Originally posted on the old "ES/Batman Fun Hour" in the summer of 1998
Tangent Comics: The Batman #1 (September 1998)
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Layouts: Dan Jurgens
Finishes: Klaus Janson
In the back of this issue, writer Dan Jurgens expresses my initial
thoughts about making an original character out of Batman. There have
been about eight million different adaptations of Batman over the
last ten years, including a few before then. DC's "Elseworlds"
imprint has allowed various writers to come up with all sorts of
alternate Batmans. They've had Batmen of the future, Batman
the Barbarian and even "Batman meets Frankenstein". So, it appears
that everything has been done with Batman. This is where Dan Jurgens
has his big challenge.. to make a completely new and original Batman,
where the only thing you would recognize is the name.
DC's "Tangent" line offers new and well, tangent takes on
recognizable names. In this Tangent world, technology is advanced as
a result of superhuman interference in World War Two. Last year's
Tangent comics overlapped into each other (although each was still a
stand-alone issue) and you were given an alternate history lesson
with each issue. I've only picked up "The Batman" for this year, as
nothing else really excited me (Four of the titles were essentially
re-hashes of last year).
Dan Jurgens is still making his living out of being "the guy who
killed Superman", in the famous 1992 "Death of Superman"(which turned
out to last about six months). When he began to writer Spider-Man a
few years back, promo ads said somehting to the effect of "He Killed
Superman.. WHAT will he do to Spider-Man"? This is kinda like signing
Jeremiah Castille, the lucky Broncos' DB who recovered the famous
"FUMBLE" in the 1987 AFC Championship (game was actually played in
88...details). He has one claim to fame on his resume. I suppose
that's why DC picked Jurgens for this.... nevermind the fact that he
the dead Superman was only 2% of his work....
This Batman is a cursed knight from King Arthur's days. He was
deceived by Morgan Le Fey (of course... EVERY King Arthur story has
to have Morgan le Fey..silly me) into turning against the Round
Table. Morgan disguised herself as "The Lady Tasmia" to land one of
Arthur's elite knights. This knight, Sir William (Sir Bill to his
friends), was responsible for spearheading Morgan's army against
England and Arthur. Curiously, in these flashback scenes, you are not
really sure who is the bigger scumbag.. Sir William or King Arthur.
Sir Bill eventually realizes he has been duped, as his "wife" turns
into a demon as he realizes he has been sleeping with Morgan Le Fey
all these years. In a final act of redemption, Bill saves Arthur's
life by killing Morgan . Anyways, after Morgan is killed, Merlin
(see.. EVERY King Arthur story has to have him, too) places a curse
on Sir William to be forever imprisoned in the "Castle of the Bat",
until "thou hast atoned for thy sins".
So, why the heck is he called "Batman"? That would be because
while commandeering Morgan's army, their code of arms featured a
Bat..much like you see a Lion on British ones. In effect, the "Bat"
symbol is sort of a skewed version of the traditional Batman symbol.
Sir Bill also used a bat-like theme on his armor, with spiky shoulder
pads and a batsy fin on his helmet. Jurgens admits that he played
more with "Batman's other name.. the Dark Knight" when creating this
character.
The plot isnt really much to write about. Sir Bill is trapped in
this ethereal castle, that only appears in the mist..and then
disappears again. He is trapped inside, but through magic is able to
transfer his spirit into his hollow armor. He uses this to atone for
his sins by "secretly doing good deeds aroud the countryside". This
reminds me of Commander Rann doing his space exploration through
Biotron back in the 70's "MICRONAUTS" series. A "lifelesss emissary"
does all the work, while the real brains of the outfit is safe at
home. While doing a random "good deed", the Bat-man comes across a
Dr. Imra Ardeen, who is being stalked by the criminal Prysm. Sir Bill
believes Imra to be the reincarnation of his long lost love, Lady
Tasmia (she was normal, at first, until Morgan got to her and took
over her life). He fails at first, but eventually tracks down Prsym,
her hostage Ardeen and Prysm's boss, King Kobra. The Bat-man saves
Ardeen from Kobra and his Copperheads. Ardeen was so valuable because
she has the key to re-starting power all over the globe. In another
Tangent title, all technology was apparently rendered useless. Sir
Bill (through the Bat-man) realizes Imra is not Tasmia and flies
back to the castle.. "the loneliest man the world has ever know.."
Like I said, not too much of a plot. The main obstacle was
establishing a new take on "Batman". Sure, it's different, but you
dont really feel any empathy for Sir Bill. It's tough to root for a
guy who once waged war all throughout England. Maybe he realized the
error of his ways, but you really don't care. The Bat-man armor looks
impressive when it dons its bat-wings and flies across the sky... and
lookes downright clunky the rest of the time. Besides, Sir Bill also
admits that he has killed many people with his sword, in the name of
justice. As you may have gathered from my other ramblings, one key
rule of Batman is that he never kills. True, this was SUPPOSED to be
a completely different Bat-man... but, again, who cares? For a guy
who's supposed to be a KINIGHT, you dont pick up a great sense of
chivalry from him.
We may never see this Bat-man again.. and that could be a shame.
The whole "lonely dude who cant leave his castle" could make for some
great stories. I feel that is just wasnt handled properly here. Maybe
if he had some admirable traits, you would actually be patient and
want to hear more about Sir Bill. As it is, he's just some dude who
goes through the motions. This Bat-man wouldnt pan out as a hero, or
someone you'd want to read about. He would work out as a
semi-recurring character, or even a villain, like Man-Bat does, over
in DC's "real" world.
It's too bad Sir Bill didn't have a sidekick. "Sir Robin" comes to mind.
There would be much rejoicing.
The Tangent cover designs really get me going. I just like the way
the typography is handled on them, giving them a high-end techno, or
even a WEB -ish look. The art is decent, as Jurgens always is. He
even begins to look like John Romita, JR in some places. The biggest downfall is his
depictions of King Arthur and Sir Bill..they look too squeaky clean
and Disney-ish to be convincing. Arthur even wears his little tiara
throughout his battles. Bottom line for this book is; it's worth 50
cents. A pretty low rating... but you would expect something ALOT
better when it's using one of DC's flagship names.
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