Batman #436 (1989)

Batman #436 (August, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three - Part One: Different Roads"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Pencils - Pat Broderick
Inks - John Beatty
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $0.75

Had such a good time discussing Batman: Year Two earlier in the week, I figured why not hit up Year Three?  Here we learn that Batman didn't take on a boy sidekick until his third year... which would kinda blow that "five-year timeline" the New-52! wanted to establish outta the water, no?

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We open with Batman watching a ganged-up party take place on a yacht in beautiful, scenic Gotham Harbor... or Bay... or wherever.  He takes notice of the WGCN-TV news copter flying overhead... he thinks it's odd, as usually this time of day that chopper is doing traffic duty over the 101.  Well, that's probably because the helicopter was hijacked by some masked folks who are conducting "gangland style" murders... and do so, in this event by apparently spitting at the yachters.  Okay, okay... they bathe them in a hail of bullets... but tell me that doesn't look like spit?

Batman hitches his bat-line to the landing gear, and goes for a ride... a rather bumpy one.  The baddies inside attempt to give him an up-close and personal introduction to an air traffic control tower... he is, however, able to maneuver so that he springs off the building and dives into the drink... I mean, from the way it's depicted in the art, he flew quite an astonishing distance... like a block and a half at least.  As he pulls himself out, Commissioner Gordon gives him the GCPD Participation Award of "You tried"... and Batman leaves the scene.

We shift scenes to the parole hearing for one Tony Zucco... anyone's ears perk up there?  Anyhoo... Tony is up for parole after having served twelve years for the murder of John and Mary Grayson... remember that number, by the way... They are all set to give him the ol' thumbs up, but understand that they are obliged to listen to any dissenting opinions on the subject... and so, a man is called in to plead his case.

Next we join Dick Grayson as he skulks around Wayne Manor... he mentions that he's been gone for two years now.  He comments how each time he returns, it feels as though he'd never really lived there... even the Batcave feels especially cold.  He wanders through the trophy-case laden area of the cave, and notices that something had been removed since the recent death of his successor-in-tights, Jason Todd.  He does not understand what has become of Bruce in the interim.

He hop back to the hearing... and we find ourselves in flashback mode... to the childhood of Tony Zucco.  Ya see, he was a weak little kid, got picked on by his bully of a father... who in turn was picked on by the street-hoods offering "protection money" to his small sidewalk produce stand.  Young Tony watched as his parents were murdered... seems to be a theme in these Bat-books, don't it?

Tony is taken to live at St. Jude's orphanage, where one day he was found by a novice-nun praying at a statue.  She approaches him to inquire as to what he's praying about... and he responds by saying he was praying for the deaths of the thugs who killed his parents.  She asks him if that would make his parents come back... which doesn't really work on this sociopath... he still wants these dudes dead.

And so... he kills them!  For real... he stabs them both, however, in his haste he left the address of the "hit" scrawled on a piece of paper that the novice-nun Elizabeth was able to find.  For her troubles, she gets slashed in the face.  Real nice, Tony...  I gotta say though, seeing Tony madly dashing through the streets with lightning flashing in the background is an absolute riot!  Over the next little while, Tony worked his way up the ranks of organized crime.  He was known as "Book" because he kept notes on just about everything.

The parole board stops the man from continuing his story for a moment.  They've heard all of this before... thank you, good day... all that jazz.  The man, however, tells them to settle down, he's not talking about the people Tony killed... he wants to tell them about the Grayson who lived.  Dick Grayson... whose parent were taken from him almost ten years ago.  Waitasec, how was Tony in prison for twelve years for a crime he committed less than a decade ago?

Another flashback... this time we're at Haly's Circus (I always thought it was Haley's... but, who knows).  Young Dick Grayson is everyone's pal... everyone's favorite tot.  He gets along swimmingly with everybody... hell, even Elinore the elephant seems to be infatuated with him.  One day, a family approaches the Flying Graysons for a photo... they have a young son named Tim, who is of absolutely no significance and we'll probably never eeeeeever see again.

Who's that boy?

Before the show, Dick overhears Tony Zucco hustling Mr. Haly for some "protection money"... hmmm.  Well, Old Man Haly tells him and his associates to hit the skids.  That night during the show... well, we all know how that goes.  The Graysons plummet from the trapeze to their tragic demise.

In the moments that follow, the initial shock sorta passes and everyone's eyes move big-topward... it's the Batman.  Dick tells him about what he'd overheard from Zucco... and Batman promises he'll take care of it.  I get the feeling for a second that it's Plastic Man under the cowl, because dude's right hand gets way swollen.

James Gordon arrives on the scene, and it is ultimately decided that Dick should reside at... St. Jude's Orphanage.  Upon arrival, he is handed over to Sister Elizabeth... whose face thankfully didn't scar.  Dick expresses a desire to kill the man who took his parents.  She asks him, like she asked Tony, if that would bring them back.  Dick begins to cry.

We return to the hearing, and we learn that the man speaking before the panel was Alfred.  He gets the whole "we'll take it under advisement" spiel... 

We rejoin Dick in the Batcave, where he is still thinking about how Bruce is dealing... or not dealing, with the death of Jason Todd.  He decides it's time to track the Batman down to chat... as Nightwing!

We wrap up the issue with Batman checking in with who he believes will be the next hit on the "gangland" killing spree.  He bursts into a window to warn the goofballs, however before anyone can flee a helicopter fires a missile into the compound, blowing it to kingdom come.

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Well, it's Dick Grayson's origin innit?  I really like the way this one is framed.  We get some continuation of the ongoing Bat stories, while taking a look at a sorta-kinda updated Robin origin.  Not bad at all.

Could'a done without the "fleshing out" of Tony Zucco.  Seemed to be a thing, where we need to learn about the upbringing of our baddies.  I feel like this works very seldom... I don't want to empathize with Tony frickin Zucco.  I want to think he's a sociopath and a scumbag... not that he was abused as a child... or that he saw his parents killed before his very eyes.

Though, I do get why they did this.  This was a juxtapositional (if that's even a word) look at the similar paths thrust upon a young Tony Zucco and a young Dick Grayson... and from those similar paths how they wound up at two very different destinations.  With that in mind, I suppose it worked as well as it was going to.

Overall... the story was fine.  Like I said, the framing sequence is great.  I like that Dick is trying to chip away at Bruce's unwillingness to address the death of the second Robin, Jason Todd.  This was a strange time for Dick and Bruce... very tense, and a lot of fun to read.  This story is a Robin-stravaganza, as we also meet... ya know, a tiny tot named Tim.  If my sarcasm during the synopsis wasn't horribly explicit enough, that little fella is indeed Tim Drake... and this is his first appearance.

Now, where this issue really struggles... and it kills me to say this... is in the art.  This just does not feel like Pat Broderick, who I usually quite dig... I mean, in a single page we can go from excellent to ehhh to blech.  I made some pithy comments during the synopsis about spitty bullets and mutated arms... but that's really just the tip of it.  I dunno... my "takes" on art are often much different than others... but, I gotta say... a lot of this looks and feels rushed... which isn't to say it was, because the quality levels are quite intermittent throughout.  I dunno... I'm never comfortable criticizing art, but suffice it to say... this was not my cup of tea.

Now despite my few misgivings, this is great book to pick up if you're a Batfan... or Robin-fan especially.  It's always nice to read a Dick Grayson story penned by the great Marv Wolfman.  Shockingly, this one is available digitally.  Glad I'm not a betting man, cuz I'd have lost that one.

Gonna close out with a picture.  I'm a sucker for any issue where Batman chucks a batarang at a dude's head!

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Green Lantern (vol.2) #119 (1979)

Green Lantern (vol.2) #119 (August, 1979)

"The Gravity Connection!"

Story - Denny O'Neil

Pencils - Alex Saviuk

Inks - Dave Hunt

Letters - Ben Oda

Colors - Adrienne Roy

Editing - Jack C. Harris

Cover Price: $0.40

Today we're going to check out a Green Lantern/Green Arrow (though per the indicia, it's just Green Lantern) issue... but not from the famous, socially relevant, and perhaps a bit preachy run... this adventure takes place after that title was cancelled and brought back in the late 1970's.

This issue also allows me to check a year I'd neglected off my list... it's also my birth year, so I was pretty surprised to see I'd not covered anything from it yet.

And hey... another Orange cover!

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We open with Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance pounding the pavement in search of the fabled Raging Red Bull Chili Spice.  Apparently, ol' Scorchy Hernandez gave Ollie the hot tip that it's only available in this one Star City neighborhood.  Unfortunately they are just a scant few moments too late... ya see, old Mrs. Vorpal bought the last six bottles.  The friendly grocer tells the couple that Vorpal's next stop was going to be the drug store... perhaps they can do the old Seinfeld-procuring-a-marble-rye thing.

We shift scenes to our co-star, Green Lantern Hal Jordan.  He's currently hanging around with Guy Gardner's old squeeze, the "gypsy woman" Kari.  She seems to live above a storefront... perhaps her own psychic palm-readery shop.  The address is 666... so, look out!  Inside, Hal and Kari kiss a bit... good thing Guy is currently in a coma.  While we're on the subject... kind of a scuzzy move there, Hal.  Anyhoo... as they kiss, Hal's eyes become fixed on a gaudy thousand-year old... pitcher?  Well, whatever it is... he reaches out and touches it... like we all would around precious millennia-old tchotchkes.  Unsurprisingly... it breaks... however, that's not the story... there is a strange pink hunk of metal floating inside it.  Now Kari's feeling grabby... so, she grabs it.  Her "vision powers" cause her to see a fleet of ships, that look more like folding chairs and beach umbrellas, being pulled toward the planet Saturn.  I guess if she touches something, it tells her a thing or two about the objects owner... maybe?  Well, either way Saturn's in Hal's Sector... and so, he's off.

Back in Star City, Ollie has popped his head into the Pharmacy in search of "the spice".  Of note, he's now in his Green Arrow togs... and it's a damn good thing... as the shop is currently being robbed!  Arrow fires a shot at the would-be robber, and sort of starts mentoring the baddie-in-training.  The druggist decides that one good turn deserves another, and gives Ollie Mrs. Vorpal's address... wouldn'tcha know it, he just missed her!  Oh, and curiously she just bought a pound of rat poison... wonder what she might be up to...

We join Hal 793 million miles from Earth.  He meets up with a crew of space explorers who share their woeful tale... their "Krofel", which is a word that not even the Green Lantern ring can translate, has seized control and they are caught in the immense gravity of Saturn.  Hal and Company set to reclaiming the controls... however, our man gets clunked by a stone.  Ain't that always the way?

We briefly rejoin Ollie and Dinah at home.  The evidently never made it to the Vorpal home... and instead Oliver decided to check out some "drug references" from Speedy's problem a little while back.  Somehow, he recalls there being a mixture of a chemical and... chili.  O-kay.  Dinah tells her man that Hal's gal Kari would be joining them for dinner tonight.

Back near Saturn, we rejoin our man Hal.  He wasn't completely kayoed, and starts blasting away at the rock chunks which make up Saturn's rings... thanks for the science lesson, pal!  He then takes the opportunity to head in to the controls to speak with the "Krofel"... which apparently means "engineers"... maybe?  Anyhoo, we learn that the Krofel cannot utilize the engines to escape the pull due to there being a missing piece.  Wonder what piece that might be...

Back on Earth, Ollie and the ladies sit down to dinner... and this is where it gets weird.  Kari shows her hosts the floating metal hunk she and Hal had found earlier... which somehow causes Ollie to snap his fingers as though to say "Eureka!".  He grabs the glob and proclaims that they have a life to save!

And so... we shift scenes to a construction site, where Mr. Vorpal just finished his late-lunch... it was chili lovingly prepared by his doting wife.  That is to say... poison.  He stands up, gets dizzy... and almost falls to his death from the scaffolding.  Thankfully Ollie-on-the-spot is there to grab him and float down to the ground with the space junk.  On solid ground, Ollie proclaims that ol' Andy is stoned due to a psychedelic mixture of Raging Red Bull Spice and "disulfate mercurochloride"... a helpful editorial note claims that the chemical formula has been modified to "protect everybody"... I cannot figure out what it's a stand-in for, however, I did Google "chili and rat poison", and kind of wish I hadn't.

While Ollie pats himself on the back for his seemingly supernatural powers of deduction, Hal swoops into the scene to swipe the space junk.

He returns to the crew in crisis, and easily snaps the junk into place... and wouldn'tcha know it, everything's a-okay!

Hal returns to Kari's home, and apologizes for "losing" the chunk of space junk.  Aw Hal, Kari's got no need for that... she's only got need for you, cowboy.

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Well yeah... this could've been better.

At it's core... if that statement can even be made about such an issue, there was a decent little adventure here.  Lots of leaps of logic in order to draw our conclusions... but, whattaya gonna do?  I'm a bit torn... I enjoyed Ollie's "half" much more than Hal's, even though not a whole lot happened... and again, big leaps of logic were required to make the story both happen and work.

Hal in space is a subject I'm pretty tepid on even in the best of times.  I always prefer my superheroes to be Earth-bound... but I'm up for an occasional space-romp.  This one, however, I found wildly boring.  Not bad... nor good, just really dull.  None of the alien characters were memorable... and the threat didn't feel urgent despite the story's claims to the contrary.

Ollie's more grounded tale was okay.  I enjoy his banter with (the brunette!) Dinah... and I'm a sucker for any story having to do with Green Arrow's chili.  I'm not sure how Ollie drew the conclusion that ol' Mrs. Whatsherface was going to try and off her husband... as well as the when and where of it... but, again... whattaya gonna do, right?  Also... if not for the odd floaty space junk, would Ollie have just let Mr. Vorpal plummet to his death?  I read through this a couple of times... I kept feeling as though I was skipping pages.  I do love that Dinah is portrayed throughout the entire affair as both doting and questioning why she puts up with this goof.

The inclusion of poor comatose Guy Gardner's old flame... along with Hal horning in on her, is a pretty new concept to me.  I do not have much experience reading stories that feature her.  I do dig how she is portrayed as being friendly with Ollie and Dinah as well.  Gives the book a feeling of family... thought that was cool.  Perhaps coolest of all... or weirdest... is when Kari went to gaze at her autographed photo of Guy.  I love the idea of Guy Gardner signing a 5x7 photo of himself... that's definitely something I'd like to have seen happen!

Overall... this is probably a book you don't need to break your back trying to track down.  The art is nice, though it's most assuredly not Neal Adams.  The story feels "phoned in", and while I'm probably not the biggest fan of the socially relevant GL/GA issues, those at least felt as though O'Neil cared about them.

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Detective Comics #578 (1987)

Detective Comics #578 (September, 1987)
Batman: Year Two - Chapter Four: ... So Shall Ye Reap..."
Writer - Mike W. Barr
Artist - Todd McFarlane
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Letterer - Todd Klein
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $0.75

Let's wrap up our coverage of Year Two... will Batman exact revenge on Joe Chill?  Will Gordon forgive Batman for pulling the wool over his eyes?  Will Bruce and Rachel marry and leave Gotham far behind... well, yeah... probably not that one.

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We open with Joe Chill checking in with his masters.  They are rather displeased to hear that not only the Reaper got away... but that the Batman still breathes air as well.  Chill is semi-apologetic, and tells Mr. Morritz that he'll get'em next time.  We shift scenes to the Reaper as he spies a heavyset older bookworm walking down an alley.  This is apparently a police informer known as "Blinky".  The Reaper puts the fear of God in the poor fool, and feeds him some intel to pass along to the Gotham fuzz.  There's gonna be some crime at the Brayshaw Warehouse this Friday... and ya didn't hear it from me... well, The Reaper... ya didn't hear it from him, cuz if you say you did... you're gonna die.

Next we head to Wayne Manor where "Mawster" Bruce is getting ready for a date with Ms. Caspian.  I dunno why Alfred is suddenly speaking with such a heavy accent... maybe he got punched in the mouth recently.  Bruce takes Rachel out to a hoi-poloi Chinese restaurant... and get this, proposes to her.  Like, for marriage... he arranges it so her engagement ring would be inside her fortune cookie.  Preeeeetty tacky... but, sweet, I guess?  She says yes, by the way.

Before we know it, it's Friday.  Commissioner Gordon has led the GCPD down to Brayshaw Warehouse... which, not surprisingly, is surrounded by armed men.  The cops make quick work of the sentries... by, ya know... killing them... and enter.  There is a firefight between the cops and mobbers... in the distraction of which, The Reaper starts... reaping.  It's a surprisingly bloody scene... I wasn't quite expecting it to be so drippy here.

Batman is soon on the scene, but the officers do not see him as a friendly presence.  They catch him in a spotlight, and open fire.  He swoops down to put out the lights... and does a double noggin-knocker on a pair of officers.  Now it gets weird... he then commandeers a police van, which he drives directly into a crowd of officers!  That doesn't seem right, does it?  You'd figure Batman would probably try and avoid driving into a crowd of cops, right?  Even if to get to The Reaper.  Anyhoo... not sure if there were any casualties here... gonna assume there weren't.

Inside, after presumably running down The Reaper... Joe Chill starts blasting at the van's gas tank... at least, that's what I'm assuming, since it causes a grand explosion.  Everyone is thrown clear... bodies are scattered everywhere... with a few exceptions.  Gordon approaches an injured thug... and learns that Batman was only working with them to get the Reaper.

Shortly... the Bat-Signal illuminates the Gotham City sky for the first time in a little while.  Bruce... well, he doesn't respond.  He's got some other things to attend to... starting with his fiance, Rachel.  He heads to her house... and kind of beats around the bush about something he's going to have to do.  She tells him that hes a good man, and anything he feels he must do, is probably the right thing to do.

Well, Rae... ya see, the thing of it is... he's got the dude who killed his parents stowed away at a top secret hideout... and he intends to kill him.  He wakes Chill up, and leads him to Crime Alley... Chill doesn't quite understand... which only makes this all the better.  He killed the Waynes, and it doesn't even register.  It didn't even matter enough for it to come to mind right away.  That's cold, Chill... pun intended?  I dunno... anyhoo, Batman decides to give him a bit of a refresher... and unmasks to punctuate his point!

There is a struggle... well, no not really... Bruce just pummels the hell outta Chill.  He drops him to his knees... and places his own gun to his head.  Chill is... cool (again, pun!)... he doesn't think Bruce has it in him... he almost dares him to pull the trigger.  Before he can, however... the Reaper blows Joe's brains out.  By looking at the picture, Chill's head is akin to a watermelon that Gallagher Sledge-O-Matic'ed... so much blood!

Well, we've got ourselves a bit of a pickle here, no?  Now The Reaper knows Batman is really Bruce Wayne.  A chase is on, and Batman is led to the skyscraper that has been under construction this whole storyline.  All the while, The Reaper is taunting Batman... referring to their battle as "ironic"... which Bruce doesn't quite understand.  The battle atop the unfinished building... and Bruce is able to get one of The Reaper's scythes... which gives us a panel that is the exact same as the cover of this issue.  Really, now?

This is really just the cover, right?

They continue to fight... to the point in which The Reaper loses his footing.  He now hangs from the girders... and his mask falls off.  Bruce now understands what he meant by "ironic".  Batman reaches out to save Mr. Caspian... who only smiles.  He tells Batman that tonight he's proven that he has it in him to be a killer.  He feels that the Batman is a proper replacement for his Reaper... and so, he lets go... and falls to his death.

We enter our epilogue with Batman "burying" Joe Chill's pistol in the basement of the new Wayne Foundation Building... never to be seen again.  He then visits with his betrothed... who, due to her father's transgressions, feels that her true calling is, in fact, the convent... and thus ends their whirlwind engagement.

Our final scene is in a seedy Gotham neighborhood.  Bruce Wayne and Dr. Leslie Thompkins are standing before a building that is having some signage put up... it is to be Leslie's new clinic... The Thomas Wayne Memorial Clinic.  We end with Bruce telling Alfred to wait for Leslie, as he dons his gear and takes to the Gotham skies.

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Well, this wrapped up as well as it could have been expected to.  All the toys were put back in the box... and I suppose if you were going to insert a story into Batman's early crime-fighting career, this works just fine.  It takes care of the "Joe Chill problem" for the post-Crisis landscape, and gives us a look at both a (relatively) inexperienced and somewhat desperate Batman.

My main issues here are... issue, really... stems from the scene in which Batman is driving directly into the Police Officers.  That just doesn't seem Batmanly to me.  He could have (and, hell, might have) killed or injured a number of innocent cops right then... and for what?  A dramatic entrance?  It's not like he couldn't have gotten in otherwise, right?  Just seems like they wanted a big action bit there... and this is what they came up with.

Bruce is robbed of his final vengeance on Joe Chill... which is really the only way it could have went.  We needed to get Chill out of the picture... and it wouldn't have been proper to have Batman pull the trigger.  I can't say for certain whether he would or not... I'd like to think he wouldn't... though, at that point, he'd already unmasked.  Something would have had to give.  I keep going back to the ending of Joker's Last Laugh from around the turn of the century, where Nightwing killed the Joker... and Batman had to resuscitate him.  I'd figure if he'd bring the Joker back from the brink of death... there's little chance he'd murder Joe Chill in cold blood.

The Reaper "doing the deed" is fine... I think by the time the trigger was pulled we knew he wasn't long for the world.  I mean, he saw Batman without his mask too!  Can't have a baddie in the know running around the DC Universe... can we?  Ahem, anyhoo... his passing was fairly poignant as well.  He seemed to believe he was dying a martyr, only after finding a replacement as ruthless and relentless as himself.  It shines a strange light on Batman as well... making him look inside to discern whether or not that might be true.  Ya know, while on the subject... would Batman have killed The Reaper is given the opportunity?

The Bruce and Rachel relationship... another thing that had to "go away" before we closed out this tale... ended, kind of abruptly, no?  Seems that Ms. Caspian might be prone to act rashly... Bruce raises his eyebrows, she quits the convent... her dad is a murderous vigilante, back to the nunnery.  I mean, by this point she and Bruce weren't just dating... Bruce had proposed marriage, and she accepted!  They were engaged... and she just walked away!  Mustn't have been that strong a relationship.  If my research is right, she'd next appear in an early 90's prestige format Bat-book that features an all-new all-different Reaper... whose identity I won't reveal here, just in case we discuss that one somewhere down the line.

Overall... really glad I revisited this story.  As I've mentioned, it's been years since I'd read this (I first read it in collected edition near the turn of the century)... I may as well have been going in fresh.  Not a perfect story, but enjoyable.  I think most Bat-fans would get something out of it... well worth tracking down and giving it a read.

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Heyyy, we know her!

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