Batman '89 #1 - DC Comics

BATMAN '89 No. 1, October 2021

Supposedly promising long-time comic book fans the opportunity to “step back into the Gotham of Tim Burton’s seminal classic Batman movies”, Sam Hamm’s script for Issue One of “Batman ‘89” probably disappointed many within the six-part limited series’ opening audience with its familiar rehashing of ideas previously seen within Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One”, and even Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero movie “The Dark Knight”. For whilst the narrative arguably somewhat follows straight on from Michael Keaton’s double outing on the Silver Screen, the premise of the Caped Crusader being seen as the actual source of Gotham City’s increasingly violent plight by the authorities, as well as the figurehead of a score of cowl-wearing vigilantes, has been seen more than once before.

In addition, the America screenwriter appears to have completely changed the personality of district attorney Harvey Dent from that portrayed by Billy Dee Williams during the actor’s sole celluloid appearance so as to pitch “the big man” as the twenty-page periodical’s central antagonist. This arrogant, self-important chief prosecutor seems to have completely forgotten about the events depicted previously during boss Carl Grissom’s murderous reign, and even accuses Jim Gordon of fabricating the costumed crime-fighter simply so the Police Commissioner can apparently deploy a “well-trained and well-funded” covert crew of enforcement officers to tackle the metropolis’ “untenable” rise in armed robberies; “You think there’s only one Batman? You think one human being could take that sort of punishment?”

Happily however, that isn’t to say that “Shadows” doesn’t contain some exciting elements, courtesy of the Dark Knight recovering thirty one million dollars from two stolen armoured cars. But this sense-shattering sequence involving a Russian helicopter, a giant penny piece and a ton of gratuitous gunfire hardly makes up for a plot which depicts a highly disagreeable Dent lording it over a poor nine year old with his flash sports car, and setting up a death trap to have the Caped Crusader instantly shot by a team of rooftop snipers should he be so foolish as to answer the Bat Signal.

Sadly, Joe Quinones’ layouts debatably fail to capture the look of Burton’s films either, despite the American apparently being a “noted fan” of them. The artist’s cover illustration for this book is tremendously evocative of Keaton’s incarnation of Batman. Yet his interior pencilling simply doesn’t project the same attention to detail, with Bruce Wayne in particular appearing to be little more than a roughly-animated caricature of the Academy Award nominee.

Writer: Sam Hamm, Artist: Joe Quinones, and Colorist: Leonardo Ito