Pre-Crisis Primer: Rogues' Round Robin

Batman 373-375

Detective Comics 540-542

“Between Two Nights”

What you don't know: Robin really broke Batman's back there.

After the highly suspenseful boxing-match-rigging drama at the heart of the Dr. Fang saga, Batman jumps right into kicking some proper super-villain ass by taking on a total of three prime members of the fabled Rogue's Gallery. Scarecrow, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze, step right up. Your five minutes of fame is about to begin.

Batman's Rogues don't really follow the mold of many classic DC Universe bad guys; most have backgrounds that are based in magic or science fiction, usually of the mad scientist or alien despot variety, while Batman's rogues are taken right from pulp stories or old pulp crime movies. Batman villain NUMBER ONE, The Joker, is taken directly from a 1928 classic film: “The Man Who Laughs” where a man has his face altered into a permanent grin. Another classic Bat-rogue, one of my favorites, Two-Face, former Gotham DA with half his face horribly scarred by acid, would be right at home with Dick Tracy's rogues and all their unique and eye-popping disfigurement. Batman's small dalliance with the 'mad scientist' motif is Dr. Hugo Strange, who's more in common with the crime scientist from the German expressionist “Dr. Mabuse” films than any kind of death-machine building sci-fi Bond villain.

Hiding out while Batman has some java. Won't ever find him here.

The rogues featured in this story are a good mixture of the usual DC bad guy tropes: Penguin is a classic gangster who's most interested in taking over parts of the underworld and pulling off robberies. He comes with a tiny bit of super-science in the form of trick umbrellas that can act as gyro-copters, swords, machine guns, and flame throwers. Scarecrow is pure pulp movie goodness straight from a horror movie: a psychologist who studied fear at Gotham University, he experimented a little too harshly on students and was fired. In a fit of rationality he decided to dress as a ragged scarecrow, develop a toxin that will cause victims to hallucinate to the tune of their greatest fears, and have his revenge on all 'bullies.' Mr. Freeze is probably the most mad scientist in Batman's rogues gallery as a cryo-scientist experimenting on methods to cure his wife, currently in cryo-freeze induced suspended animation. His funding stripped, the corporation he worked for was directly responsible for an accident that left Freeze's body mutated: he can no longer survive out of sub-zero temperatures. Taking the sane response, Freeze built a suit and a gun and went on revenge.

Lesson here: Don't fire crazy people, they will definitely become Batman villains.

They'll never suspect The Penguin.

Batman goes through this rogues in more or less a rote fashion: Scarecrow is out to prove he's top dog by scaring the shit out of people, simply enough; Batman later tails Penguin all the way to Antarctica for some cross-continental action after the rotund gangster steals some defense plans form the Pentagon; and Freeze literally dreams he's frozen Gotham City solid for the hell of it and sets off to do just that. 'm sure I'm not spoiling anything but pointing out that Batman wins all of these conflicts with his fists. Sure, Robin helps out against the Scarecrow, but a dose of fear gas for Batman regarding Robin's recent run in with Crazy Quilt and possibly losing him to one of the many crazies they face on a nightly basis leads him to ground Robin for the time being. Shall a robin fly no more?!?!

The literal dream. Freeze's wet dream.

Here's where we get to the interesting part of these issues. The main plots are all merely placeholder: main action to have something to put on the covers for the monthly publication. The only real bit of inspiration is plunging Penguin headfirst into international intrigue, by still, by the end of the story everything is status quo and the villain is locked up again. Aside from my love for the colorful bad guys, there's little to recommend with the main plots. For the audience, as readers, and I suspect for the writer, the real story is what goes on between the main plot, the sub-plots.

As with most of the series up until now, the question of whether Batman is right to train and put Jason Todd in the line of fire as Robin is the main driving force for the character-based stories. As I mentioned, Batman grounds Robin, but that's not all: a teacher at Jason's school noticed the boy always falling asleep at class and sporting numerous bruises. A call to Protective Services later and it's revealed Bruce Wayne never even formally adopted the boy. These stories end on the cliffhanger of Jason Todd being taken away from Wayne Manor and remanded to a home for boys until a possible foster situation can be worked out. Even the state thinks Wayne is unfit, which is a theory this writer has held for awhile now. Robin is great and everything, but it's difficult with modern stories to justify his existence. I do appreciate how the writer is exploring this and taking the story the whole nine yards.

Batman does get to shine in these stories too. Looking badass.

Other simmering sub-plots include a sequel of sorts to Gordon's brushwith death. We learn that Harvey Bullock was assigned to Gotham PD as a replacement for Gordon by corrupt Mayor Hill only to betray the mayor and end up helping Gordon at the last minute. Hill, clearly not thinking straight, has gone to Dr. Fang, who languishes in prison, for aid. While I'm pretty sure this dork never took over the Gotham underworld, he still has the power to direct assassins from prison towards Hill's endeavour. His price: freedom from prison.

Finally, the stories regarding Alfred's daughter, Julia, who's been staying at Wayne Manor, as well as Bruce's estranged lover, Vicki Vale collide in a less than satisfying form. In previous stories Vale was an equal with Wayne, she wanted to pursue a relationship as much as he did and when he (as we know because was Batman) starting giving her the cold shoulder, she ended things with him and went and put that energy into starting her own photo-journalist business. She end's up hiring Julia Pennyworth as an assistant and the two almost immediately become catty towards each other Bruce Wayne. Because they both love him. Of course. Although, on the good side, Vale is able to help Batman out by saving his ass against Mr. Freeze. She drops a stalactite on the villain. That's cool. Et's hope her strong characterization comes back.

As with most stories during this run of Batman, the main plots are weak and simple, but the simmering sub-plots give the character's stories a lot of meet and provide the real impetus to continue reading on a monthly basis. 

Too stupid to say much else.

On the flip-side of these stories, we do get some back-up action with Green Arrow. I don't want to spend too much time on these stories because they're horrible. Green Arrow in his civilian identity of Oliver Queen is a former millionaire, who, upon finding corruption in his own company sold off all his assets, gave away his fortune and went to live in an ashram for a time. Returned to society as Green Arrow, he works as a reporter for a local radio station. The radio station finds itself under siege twice, once by a villain with a flaming trident and again by a bad guy with a prankster identity. Not worth reading at all. I'm just interested in Green Arrow for the continuity. Really disappointing.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Children of the Night

Batman 370

Detective Comics 537

“Up Above the Sin So High”

This scene DOES happen in this book!

Detective Harvey Bullock's been trailing the elusive and comically named Dr. Fang for a several stories now. Fang's poised to take over the criminal underworld, although we're not really sure how or how he's taken seriously given his sobriquet. Regardless, Bullock's done the leg work, but now it's time for Batman to meet Dr. Fang. One Dracula cosplayer to another.

Fang's been on the fringes of the Gotham City underworld, making small power plays in the protection rackets, shaking down bar and arcade owners as well as other small businesses, and he's eager for the big time. So eager, that when Sgt. Harvey Bullock of the GCPD just appears claiming he's a crooked cop and that he'd be willing to part with information helpful to Fang for cash compensation, the falsely-named doctor just sees this as his opportunity to make the big time. Too bad for Fang that as soon as he has an in and some information on the organization, Bullock's on the phone with Batman telling him who to punch and where they'll be so some punching can occur. 

Dr. Fang. Don't laugh. You'll hurt his feelings.

The first part of this story is the exciting part: Batman and Robin act like a team for the first time since Jason Todd came on board and proceed to kick the shit out of 20-25 of Dr. Fang's hench-people in a battle royale that starts in the back alleys of Gotham before spilling out onto her streets. I like when Batman sneaks around in the dark and really puts the fear of god into some asshole, but I REALLY enjoy it when he takes on all comers, pummeling people until there's no one left to hit. At one point Batman shows off my favorite move: slamming a trash can over some chump and then punching him. Taking out the trash, yeah!

Hot trash can action.

In all the excitement and broken bones, Dr. Fang makes his getaway and then the more boring second half of the story begins: the search for Fang. Why would this be boring? Because it ends with Fang still missing; not much of a story there. Batman does manage to help one bum who lives in the sewers though, but he also oppresses and punches out another bum who lives in the sewers, so he's neutral on the 'helping bums' thing.

Robin kicks a guy in the junk really hard.

As I've mentioned numerous times before, I enjoy sub-plots. I enjoy the continuing story in a comic book series where sub-plots weave into the main plots and give the impression that the audience is not just reading a story about a character but taking part in a myriad of stories that make up this particular characters life, no matter how fantastic it may seem. In that respect, I've enjoyed the build-up of Dr. Fang from a shadowy menace to a full-fledged character as well as how this build-up has included side characters like Harvey Bullock. The problem for me here then is Dr. Fang. He's not a believable threat, even in a city with crime as crazy as Gotham. 

Fang is an ex-boxer and ex-actor, who decided that in order to force criminal gangs to follow him and ordinary citizens to fear him, would dress up as a shirtless man in a cape with a penchant for fake fangs. Even in a fictional universe where a clown is the gravest threat, I just don't see how Fang is able to take over the underworld as Bullock posits. Sure, he looks like an asshole, but he's barely above the level of shaking down people for protection money. He's no gangland, he's a common street criminal. It's disappointing that character full of possible pulpy appeal like Fang turns out to be another chump that will eventual end up in prison on the other side of Batman's fist. Another sub-plot soon to bite the dust. 

He's punch-drunk here.

 On the flip side, in a back-up feature to this story, Green Arrow is introduced to the Post-Crisis Post-Script.

Green Arrow is a former billionaire Oliver Queen as well as a former member of the Justice League of America and a master archer. Clad all in green (obvious) he acts like a modern day Robin Hood, protecting those without power in the social sphere from the crooked politicians and other white collar criminals that would prey on those without power or voice. 

Real arrows would just be too bloody.

While moving into an apartment in a new neighborhood Green Arrow becomes embroiled in a plot by a crooked landlord to wrongly evict residents from low-income housing. When the evil landlord resorts to trying to burn his own building down, the Emerald Archer catches him red-handed.

Green Arrow appears as a back-up in the Detective Comics series, and I'll be covering the stories as they wrap up for the foreseeable future.