We Sigh over Fond Memories of Legends of the Dark Knight in Bat Chat

A classic Batman title makes its return as Batman hunts some of his most famous rogues to stop them from getting their hands on a nerve agent being sold by a mysterious new foe in Legends of the Dark Knight #1, written and pencilled by Darick Robertson, inked by Robertson and Richard P. Clark, colored by Diego Rodriguez and lettered by Simon Bowland.

And in a case of “better late than never,” we look at last week’s Batman: The Detective #2. Batman travels from London to Paris on his quest to find the group that is killing the people whose lives he has saved, and runs into one of the men who trained him to be Batman in a story written by Tom Taylor, pencilled by Andy Kubert, inked by Sandra Hope, colored by Brad Anderson and lettered by Clem Robins.

Matt Lazorwitz: We’ve got two books that take place outside of, or at least sort of catty-corner to, continuity this week. Legends of the Dark Knight has always been ambiguously canonical, or out of continuity until someone mentions one of these stories in continuity, and The Detective seems to take place in the not-too-distant future (next Sunday AD). I like that we’re getting more play in this new, post-Death Metal era, where things don’t have to be either IN CANON or so far out of canon to be shouting that they’re not. It allows for Batman, a character who can exist in so many modes, to spread his metaphorical wings.

Will Nevin: And when he goes swooping around, his literal wings, too. In the Infinite Frontier, everything is canon, and nothing is canon; Alfred is dead, and Alfred is alive. In Legends specifically, we can get (and have gotten in previous volumes) all sorts of stories — good ones, memorable ones, ones that pass from your mind as quickly as you can turn the page. And you know something? When it comes to Legends of the Dark Knight, I even love the shitty ones.

Bad Night, Good Knight

ML: So, up front: I have a giant soft spot for Legends of the Dark Knight. Volume one launched not too long before I started reading comics, I bought issues #1-6 at one time, read them in a big gulp, and never missed another. Since it was the book that switched creative teams with each arc, it taught me to pay attention to who was working on the comic, since I learned I could count on some creators to do great stories and would get excited when they came back for another story, and would dread when I saw other names.

It also reminds me that 12-year-old Matt needed better taste, because he didn’t like a phenomenal issue drawn by Mike Mignola. Poor, foolish child.

WN: Again, this is Bat Chat Agreement Hour in that I am a big mark for Legends. I came into comics around the launch of the second volume, which like this one was part of a digital-first push. I remember the excitement of waiting for a new chapter to drop and then reading it as quickly as possible. It’s such a great format, and it’s been a fantastic place to test drive creators — Vol. 2 counted folks like Tom Taylor (More on him later, Loyal Content Consumer), Jeff Lemire, Jeff Parker, Paul Tobin and Charles Soule, and those were only some of the names I could grab through some googling. I get why DC has moved on to Batman: Secret Files as a proving ground — anthologies just don’t sell — but I will always love, read and maybe give a bit of a softy discount to Legends.

ML: Seems like we could wax poetic about this book all day (and if we have a week where there are no other Bat books to discuss, we might have to pick a couple favorites to go through), but let’s get to the matter at hand. “Bad Night, Good Knight” is the opening arc of this new volume, written and drawn by Darick Robertson, best known for all manner of comics with writers like Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis, Greg Rucka and noted sex creep Warren Ellis.

WN: Ellis. *spits*

I think Robertson’s current push is based on his connection with Ennis and The Boys, which is a series I think I started at one point? In any case, it looks visually similar to what we have here: soft, doughy faces, lots of grimaces, darkness.

ML: That’s a lot of what we get from Robertson. His style has changed slightly over the years, but a Robertson comic from the late ’90s looks pretty similar to what you get now. That’s not a dig — if you have a style that works, you might as well stick with it, and it’s fine.

WN: Visuals aren’t the issue here, and look, I’m going to be honest: Assuming Sean Gordon Murphy doesn’t get a turn at this particular wheel and assuming DC quality control doesn’t slip to the point of giving us the equivalent of a runny dog dook, I’m going to find something to enjoy about a Legends story — if for no other reason than they don’t stick around long enough for me to truly loathe. That all said, the weakness here is the writing: Robertson’s narrative framework is awkward (Why is Gordon asking for a flashback to a scene in which he was present? How the hell do you move from said flashback to Batman’s narration?) and his central premise — some gas (sometimes sarin, sometimes super bad other stuff) — seems real MacGuffin-y in that it is awfully vague.

ML: Yup, this is pretty elementary. This is a comic you can hand to someone who has never read a Batman comic and is only familiar with the idea of Batman, and they can get what’s going on. That’s not a bad thing, but the way this issue works, it also means it’s not challenging anyone, either the well-read Batfan or the complete novice. Something like Batman: Universe from Brian Michael Bendis and Nick Derington was similarly new-reader-friendly, and it also focused on a Macguffin, but it took big, crazy swings and didn’t depend on a lot of exposition, (which is an accomplishment from a Bendis comic). I checked, and Robertson’s writing credits before this issue are fairly limited, and that Gordon exposition flashback and awkward transition absolutely read like a novice writer finding their sea legs.

WN: And see, since I’m a wizard from the digital future, I’ve read the whole thing. And it’s not bad. Really. But I have to wonder if this was the strongest step forward to start this third volume.

The Detective

WN: Let’s talk about the three guest stars first: Squire, Knight and Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul. Namely, who are the first folks and who’s the “other” best trainee Ducard references when he says Bruce was at least top two?

ML: So, before I get into the first two, I take it you are not familiar with Ducard from anywhere aside from Batman Begins?

WN: Way to call me out for being basic AF. But, yes, you are correct.

ML: OK, so real quick, Ducard and al Ghul in DCU canon are two different people. The Nolans took the name of one of the men who trained Batman, specifically the guy who taught him how to track and hunt down people, and combined it with Ra’s. It’s an obscure point, and I think most people have only heard of him through the movie, so it’s far from basic AF.

WN: So that gives me another question, then: What’s the reference to costumes/alternate identities in the Batman/Ducard scene here in The Detective?

ML: I think that’s just Ducard needling Bruce, as he deduced Batman’s secret identity.

WN: Ugh. Damn you, Tom Taylor, for confusing my tiny brain.

ML: As for the second student? I think that is a reference to our new mysterious white-clad Batwoman. She and Ducard know each other, judging by the dialogue between them, and I can’t think of anyone else it might fit, except for Tim Drake, but Ducard would have no reason to not mention Tim by name.

As for Knight and Squire, they are a legacy hero set that are the Batman and Robin of London. The original Knight and Squire were a father/son team introduced in the Silver Age as part of the Batmen of All Nations, a very Silver Age concept of a group of heroes around the world inspired by Batman and Robin. During Grant Morrison’s run on the book, they reintroduced that group as the Club of Heroes, with the original Squire grown up and taking his father’s place, and the young woman who pulled him out of the bottom of a bottle after his father’s death, Beryl Hutchison, as Squire. Knight died at the end of Batman Incorporated, and Beryl stepped up to become Knight. This new Squire is a new character.

WN: Dumb questions aside, my overall take from this is that it’s a very different approach to Batman as compared to Taylor’s previous stuff like Injustice and DCeased — mostly because those works were eminently consumable. Injustice specifically was junk food reading — quick, dumb and fun. But this is more complex (or at least slower) and a different sort of storytelling. I don’t know whether I like it yet, but I know enough to say it’s not those other books — which I wasn’t expecting when I came into this. I guess I’m saying the man’s got multitudes.

ML: Absolutely. He has some seriously wild swings in his career. I’m interested in seeing where this series goes, definitely, but I wish it would have more of the promised detective work in it. We’ve seen Bruice rough up some thugs for info, and fight a bunch of henchfolk, but not a ton of detective work. The book was originally called Batman: The Dark Knight, and that seems more accurate.

WN: I’m with you, brother — so far this is more like Batman: The Serious or Batman: European Vacation rather than Batman: The Detective. But there’s still time, right? Although this seems paced for more like 10 or 12 issues rather than six.

Bat-miscellany

While it’s not mentioned at all in The Detective, one of my favorite bits of possible canon (and I can’t find the link for this, but I know it exists … somewhere) is that everyone aside from League of Shadows members pronounces the fella’s name as “Raz” while members say “Raysh.” That feels right.
Is the Bat look in The Detective based on Justice League’s Knightmare Batman? *thinking emoji*
For another one of Batman’s European jaunts, check out Batman: Europa by Matteo Casali, Brian Azzarello, Jim Lee and Giuseppe Camuncoli.
Also a fun Batman European trip? Batman: The Scottish Connection from Alan Grant and Frank Quitely.
Never forget the “lazy as hell but admire the hustle” approach to the alternate covers of Legends of the Dark Knight (Vol. 1) #1.
My copy was the yellow one. I have dollar-bin dived in the subsequent years and now have a set. I am the mark for goofy shit like that.

Matthew Lazorwitz

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.