It’s an intense, worthwhile package

Batman: Creature of the Night tpb
DC Comics
Creators: Kurt Busiek and John Paul Leon
Release date: May 2021

I had pretty low expectations when I pre-ordered the trade collection of this miniseries. Not because I have been disappointed previously by the creative team. I was not familiar at all with John Paul Leon’s art, and I’ve rather enjoyed a number of projects written by Kurt Busiek, so no problems there.

I’ve read several other tales loosely based around a particular comics character’s mythology yet supposedly based entirely in the real world, without super-powered heroes. The conceit has yielded some good stories and some I haven’t cared much for.

This story focuses on Bruce Wainwright, a normal boy in the aforementioned real world who loves Batman comics, based in part by the similarity of his own name to that of his hero. But when crime makes Bruce an orphan, he becomes obsessed with the idea of Batman preventing crimes like the one that took his family from him. He wrestles with the unfairness of life and a yearning for a vigilante who can tip the scales in favor of justice. Bruce wishes so strongly for such a hero to exist that one suddenly, inexplicably does.

This story is populated by a number of other similarities between Bruce’s life and that of his comic book hero’s — some of the similarities are real while others are conveniently created by Bruce himself. These parallels don’t really detract from the story or stretch a reader’s suspension of disbelief too much, simply because Bruce himself is aware of his tendency to “create” some of them.

Rather the young boy’s intensity of emotion, his earnest yearning for justice and a hero who can make the world right with his fists and his intellect draw the reader in and make him or her hope right along with the protagonist. John Paul Leon’s moody illustrations emphasize that very intensity and passion. Even the back matter, of which this trade includes a lot, enhances the experience of this book.

This was a truly enjoyable read I did not want to put down until I finished it. If you enjoy a good Batman story, I think you’ll like this one, too. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.