Batman Confidential #7
This was good, surprisingly good. I haven’t been a fan of this book at all. The art didn’t work for me and the first story arc managed to be both long and boring. This issue is the start of a new arc and while I’m still not fond of the art, the story is excellent.
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The issue starts off with a younger Batman than we usually see. Its been 42 weeks since he began wearing the costume and he’s reflecting on what he’s accomplished. With a nod to Batman Begins, he reveals that the crime rate in Gotham has dropped to the point that he finally feels that what he’s doing is having an effect. This feeling is amplified when he takes down a major drug supplier.
Of course it can’t last.
Bruce goes out to celebrate his recent victory by visiting a museum. Here we get an all too infrequent look at the human side of Bruce Wayne. He meets a rather pleasant woman and makes a date with her. Later, while he’s on patrol, he even cracks a smile.
This is a very human Batman. A Batman that we haven’t really seen much in the last few years, what with Gotham being nearly destroyed, a Robin dieing and another one returning from the grave during yet another Crisis. This is a Batman that hasn’t felt all of that pain yet. A Batman that is still learning. He has much to learn.
We cut to a crime scene. Someone’s broken into a diamond store and killed the employees using highly skilled methods. The odd thing is that they didn’t take anything. The victims are normal people with no ties to crime. Batman can’t figure it out.
While Batman is failing to turn up any leads, the story cuts to a bar where we meet “Jack”. Jack isn’t happy with his life. He reluctantly allows a waitress to drag out his story. It seems that Jack is very very good at his job, but he gets no satisfaction from it. He recently started a job and just walked away without finishing it because it was too easy. He’s thinking that he should just quit. The waitress convinces him to give it one more try.
The citizens of Gotham will never forgive this waitress. While she meant well, and in other circumstances would have been doing exactly the right thing, this time she has unintentionally helped to start the career of the worst nightmare Gotham will ever have.
Jack tries one more job. It’s a bank holdup and it’s going too well for him. Like everything else it’s just too easy. He trips the alarm and enjoys himself momentarily when the police show up and start a gun battle. The enjoyment doesn’t last however, and he’s about to give up, to let himself be shot, when in comes the Batman.
We leave Jack as he watches Batman put a hurt on his gang. He thinks our caped crusader looks ridiculous, but there is a gleam in Jack’s eye and we know that he has found what he wants out of life.
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This is a story that we haven’t really seen before in this depth. It is the origin of that demented maniac, the Joker. If the rest of the story is as well done as this first issue, it could well become the definitive origin.
So far I’m liking this a lot. In fact I like it so much that I think that this is how the next Batman movie should be handled. We should see sides of the character that comic fans have long enjoyed, but movie fans have not seen. Batman the detective. Batman the fallible. Batman the human.
I look forward to seeing how this plays out in the next few issues.