Sale follow-ups, a plot spun from the very early Batman comics (just like Monster Men), Julie Madison as a woman worth wooing ala beloved Batman flames Silver St. Cloud or Vicki Vale, a badass take on Jim Gordon…
Love this book.
29 Aug 2006 at 12:32 pm
QuoteSee, I don’t get the appeal of the book. It reads like a rather ordinary Batman book to me. Not bad, per se, but nothing special either.
Note: Julie Madison is the original Batman flame. She was his fiancee in Golden Age stories, pre-Robin. It’s my understanding that Wagner’s Batman books are all about updating Golden Age ideas from the original Batman stories.
29 Aug 2006 at 1:43 pm
QuoteReally, you don’t dig on the Wagner Batman? Wow. It’s absolutely my favorite Batman stuff from the past few years. Part of that is that I love Wagner’s art, but I also think his more “classic” take on these characters interests me more than the overly angsty Batman we’ve had in recent years.
Both of these books are indeed based on golden age stories. Having read the original “Hugo Strange’s Monster Men” story just today, though, I can confirm that “inspired by” is about as much as you could credit the originals with, as Wagner’s stories are considerably different.
29 Aug 2006 at 6:08 pm
QuoteWell, I haven’t gotten around to reading the Golden Age stories but I will now since I know that Wagner’s books are inspired by them. Thanks for the info Don.
29 Aug 2006 at 6:30 pm
QuoteI see where Don’s coming from. I really dig on Wagner’s Batman, but it’s a sort of meat and potatoes approach, and mines familiar Year One territory. Now it’s really GOOD meat and potatoes, but it probably wouldn’t ever make a “favorite Batman stories” list for me (well, *almost* for the art).
By contrast, I remember being really taken with Wagner’s Legends of the Dark Knight story “Faces” from the 90s. Been ages since I’ve re-read it, but I remember it having stronger thematic resonance and maybe a bit more sophistication.
Still, after years dense with gloomy Bat-crossovers and Batman getting his ass handed to him, there IS something about Wagner just taking him back to more triumphant times. What I like about the Year One “oevre” is that it always tends to show a Batman struggling, but a Batman who’s also quite the badass. There’s no baggage of Jason’s Todd’s death, Barbara’s crippling, Essen’s death, etc., and I like that. The ommission of all that history gives us a more potent, more pure Batman. I think that’s when I like him best.
29 Aug 2006 at 8:01 pm
QuoteI don’t remember “Faces” that well, but I do remember loving every page of “Batman/Grendel”.
29 Aug 2006 at 8:25 pm
QuoteThis sounds pretty interesting. I’ve never been into trades, having always prefered singles, but recently became a fan when a friend sent me a couple trades. I passed on this and “Monster Men” in singles because I just don’t have the money to buy as many books as I would like, so I stay away from a lot of mini’s. With my new found enjoyment of trades, I will have to pick this up when it is out as a trade and possible the Monster Men trade as well. Helps to get them online at a 40 or 50 percent discount.
Thanks for the review and peaking my interest in the book.
30 Aug 2006 at 2:11 pm
QuoteHey guys, good luck with this site, having recently gotten back into comics again I have been on the lookout for good reviews sites and find the comments on places like The Fourth Rail and others helpful in checking out new books, best wishes for a long run here and I will hereby make my first posting on a comics site…!
I picked up the Monster Men series a couple of weeks back and loved it (I was able to get all the issues cheap as a comic shop near me unfortunately closed down and discounted all their stock by 75%). This series took me right back to picking up Year One as a teenager and fits perfectly with that milieu of a Batman still working on the classic mythos that we have come to know and love and making mistakes (!) along the way. I love the stylized, pulp noir art by Wagner and the touches of humour (a couple of lines by Alfred had me laughing out loud, always a sign of an enjoyable read).
This new series looks to be a similarly fun ride, some great narrative moments (”On his lips, just the hint of a smile”) and nice to see Gordon kick some tail before being sidelined by a nasty smoker’s cough at a critical moment in a fight; “Damn. Stupid. Habit”. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that happen in a comic book before, but it makes sense. And I like that Batman at this early point in his career still has far more enemies than friends and is largely mistrusted and/or feared.
Before this series started I was thinking it would be great to see Wagner adapt the story of Batman’s first encounter with the Joker, but since a brief reference is made in this first issue of Mad Monk to that already having happened, that now doesn’t seem likely. Odd that no one has tackled a modernization of that classic Golden Age story, at least as far I have heard.
31 Aug 2006 at 7:34 pm
QuoteCoros, glad you like the site. I myself haven’t heard of any rumors tackling that certain subject, and I’m actually kind of glad for that. I for one enjoy seeing the small villains, like Hugo Strange in the Monster Men, and sort of the odd guys that Batman used to fight in his early years get the spotlight. I remember a comic in the 80’s where Batman was fighting a guy in a hockey outfit who fired explosive hockey pucks (Can’t remember his name)! I mean, that’s the sort of odd and fun villains I want to see and Wagner’s so far, is doing a bang up job!
31 Aug 2006 at 7:47 pm
QuoteCoros, there have been a few stories that modernized Batman’s first encounter with the Joker, but none of ‘em are easy to find in trade. I remember that Legends of the Dark Knight #50 (or maybe #100? I’m pretty sure it was #50, with swanky gold-embossed Brian Bolland cover) was a retelling of the Joker’s first encounter with Batman.
I’m kind of with Nick, though, in thinking that it’s cool to see Batman face off with some other adversaries. I especially like seeing new (well, old) adversaries like the Mad Monk, although I suppose he could yet be revealed to be a known villain in a different guise.
You’re right about those great moments, though, Coros. Alfred has some true wit, and it’s limited in dosage so it doesn’t become overwhelming. Batman has a lot of enemies, and he is feared and mistrusted, but he has a fairly rock solid friendship with the other incorruptible man in Gotham, Jim Gordon. It’s a perfect balance, in a lot of ways, of elements that can, when overemphasized, become tiresome, but when thrown in carefully like measured spices in food, turn out just right.
31 Aug 2006 at 7:51 pm
QuoteOh yeah, I completely forgot about that Legends of the Dark Knight #50. Just had a skim through it and it seems to be a completely different tale of their first meeting. I’m thinking of the ending of Year One, where Gordon makes a comment that some nutcase called the Joker is threatening to poison Gotham’s water supply. I’d like to see a creator of Wagner’s calibre tackle an update of that one (and wasn’t he called the Red Hood in that first story, which the resurrected Jason Todd has now apparently assumed that identity).
Good call on the weird and wacky obscure villains though and that is one of the strong points of the Batman saga. I remember in the 80’s he would fight villains like Catman and the Calendar Man who would no doubt seem silly today. Hockey puck man takes the cake, though.
31 Aug 2006 at 11:47 pm
QuoteI finally..finally got this book this week! The art as always from Wagner is a treasure to hold in my hands. I loved Monster Men and could not wait for this book. After reading issue one I’m not as pumped as I was hoping I would be. It’s still a very good read but this is obviously a set up for the remainder of the series and that had to do with some of my slight..slight disappointment. Make no mistake I’m on this til the final issue. Loved seeing Gordon kicking @$$ on some bought and paid for cops. Put me in mind instantly of Year One.
02 Sep 2006 at 12:16 am
QuoteOn the subject of Batman’s first dust-up with the Joker…
Maybe I missed a post, but am I right that no mentioned Ed Brubaker’s quite recent one-shot, Batman: The Man Who Laughs? It’s a modernist retelling of Batman’s first Joker confrontation that came out in ‘05 as a prestige-format book. I can barely remember it myself - so obviously it didn’t strike me overly much - but when I Googled it, I saw that Randy was pretty into it at the time.
Behold:
http://tinyurl.com/f9yek
02 Sep 2006 at 2:46 am
QuoteThat’s funny, I’d completely forgotten The Man Who Laughs. That was a pretty good Joker vs. Batman early days story, actually.
02 Sep 2006 at 11:40 am
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