The Comic Review #111: Batman #433-435 "The Many Deaths of the Batman" (1989)

 

It's going to be DC Heavy with the Comic Review for a little while. I have never discussed any Superman titles, or Wonder Woman or Green Lantern on my little blog here. I have to finish other things I said I would review that were DC related. I have some Annuals to do that I said I would do in like 2021. I have talked about Batman before but I figured I would do so again for two reasons to ease BIG DC HATER PORT J. NOYD into DC TIME for the next several Comic Reviews because he likes Batman and I was reminded of this story and it was one I haven't read in near on twenty years now. Buying it as a back issue sometime in the 2000s. The fact the 2000s are twenty years ago makes me feel like I'm going to explode into dust so I better hurry because everyone on the internet is excited for my take on this 37 year old Batman comic! So let's get to it!

 1989 was one hell of a year for Batman. That was when the first Tim Burton Batman movie had come out. It had a LOT of buzz towards it. So many people talking about it. Probably even more than you'd get later on because well THIS WAS BATMAN and it was like his first real movie. It was a pretty big hit and I personally still enjoy it a lot. This caused the Batman comic books sales to go up for a little while. I don't really have sales data or anything, I'm just going on what was said by people who were there at the time.They even gave Batman his third ongoing, the first new Batman series since 1940. It was called Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. A series that I will get up on to discuss sometime soon. 

This comic was written by John Byrne who has said a lot of controversial things and made enemies inside the comic industry and outside it in the fandom. However he is also MASSIVELY beloved by people too. He helped Chris Claremont create some of the BEST X-Men (and Superhero) comics ever in The Uncanny X-Men. He did a great job with Fantastic Four and She-Hulk. Revamped Superman in the 1980s for DC. However he also did some not very good Spider-Man comics and other stuff. Not a perfect creator but he definitely has  an incredible amount of laurels to rest upon. This comic was drawn by Jim Aparo who drew an amazing Batman and worked on the character from 1972 to the early 2000s. Jim Aparo sadly passed away in 2005 at the age of 72. He  pretty much drew every DC character.

 The first issue is pretty neat. You see in GI Joe #21, Larry Hama drew an entire issue where there was no dialogue. It involved Snake Eyes. This is John Byrne and Jim Aparo doing the same, however there is just one problem. John Byrne had Commissioner Gordon say "Get out" He did it because he did not know who was going to draw the issue and wanted to make sure that people would know what he was thinking, but it kinda ruins the flow of an almost all silent issue. (He would later would go on to say that if he knew Jim Aparo was going to be drawing these issues he would have not put those words in). Despite that this issue is a pretty great set up to this story. You see a man dressed up as Batman tied up to a fence in a dirty alleyway. Then he is brought to the hospital, my favorite part of the whole episode is some guy trying to get a peak at who Batman is and another Doctor is like NO WAY FUCKFACE. HE SAVED THE CITY AND THE WORLD AND MAYBE EVEN THE DAMN UNIVERSE TOO MANY TIMES FOR ME TO LET YOU DO THAT! The man dies and then a news reporter finds out from a doctor and its sold to a news paper and you see reactions form the Penguin and Two Face and even Robin. Then Alfred and finally Gordon. The issue then ends with ANOTHER guy dressed up as Batman getting blown the hell up. I don't know about you but this is one hell of a way to start a story.

 The second issue involves Batman just randomly running after some person who ends up being a woman. She's in some kind of red and white cloak thing and we don't know who she is or ever learn who she is. She's just here to get Batman out of Gotham. He is in France now. We go back to Gordon and the Assistant Coroner who is a saucy lady. I wish she had stayed a part of this comics supporting cast. She and Gordon talk about the crimes. it starts out with FOUR dead men in Batman costumes who were the best at what they did (like being a body builder or a demolitionist or whatever). Another man who seems to be some kind of gymnast is killed by a crossbow and yes he's in a Batman outfit. They learn that the Crossbow Champion at the Olympics is in town. They find out before he dies (again in a Batman outfit for some reason) that BRUCE WAYNE had sent him a letter. Oh shit, Bruce Wayne is on the list of people this loony bastard wants to kill. They rush over to STATELY WAYNE MANOR to find Alfred there who is not even sure if Bruce Wayne is there, however he as made aware by the French police that he was considered dead so he went back to Gotham. He was given a Batman suit that would have combusted into acid after fiddling with the Utility Belt. We then go to a fat man trying to get some sexy times with a prostitute and yes he's dressed at Batman AND A SNAKE IS GOING TO KILL HIM. It seems we will have to read part three to find out what happens!

We open part three with the police in the prostitute's apartment. She's dead and she had jammed her finger into her carpet and made a BATMAN SYMBOL this will be important later!! We then go to Batman and Alfred talking. Did you know that DC did a stupid thing and KILLED ALFRED and so far HAS NOT BROUGHT HIM BACK. Alfred is like BATMANS SURROGATE DAD. YOU DON'T KILL HIM. Okay back to this story. He is telling Alfred that without these men there may have not been a Batman. Yes, the men who have been murdered are men who helped teach Bruce Wayne things he would need to know to become Batman.. Gordon and the Assistant Coroner talk about the death of one of the men, Stone. She tells him that he has been dead for days before he was blown to shit. Gordon is off to tell the cop whos trying ot solve that part of the crime to look up everything about Stone. He's the one the killer really wanted, everything else was to throw the police off the track!

 We then go to Stone himself and well he's getting ready to marry some woman and he goes JUST LIKE I PLANNED. Oh shit, Stone killed everyone!! Watch out Sally!! We then return to Bruce Wayne and Alfred and Bruce Wayne literally says that he doesn't care if the police find out he's Batman he has to get out there to help people. Alfred says he has a plan to get the police off his back. His plan is to COOK A LAMB ROAST IN THE MICROWAVE which he hates doing. I love that little bit. He ends up feeding the DESTROYED Lamb Roast (his words not mine!) to the police. Batman now down in the Batcave is looking at flight records becuase he knows that none of these men were Gotham natives and the man killing them had to lure them here too. He knows the next man on the list who is Boch. He remembers about how he met Boch and his wife and how he taught him all about Toxicology. The study of poisons. I must also say that I love how Jim Aparo draws Batman. So serious. So stern. STERN FOR JUSTICE.

 Batman meets up with Gordon and the LADY DOCTOR after finding out that Boch was already killed and tells them he knows who these men are and that half way through the deaths a pattern emerges, around when the gymnast was killed with a crossbow, they were killed with the next person in line's manner of expertise. Batman has a plan to lure out the killer and he also knows who he is going to go to next, so Batman dresses up as him and Stone comes there and is like IM BATMAN IM A MASTER OF DISGUISE and then later on the REAL Batman says the same thing when found out. Stone says not you or any of your enemies are going to ruin the new life I created for us. Which intrigues Batman. We see a scene of Alfred tending to Batman's wounds from the fight with Stone. He says he has to go after Stone because he knows who he is now. Stone is freaking out at his wife and tells her all about what happened mostly. Let's her know that he figured out that the Batman learned exlopsives from him and how he's worried that Joker and Two Face might find that out. She's confused because she knew him as a florist and even says that and his response is "yeah a florist with WEEDS TO KILL" Stone you wild man.

Stone just puts on a random mask and goes to the next guy, a man who knows about random tribes of people all over the world. I don't know what thats called because I'm stupid. He gets him to put on the suit to let Batman's enemies know why he's killing people. Personally I think if Stone had just gotten some mental health help we would not be in this situation. This is where the actual Batman comes in and he's freaking out about how he couldn't have found the new identity he created but Batman tells him about the prostitute Mary McGinnis (see I told you she would be important!) She had traces of a chemical fertilizer on her. A very rare chemical fertilzer used to help grow Snow Orchids. Only three guys in Gotham sell those flowers and well his dumb ass was one of them. The Police and Gordon show up (I guess some other hotel guest claled them or maybe Batman called them and it took them a while to get there. Who knows?) and he says you won't have much evidence to tie him to the Bat-killings but you cna tie him to Mary McGinnis' murder. Should have changed your shirt STONE you CRAZY FUCK. He then says he has to give some bad news to Sally. Just imagine BATMAN popping out of the shadows to tell you bad news! Probably the best way to find out bad news because you still got to meet Batman!

FINAL THOUGHTS: I had fun re-reading this story. The art is excellent and the story even if the trying to force everyone into a Batman outfit is a little forced is still a lot of fun to read. I enjoyed the bits with Alfred microwave cooking and hating having to do so. It all makes sense in a comic booky way really. I would consider this a story worth picking up if you like Batman. I don't know if it's been collected but the back issues really shouldn't cost you that much money. Probably could get all 3 of them for under $5 if you look in the right place. Can't buy much with $5 but you can buy some Batman comics with ADVENTURES OF BAYOU BILLY and HYDLIDE ads in them and I dunno about you but I think that's worth $5.