Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight #106 - DC Comics

BATMAN: LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT No. 106, May 1998

Whilst many within this twenty-two page periodical’s audience may well have viewed “Duty” as being a narrative firmly focused upon the deductive capabilities of Captain James Gordon, C.J. Henderson’s script for Issue One Hundred and Six of “Batman: Legends Of The Dark Knight” also contains an enthralling insight into the psychology of the Joker, and the Clown Prince of Crime’s obsession with having the Dark Knight attempt to thwart his homicidal plans. Indeed, at the very climax of this comic when the entire metropolis of Gotham City is about to be liquidated by an oil-tanker sized bomb, the green-haired psychopath surprisingly halts everything when he realises that his arch-nemesis is still no-where to be seen; “Batman! Where are you? I set it all up so beautifully. It’s all so perfect… So classic” So epic! This was supposed to be the moment of our deaths.”

This disconcerting depiction of Jerry Robinson’s co-creation is arguably the hook which makes an otherwise run-of-the-mill police procedural piece incredibly enticing, especially when it is made clear quite early on within this publication that the chilling criminal mastermind hasn’t actually got a final end goal in mind, and was impatiently waiting for Batman’s response to all the death and destruction the Joker has caused so as to ‘tell him what to do next.’ Of course, the author still gives plenty of spotlight upon the future Police Commissioner, most notably when the senior officer is forced to strike a terrified mayor when the fast-greying politician realises that the Caped Crusader isn’t around to protect him from the mass-murdering super-villain. But over half this book actually features “the embodiment of everything Batman fights against” either waxing lyrical about how much he needs his arch-nemesis to make an appearance, or ultimately deciding to blow everything up anyway when he tires of waiting.

Undoubtedly aiding (and abetting) the success of this comic’s storyline is illustrator Trevor Von Eeden, whose occasionally odd-angled layouts really help embellish the fragile state of the Clown Prince of Crime’s fractured mind. The “American visual artist” also does a terrific job of adding plenty of dynamic pace to the Joker’s final confrontation with Gordon, and through the use of rapidly-placed panels makes it clear just how deadly a close-quarters combatant the one-time Red Hood can actually be.

Writer: C.J. Henderson, Artist: Trevor Von Eeden, and Inker: Joe Rubinstein