A: Nothing. She's dead, triggering the Darknight Detective's war on crime.
Since we all know this, what exactly is the point of Batman: Earth One?
This hardcover graphic novel is promoted as a Dark Knight for a new generation. This is not, in itself, a bad thing: Frank Miller's four-part album series revitalised Batman, portraying him as a grizzled Clint Eastwood figure in a dystopian future. In recent years, the success of its namesake, the Christopher Nolan movie trilogy has repositioned the Caped Crusader in the modern Bourne/Bond thriller; no mean feat after the kitschy and monumentally unpopular Batman and Robin Clooney/Schwarzenegger vehicle of the mid-90s.
This book by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank depicts the early days of Batman's career when, as a fallible and impetuous novice, he crosses swords with the Penguin, the corrupt and sadistic mayor of Gotham City. The story also introduces Gulf War veteran Alfred Pennyworth; mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, one of the prestigious Arkham family; the Dent twins and struggling detective Jim Gordon, partnered with egotistical tv star Harvey Bullock.
As the old soldier guides the bereaved playboy on his mission, Bullock slides into alcoholism and Gordon's daughter ponders a crime-fighting career as the horror of child abductor and serial killer Birthday Boy is uncovered. Alfred also shockingly concludes the Penguin's political career.
So,we see a familiar cast of characters through a prism of modernity. I'm vividly reminded of Wizard Magazine's Ultimate DC feature from ten years ago. This was a purely speculative fantasy article, inspired by the success of Marvel's Ultimate imprint, (where, as you know, the iconic Lee/Kirby/Ditko Spider-Man, X-Men and Avengers were revamped along more youthful lines for movie and gaming audiences).
The Wizard article saw costumes simplified and made more utilitarian and militaristic. The proposed storylines were contemporary narratives of war, terrorism and corporate crime. In fact, when I fantasised about revamping Batman about six years ago, I did away with the name "Dick" Grayson altogether and replaced his circus background with a parkour obsession; the Joker was the aphasic henchman of gang boss Penguin and so on. I'm not averse to updating the legends.
Of course Ultimate Marvel is now twelve years old and counting: Mark Millar's Ultimates, while informing the style of Avengers Assemble, are yesterday's men. In 2011, the company unveiled its Season One graphic novel imprint with its annoying and irrelevant echo of television and its narrative structures. DC's response is the Earth One series, harking back to the Bronze Age designation for the mainstream continuity.
Unfortunately, these projects neither really attract new audiences to fifty-year-old properties with their prohibitive price tags and bookshop exclusivity; nor do they satisfy old farts like me with their modishness.
If this book were to be the official origin of the New 52 Batman- a universe that's now one year old- then I could understand its existence. But it simply appears to be a linguistic and sartorial update of an overly familiar story. Batman :Earth One- like the BBC's Ripper Street- is a glossy, sensationalised package of derivative misogyny and sadism disguised as Realism.
Meanwhile, Grant Morrison reinterprets tv and comics phenomenon The Walking Dead in Batman Inc. Damian, the demonic future Batman, finds himself an Omega Man figure in an Arkham Asylum besieged by Joker-ized maniacs. Disappointingly, pop culture's great shaman phones in a cartoon shoot-em-up tapping into the millennial anxiety over the Mayan calendar.
The fad for realism- actually Naturalism- and its vulnerable, angry heroes- is in tune with the temper of the times, although the frustration and self-loathing seem rather mid-Seventies to me. But it is merely fashionable; the characters will survive but the approach-hopefully- will not.
Coming soon: a Guid New Year tae yin an' a'
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I still miss the old 'Zip Nolan' approach of Detective Comics in the '70s. That's how much of an old fart I am. HNY.
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