Batman #439 (1989)

Batman #439 (September, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three, Chapter Four: Resolutions"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Pat Broderick
Inker - Michael Bair
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.00

I come to you today in recovery mode.  I think I've got full smell back in one nostril... which is a step up from the past few days.  With things looking up, let's jump right into the final part of Year Three.  I'm experimenting with adding "pages" to the humble blog, and look forward to putting one together for the Batman "Year" stories in the very near future.

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Picking up right where we left off, we see the bloody and perforated body of Tony Zucco sprawled on the ground.  Nightwing is laying into Batman... certain is he that his old partner knew this was what was waiting for Zucco's first steps as a free man.  Batman assures him this wasn't the case... he didn't want to make a move on Zucco because he was afraid he would have killed him for what he did to Dick.  Before the two can properly hash things out, Batman leaves.

We join Batman on his ride home.  Along the way he is listening to a radio story discussing the pending closure of St. Jude's Orphanage... he then switches stations to hear an address being given by Zucco's pal and parole boarder, Mr. Taft.  He brings light to Zucco's ledger in front of the press... playing it real cool.  He's acting as though he is truly concerned, however, Batman realizes that he's trying to spark something in the gangsters to, well... find that book.

By now, both Batman and Nightwing are back at the Batcave.  Batman decides he's going to follow up on some of his theories and go about fetching that book.  Dick asks if he wants company... and, Batman makes it pretty clear that he doesn't.

Batman leaves Dick and Alfred in the Cave.  The two reminisce about the former's custody hearing all those years ago.  We watch as Bruce Wayne takes the stand and pleads his case.  He believed he would be the best person to raise the orphan because they both lost their parents to criminals.  Mr. Haly, Sister Mary Elizabeth, and Dick himself agree that Bruce is very likely the best man for the job.  They end their conversation with Dick setting out to try his own luck tracking down the Zucco ledger.

We catch up with Batman... who is just wrecking fools left and right.  He's kicking in crotches, and busting up jaws.  He finally comes across his bounty... Mr. Drexel... the same fella from last ish.  He roughs him up quite a bit... and gets him to spill a very cryptic line about Zucco's "beginning" being the rival gangs' "ending".  The Bat's got no time for this crap, and so, he tosses Drexel into a wall.

Batman's next stop is a bar where some of the rival gangs are killing one another to find the book.  Batman tells them to call off the search... and go about their normal lives, otherwise there's gonna be trouble.  Initially, they are resistant... but after a few broken bones, they come around.  Batman's brutality knows few bounds at this point.  Without the gangs snooping around, Batman feels as though he can conduct his own investigation unhindered by nonsense.

We meet back up with Dick who is in Mr. Drexel's bathroom while the man himself is taking a shower.  Nightwing alerts him to his presence and starts asking the tough questions.  Drexel's confused... he already spilled whatever beans he has to Batman.  Nightwing's all... me and him don't talk too much these days... and he gives him the same hub-bub about beginnings and endings.  Dick, having his head on straight, immediately considers the Orphanage.  He voices his thoughts out loud, unfortunately, because Mr. Taft is lurking behind the door.  After Nightwing leaves, Taft makes poor Drexel very dead.

We rejoin Bruce at the Manor where he is talking to Alfred.  He shares Drexel's "riddle" with his butler... who, thankfully is quite up on his Tony Zucco trivia... he suggests the Orphanage might be the key to it all... after all, it's just about to be demolished... if Zucco wants his book, now would be the time.

Speaking of the orphanage... Dick Grayson is already there.  He comes across Sister Mary Elizabeth who offers him shelter from the rain under her umbrella.  He introduces himself as Nightwing... from the Titans.  The Sister tells him she him... very well.  Hmm... wonder what that can mean?  And that's not me being cryptic... I do not think this comes up again.

The subject of Zucco comes up, and she mentions seeing him with a bucket heading away from the bell tower.  This makes Nightwing wonder if he might have hid the ledger there... and wouldn'tcha know it... he did!

Unfortunately, Mr. Taft sneaks up behind him as he's thumbing through the book.  Dick dodges the first few blows, but a well-timed whack with a tire iron puts him down.  At this point, Batman has arrived on the scene.  He watches in horror as Taft relentlessly beats Nightwing with the iron... flashing back to the Joker doing something similar with a crowbar.

Nightwing is able to get his footing, and starts taking the fight back to Taft.  He knocks the goof to the ground and goes back to the ledger.  Taft returns to his feet and charges at our man... luckily, Batman is there to get his attention... though, rather than call out "Nightwing!" he yells "Dick!"  That's pretty sloppy, no?  Anyhoo, Dick is able to sidestep Taft who plummets off the belltower.  Amid the chaos Nightwing drops the ledger... the wind takes the pages every which way.

We wrap up the issue, and the story... it's clarified that Taft wanted the ledger because it held secrets about him in it... which, we already knew.  Bruce expresses great pride in Dick's detective skills... and recognizes that he has become quite a man over the years.  As for Dick himself, he's sharing the story with two very important people.

--

That all came to a head pretty quick, eh?

Sometimes it feels as though I have to retrain myself to read these older stories.  I have very little doubt had this story been told today it would fill at least six issues... and, hell... probably wouldn't have had any closure.  Wrapping up this story so swiftly almost makes me feel... I dunno, underwhelmed.  After so much build over the past four issues, we get our big climactic fight in just a scant handful of pages.

I was kind of hoping that the Zucco hit was going to be proven to be a fabrication... and he'd still somehow be the big bad of the story.  Maybe give Dick a measure of retribution... or at least the opportunity to get some stuff off his chest.  Instead, we get some stuffed suit... ehhh.

Speaking of the stuffed suit, I really dug the parallels between Jason being beaten by the Joker and Dick getting whacked with the tire iron.  It was very well done, though Broderick's Joker is still just a bit too Wolvie-looking for my tastes.  I thought it was interesting that the very sight of the offense caused Batman to lose his objectivity and rationality... he actually yelled out for "Dick" (minds outta the gutter, please) within earshot of the bad guy.  That seems pretty sloppy for our Dark Knight Detective.

While on the subject of "detective"... I thought it was cool that Bruce accepts that Dick has become one helluva detective in his time.  He'd actually sussed out the ledger before he did.  Hell, we've been following this story for four issues by this point, it seems like Nightwing's been one step ahead of the Batman the entire way.  I mean, I know our writer might have a Titan-ic bias here... but this was told in a way that shone a light on Dick's experience and Bat-education.  It wasn't done to show that he is in any way better than Batman (now, there's a terrible name for a story)... it was done to show how effective a teacher the Batman is... and what an apt student Nightwing had been.

In conclusion... this is a story that bat-fans should familiarize themselves with.  Now that they've re-retconned the Titans back into Dick's history, this one very well might sorta-kinda still be in continuity... it's well worth tracking down and checking out.  It is, of course, available digitally... perhaps one day we'll see a collection.  Gonna put this on my "TPB wish-list" right next to Wild Dog and Angel Love.

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We used to stop in at a deli on our way home from the comic store when I was a kid to buy a mini-bag of Doritos and a Snapple Tru-Root Beer, that had this arcade machine in it.
Never played it though.

Batman #438 (1989)

Batman #438 (September, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three, Chapter Three: Turnabout"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Pat Broderick
Inker - John Beatty
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $1.00

Still feeling the sick.  Let's get right to it.

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We pick up right where we left off.  Alfred is now sitting on his bed and he's holding a very oddly-shaped gun.  He considers the possibility of snuffing out Zucco... he ultimately decides he cannot cross that line... not even for Master Dick.  He figures there's gotta be a better way.  Speaking of Nightwing, we catch up with him as he rides to the next hit.  Along the way he flashes back to the events of A Death in the Family, which features a Wolverine-haired Joker beating young Jason to a pulp.

At the crime scene, Commissioner Gordon is giving a statement to the press.  Nightwing heads around back and asks if it's cool for him to snoop around a bit.  The Detective on duty says it's fine, however, doubts anything will turn up... and thus, proves how ineffectual the Gotham City Police Department can be.  It doesn't take long for Dick to turn up a a silk thread from a parachute as well as a bit of glass with a fingerprint on it.  Okay... I can see the cops mayyyybe missing the thread... but a fingerprint?  C'mon...

We shift scenes to Batman as he stands before a pack of gun-wielding mobsters.  He plays it cool, and tells them if they kill him, he can no longer protect them from whoever's out there head-hunting.  Basically, he's their best (perhaps only) hope of survival.

Before we get an answer... we pop back over to Alfred.  He's at the generically named Gotham Prison, and has requested a face-to-face audience with Tony Zucco.  Surprisingly enough, it's granted.  He sits in front of the killer... and produces a checkbook.  He is prepared to let Zucco name his price... in exchange, however, he must leave Gotham upon release.  Zucco finds this rather laughable... which, if the art is any indication, appears to shake Pennyworth to his very core.

Alfred returns to the Batcave, and finds Nightwing computering away.  He's been able to deduce that the fingerprint he found belongs to a fella named Sherman Saticoy.  Before going any further, we hop back to Batman... who is in the middle of a firefight.  Looks like the baddies didn't take him up on his offer.  It's not long before the tables are turned, and they're all staring down the barrel of a gun themselves.  Hey, another "Year" story, another bit of Batman holding a gun.

Suddenly, the mobsters are a bit more receptive to the chat.  They start talking about the other "bosses" in town, and the name Zucco comes up... sending Batman into flashback mode.  He thinks back to a time that he and Robin busted up a Zucconian drug deal... and a time he stuffed several dozen bats into a tiny box to scare him.  Not sure how that worked, but we'll roll with it.  Back in the present, Batman learns about the fabled Tony Zucco book.  You know the one...

At this point, the mobsters are interested in joining forces with the Batman.  They take him to the cruddy apartment of a man called Drexel.  He's been in Zucco's employ for awhile, and he's not planning to talk... that is, until Batman introduces him to his "associates".

Back at the Batcave, Nightwing is still cross-referencing data... he is shocked to find out just who is behind it all... but we'll get to that in a moment.  He hops on his motorbike and heads to a hill overlooking Gotham Prison... where the Batmobile is already parked.  Both Batman and Nightwing have concluded that the big bad is... are you ready for this... Tony Zucco.  They've got the goods to lock him right back up at this point... though, Nightwing wants him to taste freedom for just a moment before they break the news.  I appreciate this scene, as it shows the different approaches the heroes used... kinda shows us just where they both are insofar as "head space" is concerned.

It's nearly the time where Zucco goes free... and so, we watch as the warden walks him out.  Batman and Nightwing sit in wait... Dick is kinda waffling on his stance, he'd rather just "nail him" now... Batman insists they wait.

We watch as Zucco takes his first steps out of the pen... he extends his arms, certain that with his book... he will soon be king of Gotham.  Just then... he is plugged full of holes by a helicopter.  Nightwing is furious... he believes that Batman knew this was going to happen all along...

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I gotta say... this one just gets better as we go along.  Not that it didn't start out strong... but, at this point... we've got ourselves a really nice story.  Excellent character beats... a nice way of popping from past to present without looking forced or contrived.

I mentioned it briefly above... but this issue, to me, was all about depicting the disparate approaches of our heroes.  We've got Nightwing crossing his T's and dotting his I's as he cross-references data and evidence... doing the very thing that Batman had taught him.  On the other hand, we've got that Batman... who has definitely lost his way.  He's acting irrational... he's making deals with the devil in order to follow the mobby breadcrumbs to Zucco's door.  Two different paths... same destination.  Student becomes teacher... teacher becomes a lunatic.

Alfred's bits here were okay.  I can appreciate his loyalty and care toward Dick... but he just came across as overly dramatic here.  I think it's more the art... he is depicted as a hammy actor rather than a concerned parent-figure.  I mean, he gasped with his hand over his mouth... he made ridiculous constipated faces.  Just so hammy.

I had a little fun ragging on the ineffectual Gotham City Police Department above... but, honestly... how could they leave this much evidence behind?  Did they even sweep for prints?  I mean, wouldn't that be among the first thing the Crime Scene Investigators would do?  I'd imagine if they hadn't yet swept, there's no way they'd let a costumed vigilante go stomping around in there.

Overall... another great issue.  We've got a bit more dysfunctional Dick and Bruce... and, lordy... a pretty neat cliffhanger to boot.  Getting some more parallels to Year Two... but I'm not sure if that's just due to our discussing it so recently.  Batman holding a gun... the baddie getting shot to death by a third-party.  I doubt either is a callback, but it's still interesting... at least to me.

Gotta wonder how Dick feels about not being able to get a measure of closure from Zucco.  Not that he was going to "off" him or anything... but, hell, we might have gotten another scene like when Batman confronted Joe Chill... when he unmasked to drive the point home that his chickens were about to come home.  I suppose that's not likely if he intended to allow Zucco to leave the scene breathing air and pumping blood.

Anyhoo... definitely worth checking out.  As with the other two (and probably the next) it's available digitally for your convenience.

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Batman #437 (1989)

Batman #437 (September, 1989)
"Batman: Year Three, Part 2: Changes Made"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Penciller - Pat Broderick
Inker - John Beatty
Letterer - John Costanza
Colorist - Adrienne Roy
Associate Editor - Dan Raspler
Editor - Denny O'Neil
Cover Price: $0.75

Short preamble today... been fighting a cold for a few days now, and it's starting to win.  Such is the life of a husband of a second-grade teacher, I guess.  Was actually considering just running an early-nineties DC Direct Currents piece to get me by, but I'd rather just keep on keepin' on with Year Three.  While I can still see straight, figure I may as well give it a go!

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We pick up right where we left off last issue.  The mobby compound has just had a rocket fired into it by a helicopter hovering nearby.  Satisfied with a job well-done, the chopper pilot leaves the scene.  Nobody could have possibly survived that, right?  A-hem.  Anyhoo... we next join Nightwing as he follows the bloody and beaten trail of the Batman.  He notes that Bruce is especially sloppy at the moment... it's quite easy for Dick to trace his steps.  This first step... a bar that Batman questioned some fools at earlier in the night, should serve up a few answers.

And it does!  The bleeding goofballs give up the information pretty quick.  They tell Nightwing about an expected gangland hit at the very location that was just blowed up real nice by the helicopter.  Nightwing hops on his motorcycle, and heads on up.  He finds the wreckage of the compound, and begins to frantically dig through the debris.  He is finally able to find the Batman, who gives him quite the warm reception.  No, not really... he basically tells Dick that he doesn't need him, and he should eff off.  When Nightwing inquires about what is going on... Batman walks off without a word.  Nice.

We shift back to the Manor, where Alfred is lamenting the news that within the week, Tony Zucco... the man who more-or-less murdered the Flying Graysons, will be walking the streets a free man.  He stops in the hallway to admire a portrait of Bruce and Dick on a camp-out during happier days.

This throws us into flashback mode, and we revisit the night that Alfred arrived at St. Jude's Orphanage to pick up his Master's new ward.  On the drive home, he informs Dick that Bruce had also lost his parents to a killer when he was a child.  They arrive at the Manor, and Dick finally meets his new guardian.

Bruce takes Dick on a tour of the home, including such sights as a heated indoor pool, then the questions begin.  Not from Dick... from Bruce.  He asks the boy if he's serious about taking on Zucco.  I mean, that's weird, right?  Dick says sure... but he doesn't want to kill him... after all, it wouldn't bring his loved ones back, right?  At this point Alfred begins acting a bit squirrely... as though he isn't quite comfortable with where this is all headed.  Ultimately, Bruce invites Dick... downstairs.

Now... as if this isn't all weird enough... the dialogue here becomes rather ominous as well.  Dick stands atop the stairs leading into the cave... it's dark... it's scary... the poor kid just got here... and when he asks Alfred where they're headed... well, this is what he gets as a response...

Not too cryptic... 

... Yeah.  Let's put ourselves in Master Richard's shoes for a moment.  An eccentric stranger sends his creepy butler to retrieve you from an orphanage... then suggests you follow him into the dungeon behind the grandfather clock... and then... and then... the creepy butler tells you the stairs lead to Hell.  When you reach the bottom of the stairs... you are blinded by a light... and when that passes, you are standing in front of a 6' man wearing a bat costume,  Wha---?

What follows is a training montage... we watch as Dick and Bruce work together to ensure he's crimefighting-ready.  We see them lift weights, study, research, and computer.  I'm not sure exactly what they're doing with the computer... so, computering works just fine.

Not sure which inspirational 80's song to set this montage to...

Back in the "present", Nightwing arrives at the Manor and chats a bit with Alfred.  Bruce has taken down anything that reminds him of Jason Todd.  It's as though the poor orphan never darkened his doorway.  Dick comments that Bruce has become so violent of late... which is rather unlike him, or at least to these levels.  He heads toward the study, where Bruce is currently brooding.  First, we flashback again... this time to the moment where Bruce handed Dick his first Robin costume.  Thankfully it still has the short-pants.  Not sure why they retconned them out of existence... well, that's not completely true... I have my suspicions why they did that... still, hate when they do stuff like that.  It's almost like they're embarrassed of where they come from.

We join the dynamic duo on their first night out.  They stake out the Nebula Club, which is one of Zucco's holdings.  The pair swoop in and easily take down the mooks inside.  They give the warning... Tony Zucco has been marked!  In the present, Dick enters the study... but Bruce is already gone... but where?

We head to a fairly extravagant mobster meal taking place at a penthouse restaurant.  Batman, disguised as a waiter, listens in to the conversation... however, it seems that nobody really knows who's behind these "hits".

One of the baddies, a Mr. Fairfax, simply suggests spilling as much gang-blood as possible until they find out who has put targets on the backs of "connected" criminals.  A voice from off panel suggests an alternative... why, it's Batman... and he looks like he wants to cut a deal.  It's troubling how often he wanted to do that in his early years.

As we begin our wind down, we peek in at Tony Zucco in prison.  He's got a visitor named Taft... and we learn that he's still got his Book that we mentioned last chapter... he knows everyone's secrets... and with those secrets, he plans to take over the city.  Why, he even seems to have the dirt on the very man visiting him today.

We close out with Dick leaving the Batcave.  We then focus on Alfred... who believes strongly that Tony Zucco must be stopped... that is to say, someone has to stop him... and with that, he enters his room... on his bed, there is a gun.

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I often struggle with what voice I ought to use when it comes to these post-synopsis notes.  Do I cover the book as if it were my first time reading it, even if it's not?  Do I allow my "experience" with a given issue to dictate the tone?  I'm not sure I have that steady of a track record when it comes to such things.  Hell, I'm not even sure what I do can be considered a "review" in the truest critical sense.

Well, I said that so I can say this... with Batman, things are different.  With Batman, I go through phases... this is very rarely a book I follow for years at a time.  I usually float in and out as the stories call out to me.  As I sit here now, I haven't read Batman since well before Rebirth.  Still collect the thing, because I'm an idiot... but don't have a whole lot of interest in following it at the moment.  That having been said... so many of these classic (and perhaps not-so-classic) Batman stories and issues have sat in longboxes for around a decade.  Reading them today is not dissimilar to reading them for the first time.  Also, this means if I make any predictions... it's because I've honestly forgotten what's coming next.

After all that Nyquil-induced mess... on to the issue in question.

I liked it.  Liked it a lot more than the first chapter... even felt as though Pat Broderick's work was more on point.  It seems as though he's adapting his drawing style for the flashbacks... though, I'm not sure who, or if, he's trying to ape any Golden/Silver-Age artist(s) here.

This issue serves to fill in/clear up more of Dick Grayson's becoming the junior member of the dynamic duo.  I really appreciate how gobsmacked Alfred seems to be here.  He's not too keen on Bruce fighting crime... now, after the introduction of a small child?  Seems pretty nuts!  I know I had a little bit of fun with it above, however, it's something I feel many of us fans simply accept, because... well, that's the way it's always been... and, lets face it... we're already suspending our disbelief anyway.

It's probably because we just finished discussing Year Two... but it feels like certain elements from that story are popping up here.  We've got Batman attempting to form something of an uneasy alliance with the underworld... just like when he was battling The Reaper.  We also have the appearance of a gun.  While it's not Batman wielding it, it's still important.  This time, it's a desperate Alfred Pennyworth who eyeballs the piece.

Now I am a sucker for the dysfunctional Batman and Nightwing dynamic from the early post-Crisis DC.  The scene we get between them is... almost painfully brief, but gives just enough to make us hungry for more.  Love any scene where Dick is trying to "get through" to Bruce.  There's such frustration... from both sides.  Some great storytelling here from Marv.

Overall, I'm still engaged and interested in how this winds up.  Of course, the end result isn't in question... but, there are certainly bits and bobs that I can't for the life of me remember.  Dunno if Zucco goes the way of Joe Chill... really looking forward to finding out.  Definitely recommended.  I feel funny calling this a "fun" story, but it is the best word I can think of to describe it.  This issue, like the one before it, is available digitally for your paper-free convenience.

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Promises, promises...