Five months after the smash hit release of the Tim Burton film, a new
Batman comic strip ran in newspapers from 1989 to 1991. Following the film in spirit but set in an entirely new continuity, the first storyline was written by Max Allan Collins (
Road to Perdition, creator of Post-Crisis Jason Todd) and illustrated by the late, great Marshall Rogers (
Batman: Strange Apparitions, which still looks stellar today).
I've fallen head over heels in love with this comic strip. Naturally, my love doesn't really kick in until Harvey Dent becomes a major supporting character in the next storyline, which may be one of the most original and interesting takes on the character I've seen anywhere, in any medium. I actually suspect that it influenced the creators of
Batman: The Animated Series.
But even from the start, I love how Collins (and his successor, William Messner-Loebs) didn't try to simply regurgitate the old stories for newspapers, but came up with distinctly different characterizations, origins, and plots, while the stories themselves feel completely divorced from comics of any era. They're fun, suspenseful, moving, and occasionally, even a bit on the cracky side.
( A rather different look at Gotham City behind the cut! )Coming up next, the new creative team of Messner-Loebs, Infantino, and Nyberg bring us the Penguin, Batman's mysterious new British sidekick, and a refreshingly different take on Harvey Dent, D.A. (how do you like THOSE credentials, Rex Morgan?).
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arbre_rieur
