Very Pretty, But Not As Much Substance As I'd Like

Batman and the Monster Men 1-6/Batman and the Mad Monk 1-6
DC Comics
Matt Wagner, writer and artist

These two limited series came out in 2006-07 and are essentially re-tellings of Golden Age Batman stories. The first re-presents Batman's first encounter with Prof. Hugo Strange and his monstrous mutations from Batman No. 1; the second pits Batman against a vampire cult from the pages of Detective Comics No. 31. Both series were originally printed under the heading Dark Moon Rising and were intended to fall between the events of Frank Miller's and David Mazzucchelli's Batman: Year One -- Batman's origin -- and Ed Brubaker's and Doug Mahnke's Batman: The Man Who Laughs -- the first confrontation between Batman and the Joker.

Although the character of Catwoman makes a cameo appearance in the pages of Batman: Year One, the bulk of the action in that origin story centers around organized crime in Gotham City and the corruption in the GC Police Department. There are no other costumed criminals for Batman to battle in that origin story, much like most of the villains in the earliest Batman appearances in Detective Comics were mobsters and street thugs. Therefore, one of the motivations behind Wagner's retelling of these two classic tales was to bridge the gap in Batman's focus from tackling organized crime to facing more colorful costumed rogues.

Wagner's two stories do an effective job on that score, showing both Batman and police Lt. Jim Gordon questioning whether or not the Batman's activities are creating an escalating level of craziness from the villains he faces. Also done to very nice effect is the inclusion of Sal Maroni as one of the up-and-coming underworld figures and Gotham District Attorney Harvey Dent. Many early Batman stories include the crusading district attorney who would later become the villain Two-Face when acid is thrown in his face by Sal "Boss" Maroni. These two characters' appearances in these series help flesh out some of their earlier Gotham activities.

I think where the pieces go wrong is by including and adapting another piece of early Batman history. In his earliest appearances, Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne, is involved with an actress named Julie Madison. In Wagner's version, Julie Madison is a law student from another wealthy Gotham family. Her inclusion is a nice portal, along with Alfred Pennyworth, into the psyche of Bruce Wayne in these stories. But ultimately, her journey in the story is a sad one as she can't continue to be a part of Batman's world.

Even worse, Wagner also includes Julie's father, Norman Madison, in the story. Julie's mother died when Julie was young, and her father's business affairs have fallen on hard times. To ease the strain, Norman Madison has borrowed money from Sal Maroni. This puts him in the middle of the Batman's investigations into Maroni's racketeering. When things come to a head between the mobsters, Prof. Strange's monster men and Batman, Norman Madison is caught in the middle. Madison survives the melee, but he is a broken man after being confronted with his own guilt and the appearance of the Batman. In the Mad Monk series, Madison's descent into full-on paranoia contributes to the vampire cult gaining a hold on Julie Madison, a plot device that seems rather contrived and unnecessary to the overall story.

Really, these aren't bad stories; they're worth a read if you've never before given them a try. They just don't represent the best in either Batman stories out there or what Wagner has produced in his comics career.