Batman: Dark Age #1 – Mark Russell, Writer; Mike Allred, Artist; Laura Allred, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Superman: Space Age by Russell, Allred, and Allred was one of the best comics to come out of DC in recent years, a heartbreaking tale of Superman confronting the end of the world. So this creative team is reuniting once again to tell Batman’s story, in a similar but very different world. There’s just one problem—if there’s one consistent theme in his work, it’s that Mark Russell does not like rich people. So how does he tell the story of the most iconic rich-guy hero? It’s clear from the start that this is not an ordinary Batman story, as we meet an elderly, embittered Bruce Wayne stricken with Alzheimer’s in the opening pages, as he reflects back on the life that led him here.
There is a gorgeous segment that illustrates Thomas Wayne’s vision for the future—a future which never came to pass. Bruce in this world doesn’t witness his parents’ murder, being safely at home, and their murder is part of a larger conspiracy by the False Face Society, which has its sights on Bruce next—as Bruce is set to inherit the company at age eighteen. Alfred does his best to protect him and raise him in that interim, but this Bruce doesn’t make that easy. He’s a delinquent, resents the restrictions on his freedom, and condescendingly calls Alfred “the help.” That makes it easy to root against him, but it’s also clear that there’s a wounded child underneath all that, and he’s heading towards serious trouble.
This Bruce isn’t shy about exploiting his wealth and privilege as he starts to explore Gotham’s underbelly, as if he’s chasing the truth of his parents’ death. That leads him into trouble, including an encounter with a beatnik cat burglar, as well as a particularly twisted comedian with a sick sense of humor. You can almost see the direction things are going—and then the story takes a wild turn as Bruce encounters an enemy he can’t manipulate and has his privilege suddenly and brutally stripped away. This is a fascinating look into a story where Batman’s creation went sideways, with a last-page reveal that makes everything about this story a lot clearer. It’s not quite as immediately captivating as the Superman mini, but it’s well on its way to becoming another huge win for the creative team.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
