The Bat-Man: Second Knight #2 – Dan Jurgens, Writer; Mike Perkins, Artist; Mike Spicer, Colorist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Black Label has a very irregular schedule, with the first issue of this sequel to Jurgens and Perkins’ 1930s-set noir coming out in September. Fortunately, the issues are significantly oversized – and spectacular. This is a meaty reinvention of Batman in a world where the crime in Gotham is being joined for the first time by a sinister element of supervillainy – potentially tied to the Nazi threat growing overseas. At the end of last issue, Batman saw the city come under attack by a mysterious masked villain who is targeting Gotham’s humanitarians. A mass shooting hit a movie premier, Commissioner Gordon was nearly the latest victim, and our serial killer was met with an unexpected ally – Jonathan Crane. This version of Crane might be the most despicable yet, a mad scientist who developed his fear gas for the First World War. He was fired after the turn against chemical weapons, and now he’s looking to sell – to either side.
There are some fascinating tidbits about Thomas Wayne’s history in this version and his link to both Crane and Gordon. Without Alfred, Bruce’s self-destructive instincts are even stronger than they usually are, and his relationship with Julie Madison is already on the rocks because of this. There are so many great scenes here, involving characters like our Rabbi who is becoming Batman’s confidant, or the corrupt Maxie Zeus, who is still a world away from the other villains of Gotham. The addition of Lois Lane – and soon, Superman – is a tiny bit of a mixed bag. These are very faithful recreations of the 1930s Superman, and the characterization of both is great, but the genre instantly changes the second you have a bulletproof man in a story about a very human, vulnerable vigilante. But this remains a fantastic series, and one of the best achievements of Dan Jurgens’ very long DC career.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
