EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Month Three of the revised feature titled PRE-ORDER PICKS. I will recommend books that I know are really good because I’ve either read an advanced review copy of a single issue - - or I’ve read all the individual issues that comprise a new trade paperback or hardcover being offered.
With all of these PRE-ORDER PICKS keep in mind - - if you are interested, don’t take a chance on the store having a copy. Make sure by pre-ordering. Your local comic shop will thank you. Guaranteed sales help make them profitable. Please place your order before Wednesday, MAY 22 - - which is the cut-off date.
My plans for this feature call for me to post a review of everything that I’ve recommended for pre-order. It’s been hard for me to do so, and I’m often posting my picks very close to the deadline, and without a full review. So, I’m starting earlier with my pick this month because there are lots to recommend. This is at the top of my list . . . .
BATMAN: KINGS OF FEAR Hardcover, $19.99 (DC Comics, Preview Order #MAY190478, due in shops August 21) Writer: Scott Peterson. Artist: Kelley Jones. Colorist: Michelle Madsen. Letters: Rob Leigh. Reprints Batman: Kings of Fear #1-6.
I picked up Issue #1 strictly on impulse, as I was attracted to the Kelley Jones art. At that point, it didn’t matter to me whether the story was original, worth reading, or just a recycled plot. Anytime Kelley Jones is drawing a Batman book, I am interested. He uses a dark noir style that perfectly suits the nature of the Batman books. And, I love the way he exaggerates the Batman headgear with the elongated bat-ears.
I grabbed this book off the shelves at The Maroon Hornet in Oxford, PA every month. While the story was interesting, I wasn’t paying much attention to it. I was simply entranced by the artwork. Scripter Peterson gave Jones plenty of freedom by including dialogue and text-free pages to allow him to depict Batman in furious action. There is a single page in Issue #1 where Batman takes on the Joker’s hired goons that is pure pandemonium - - twenty-three tiny panels that show Batman’s fists and feet connecting with various thug faces while the Joker grimaces and Batman grits his teeth. Marvelous! Before the six-issue series ends, there are plenty of fabulous scenes with Batman duking it out as Jones gets to depict almost every major villain in the Batman canon.
In preparation for this pre-order recommendation I re-read the issues and discovered a marvelous story. This is a tale that deserves to be read at a single sitting in order to grasp the full impact of what occurs. Batman reflects on the impact of his life-long mission and encounters some doubts, all triggered by a new strain of The Scarecrow’s fear gas.
After finishing this the second time, I’m ready to put Batman: Kings of Fear on my list of Top Batman Stories Of All Time. It’s that good. If you haven’t read this, pick it up in trade paperback. You won’t be sorry. From this point on, I”m going to share some of the highlights of the series. So, if you want to avoid spoilers don’t read beyond this point. . . . . . . . . . . .
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ISSUE #1 Peterson nails the maniacal unpredictable nature of the Joker, and Jone’s facial expressions of the Joker provide visual testimonial to that. There’s a bit of foreshadowing in an exchange between The Joker (who does most of the talking) and Batman during a ride to Arkham Asylum. The Joker is trying to bait Batman into introspective conversation.
Joker: “Most people have a dark corner of their mind that they probably shouldn’t peek into too much. Not you, though.
No, you’ve got entire wings in that mansion of a psyche you shouldn’t even get close to, much less go spelunking in.”
Soon after, Batman has a quick encounter at Arkham in the dark with Bane, Poison Ivy, Penguin, Joker, Two-Face, Mr. Freeze and Killer Croc before subduing them all and returning them to their cells - - a great choreographed battle sequence that’s over quickly in four incredible pages. The Scarecrow has escaped to the grounds of the Asylum where he doses a pursuing Batman with a new strain of the fear gas - - and we’re off to the races.
ISSUE 2 The Scarecrow’s on the run and he’s taken a hostage, as Batman learns from Commissioner Gordon while trying to shake off the effects of the fear gas which are still troubling him. There are too many great panels of Batman’s search through the shadows of Gotham to list here. You need to see them to enjoy them. But it’s the Scarecrow who’s shadowing Batman and continues to dose him with the gas, working up to the moment he can break him down.
The cover shows a great scene of the gas working on Batman’s mind as a massive stone building takes on demonic characteristics and threatens the Dark Knight.
ISSUE 3 The opening pages illustrating Batman fleeing across the rooftops and parapets of Gotham with the Scarecrow on his tail are worth the price of admission. The Scarecrow’s plan is to observe Batman in his natural element and then pepper him with questions, probing into his purpose and raising doubts about the benefits of his mission. The Scarecrow says his intention is to understand who and what the Batman is and stands for, and in exchange for conversation he’s willing to release his hostage.
ISSUE 4 This is a key issue in the series, as Scarecrow acts as psycho-analyst with Batman as his patient on the couch, reviewing his past, present and future. Scarecrow’s intent is to create enough doubt and insecurity that Batman will break down and give up his mission. Batman’s childhood images are familiar to us readers, but you’re going to love the way that Jones visualizes them.
Scarecrow: “Your entire life has been dedicated to one goal.
A goal you know. You’ve always known, is impossible to achieve.
Even for you.
At least the way you’ve gone about it.
Scarecrow gives it his maximum effort to convince Batman that “we always hurt most the one we love most” - - that this is what Batman fears, he fears that his efforts are hurting what he loves - - the city of Gotham.
ISSUE 5 A tour de force as Scarecrow continues his probe into Batman’s mind and all his fears and concerns are revealed as conceptualized by Peterson and visualized brilliantly by Jones. The alternate Gotham of the future, one where the Batman did not exert his influence on it, is a master stroke on the Scarecrow’s part and creates an enormous amount of doubt and guilt within Batman. Naturally, we readers realize that Batman’s not going to give up the quest and succumb to Scarecrow’s influence - - but we enjoy the telling even knowing that he’s going to turn it around before Issue #6 ends.
ISSUE 6 Events here come to an early conclusion, with the remainder of the issue serving as coda to the previous issues. There are several heart-warming testimonials and personal references to the benefits of Batman on the city and citizens of Gotham. It’s a sincere affirmation that makes us feel good for Batman and proud of him. My favorite issue of the series.
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