Welcome back to Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). Batman has gone back to basics, and is hunting down leftover Joker thugs when a mysterious new foe with a connection to Batman’s past appears. It’s “Batman” #102 from James Tynion IV, Carlo Pagulayan, Danny Miki, Carlos D’Anda and David Baron.
Matt Lazorwitz: This issue is something of a mixed bag. I like a lot of the dialogue and character interactions, specifically Batman and Oracle and Harley and her new landlord. Tynion throws out a couple of nice ideas. But the main thrust of the plot isn’t something I’m all that interested in. Another new character, Ghost-Maker, doesn’t do much for me, and he’s not exactly anything special.
Will Nevin: A big ditto for me here, good buddy. The overall story is solid and (despite the callbacks to characters we thought we were leaving behind in “Joker War” for at least a minute, damnit) feels like we’re going somewhere. But since Ghost-Maker is (1) a cobbled-together retread of worn-out ideas, (2) a visual design that doesn’t do a damn thing for me and (3) a goofy-assed name, I think we have to temper any sort of optimism as to where this chapter in Tynion’s run might be going.
Who Owns Gotham?
ML: So the overall plot here has to do with a new vigilante appearing in Gotham and basically telling Batman he’s too soft, and the city has paid for it, and now it’s time for someone else to take over. That as a concept is solid, I feel, especially after we’ve had a year of multiple villains taking over and savagely destroying the city. I think the problem lies a bit in the execution, yes?
WN: Abso-tively. (Also, welcome to the Bat Chat Agreement Hour.) I don’t want to get too into the weeds with my criticisms of Ghost-Maker (Lord, I feel dumb for even typing that name), but it’s the character that really blunts the effectiveness of whatever story Tynion could be telling here. I really like stories that make Bruce question his approach or his effectiveness — ”Cold Days,” for example, was great not only because it was “12 Angry Men” + Batman, but because it was Bruce going to this great and unusual trouble of getting himself seated on a jury because he wanted to fix a mistake. A doubt-y, angst-y Batman is usually a good one, and I *feel* we could get that here…if not for the obvious problems with Ghost-Maker.
ML: This might be a more divisive opinion (We might actually disagree!), but I also enjoyed the fact that Tynion brings us to a Joker goon bar and introduces the Grinners (although the name isn’t great there, either). I like the idea of this sort of henchperson gig economy existing in Gotham, and it makes sense that, while other goons float, Joker being such a weird and niche villain, he would have this cult of personality. And the fact that Batman lets the bar exist because he can watch it and know when these guys move, the Joker is preparing something? That’s using street smarts and actual detective skills! Isn’t it nice when the world’s greatest detective does some actual detecting?
WN: Nope, still no disagreement — it’s a hard world out there, Matt, especially for goons. And the fact that these goons are too off-kilter for any other rogue was a nifty touch. But one real head scratcher for me — and I guess this is more of a story complaint rather than a core Ghost-Maker quibble — is that we see this new vigilante go after our old friend Clownhunter (got the name right this time, although I insist “Clownkiller” makes more sense) for…being a vigilante? Ghost-Maker, to bring it back to the Grinners, clearly doesn’t have a Batman-style no-killing rule, so I didn’t get his beef with Clownhunter aside from it making a tidy plot point. Maybe Ghost-Maker’s point is that he should be the *only* vigilante in Gotham? Which is…fine? I guess? But that’s something Tynion could stand to clean up.
Ghost-Maker Begins
ML: So, here we go. Why don’t you lay out in more detail your issues with Ghost-Maker before I go into mine. Because I have some feelings, and they’re pretty Batman-history inspired.
WN: The biggest problem is that he feels like a big ol’ retcon, and when we’re talking about a property as old and established as Batman, I don’t think we can easily slide a “Hey, this was a character important to his formative youth” into his story without it seeming contrived. We get what’s essentially a “Year One”-ish flashback to set up the Bruce/Ghost-Maker relationship, and I’m like, “Nah. This ain’t happening.”
ML: I think it an odd choice, especially since over in “Detective Comics,” Pete Tomasi recently brought Kyodai Ken, Bruce’s rival from his youth from the “Batman: The Animated Series” episode “Night of the Ninja,” into comics continuity. Wouldn’t it have made more sense to take the established character and have him decide to prove himself better than Batman by cleaning up Gotham?
WN: That’s my general problem with introducing almost any new character into the Batman lore — if you look hard enough, there’s probably someone who could already serve whatever story you’re trying to tell without adding yet another piece of canon that no one else will touch when you’re done with it. It’s like painting a piece of furniture when you could just as easily polish and restore what’s already there: You’re adding another layer without doing anything to improve what you have, and in some ways, it’s lazy. You’re telling me that some variety of the League of Assassins or Jason Todd or the Court of Owls couldn’t do what Ghost-Hunter is going to do? Get the hell out of here. Tweak Ghost-Maker’s opening monologue a fraction of a shade, and you’ve got Ra’s al Ghul — it’s that obvious.
ML: And on top of that, Ghost-Hunter is yet another Anti-Bat. I appreciate that superheroes need not just opposite numbers, but broken mirrors; it’s a trope as old as the genre, practically. It’s why both Lex Luthor and Bizarro work and fit different niches with Superman, or Spider-Man has both Green Goblin and Venom. Occasionally, as with Flash and Green Lantern, both niches are filled by the same character, Reverse Flash and Sinestro, respectively.
Joker is that opposite number, chaos to Batman’s order. But instead of fleshing out one broken-mirror Batman, writers seem to regularly want to create new ones. I mean aside from alternate reality versions like Owlman or the Batman Who Laughs, you have Killer Moth, Wrath, Bane and Prometheus, plus you can argue both Jason Todd as Red Hood and Azrael also fit that trope on the heroic end of things. I don’t know why that is, exactly. Maybe everyone thinks the last one wasn’t cool enough, or with the times enough, or not fleshed out enough, and so they make another. But wouldn’t it make sense to just take one and make that more of character than a plot device? Bane has lasted because he’s more than just another guy who is like Batman but not, and he could have fit this niche if we weren’t so near “City of Bane,” but there are a whole bunch of others to choose from.
WN: And if the substantive issues with Ghost-Maker weren’t enough, we’ve also got a bad character design and an even worse name. He looks like a first draft of Arkham Knight that editorial threw back into the bullpen for being too “what the fuck is this even supposed to be?!” And the name? How uncool. I feel stupid each time I think about it. It feels both derivative of Punchline/Clownhunter and somehow dumber.
Harley & Barbara
ML: As I said in my introduction, the parts of this book I enjoyed the most were the character beats for Harley and Barbara Gordon. Tynion does his best work when he’s writing an ensemble, whether it’s his creator-owned work like “Backstagers” or a team book like “Justice League Dark” and his “Detective Comics” run, so I feel like this book needs to expand its cast to find its feet, and not just with Tynion’s one-note (so far, at least) creations.
I have been waiting for Barbara to get back to being Oracle for a long time now; it was a more interesting persona for her than Batgirl, and it gave her a unique place in the DC Universe, so I’m waiting to see if we continue to have her as a supporting character in this book, especially with her title having wrapped up last month, although rumor that Tynion will be writing a second Batman family title in 2021 makes me think he’s going to be writing the Batgirls title after “Future State,” which would be great news if it didn’t mean Vita Ayala, who is writing the Batgirls during the event, won’t be.
Harley is also homeless, both in story and on the comics racks, and I’m glad Tynion seems to be keeping her around. Harley is a character I really like, but is easily a disaster when handled poorly, like most humorous characters in superhero comics are (See at least 50% of Deadpool appearances). Tynion seems to get the character as she has evolved over the course of the past five years or so, someone a little bent but honestly trying to do good. The landlord, while a stock character, plays off Harley well, and making the neighborhood “Little Santa Prisca” is a nice touch; so many of those fictional nations in comics exist seemingly in a bubble of their land and an embassy, but for a state like Santa Prisca, which is pretty much a Cuba analog, it would make sense to have these little enclaves of people who escaped.
WN: I’m glad you referenced Deadpool first, ‘cuz I was gonna have to if you didn’t. I think there’s a lot of connective tissue between those two, namely how they *can* be great characters in the right hands, but they’re largely used as these zany comic relief sidekicks without any real heft to them. Harley, in this moment, in this story, has the potential to be good, but we have to get some follow-up with her attempt to force Batman to kill Joker. That has to mean something. And we have to see her try to reckon with her place in a (momentarily?) post-Joker Gotham. All that aside, the stuff with the landlord was cute.
Oracle is a good role for Barbara and a natural need in this story with Alfred still on the ethereal sidelines. (Sidenote: He’s coming back via some machination in “Death Metal,” right? Feels like a plausible route.) Batwoman, Spoiler and Orphan (to grab some female Batfam members) all seem better suited for front-line combat duty from a character perspective; you stick Batgirl there, and it simply seems unnecessary, like putting a cowl on a cowl.
ML: Yeah, a “final” multiversal reshuffle at the end of “Metal” would be an ideal place to bring back Alfred. And there is story potential for Alfred with a new lease on life.
My one real worry about the Harley stuff is that she’s going to become a dual act with Clownhunter. Her story is going to be about finding a way to redeem him, as she would be in his top targets list.
WN: Gross. Batman + Harley is a much more interesting story to me — and so help you God if we start talking Murphyverse — than Harley + Clownhunter.
ML: For both of our sanities, I’m not going anywhere near that shite this week.
And if Babs steps down, either Spoiler or Orphan will step in as the new Batgirl. Or back to being Batgirl. Or… whatever you’d say thanks to retcons. I don’t think there are words in English for that. Maybe German. There are words for everything in German.
WN: Google translate tells me “wiederholung” is German for “rerun.”
Bat-miscellany
- The art was much improved this issue from the last one. Both Carlo Pagulayan and Carlos D’Anda are utility players who do a good job keeping this story looking tight. I’d like to see one or the other get a good stint on this book to raise their profile.
- The house ad for a 48-page Punchline one-shot felt like a threat.
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of five. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the creator interview podcast WMQ&A with Dan Grote.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
