Hello. Welcome back. This is part two of my Reading Batman series of posts. Previously we looked at The Long Halloween, set during the quasi-mythical Years One & Two of Bruce Wayne’s emergence in Gotham City. We saw a rawer, less experienced version of The Dark Knight who is trying to solve the case of The Holiday Killer. While doing this he also finds himself trying to cope with Gotham shifting from being under the control of The Mob to a playground for costumed criminals. We’re ultimately left with Batman in a position of contemplating arguably the greatest failing of his early career.
The story continues under the same Eisner Award Winning creative team of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale in Dark Victory.
When we move onto Dark Victory we find ourselves a few months removed from The Long Halloween.
Costumed criminals are fully on the rise, gangsters are a dying breed, and Batman has become more withdrawn from his friends, beating himself up over the failure to prevent an acid attack on former District Attorney Harvey Dent in court leading to the creation of Two-Face.
In essence we have Bruce beating himself up over something that really isn’t his fault.
His choice to isolate himself from the world as Batman reminds us of the fragility of this rookie Caped Crusader.
In fact early on we deal with the fallout of The Long Halloween, not just for Batman. The now Commissioner Gordon finds himself feeling more and more alone, with Batman avoiding him plus Dent’s transformation taking away his closest allies. The new DA wants the police to be less reliant on Batman, and Carmine Falcone’s daughter Sofia is trying to rally The Mob to take back control from The Freaks. Dent is confined to Arkham Asylum, surrounded by those he put there before his fall from grace. Gotham is a tinderbox waiting for the spark.
Jake's Copy of Batman: Dark VictoryThe spark comes, a Halloween attack at Arkham frees Joker, Scarecrow and Harvey Dent AKA Two Face. The Chief of Police is found hanging from a bridge on a beat he walked for 30 years. Batman is dragged back into the fray.
When the Hangman strikes again, this time killing corrupt former Police Commissioner Gillian Loeb, Batman must figure out if this is Holiday striking again, or a new killer inspired by him.
If The Long Halloween is about Bruce’s shortcomings in his early days
then Dark Victory is where the foundations of the modern Batman are
laid.
Through the writing Loeb shows Bruce’s slow realisation that
Gotham is changing into something he couldn’t have anticipated.
He goes from being an isolated figure racked by self doubt after The Long Halloween to someone that resembles the confident Bat we know now. He reforges his alliances within Gotham.
This a Batman coming to grips with his identity while creating the early
part of his legend. He forms arguably his most iconic partnership as
well.
This is no longer the rookie Dark Knight, but neither is he what
we have come to associate with The Bat. This is a Batman in transition.
This is Batman becoming the symbol Gotham needs.
You are almost
witnessing history when you read Dark Victory, and like all good sequels
it brings our story full circle after The Long Halloween.
We are left
with hope. Optimism for the future.
That this dark victory is the dawn of a new chapter.
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