Modern Age Batman Review: Batman and the Monster Men #1

In 2006, DC Comics published two Batman mini-series from Matt Wagner, forming a complete storyline called "Dark Moon Rising". Both series were retellings of Golden Age stories within the Modern Age continuity of the character, set within the closing moments of the "Year One" story-arc. The purpose of the storyline was stated as showing the transition of Batman fighting organized crime and petty criminals to the emergence of the freaks and colourful maniacs he would later fight and be deemed his Rogues Gallery. As such, the "Dark Moon Rising" storyline is set between Miller's "Year One" and Ed Brubaker's "The Man Who Laughs" one-shot.
The first mini-series, Batman and the Monster Men, is a retelling of a story from Batman #1, originally the second appearance of Professor Hugo Strange, it is re-imagined in the Post-Crisis timeline as Batman's first encounter with the mad scientist. The original story, "Professor Hugo Strange and the Monsters", ran twelve pages and was one of five stories in that issue. The retelling runs 140 pages and was spread over six issues.

"Batman and the Monster Men, Part 1"
By: Matt Wagner
Colours: Dave Stewart
Letters: Rob Leigh
Synopsis: The story is set within the closing panels of "Year One", after Loeb has been ousted as Commissioner and replaced by Grogan, but before the appearance of the Joker. That would place it in November of Batman's first year in Gotham. We get a good continuity reference right off the bat with a newspaper reporting the battle between the Batman and a mysterious villain called The Red Hood, which references a Silver Age Batman story as well as provides foreshadowing and background for several very important Batman stories set after this one.
The man holding the newspaper is Norman Madison, the irascible owner of Madison Industries, who is having breakfast with his young daughter, Julie. We discover Norman dislikes the Batman, and also dislikes the state of corruption in Gotham City. He sees Batman as a product of the madness of the city, and as spreading that madness to others, inspiring even the criminals to dress up in costumes, such as the Red Hood. We learn Julie is a young law student, and that she is dating one Bruce Wayne. Norman reminds Julie to bring Bruce to an upcoming charity ball.
Then we are introduced to a dark and mysterious individual working out to train his body to perfection. This individual works for the betterment of all mankind. He is... Professor Hugo Strange. Turns out Strange is a geneticist working with some unusual subjects, and is running out of money for his experiments. He will have to attend the Gotham Science Institute's charity ball to drum up some funding.
Meanwhile, out at the docks, the Batman takes down the henchmen of Sal Maroni, a lieutenant of mob boss Carmine Falcone. He learns that Maroni has been importing heroin in vast amounts to the city, but has apparently misplaced the last shipment. He cuts his night short, however, so that he may attend the charity ball as Bruce Wayne.
At the ball, we learn that Sal Maroni is an investor in Madison Industries, and as such considers himself Norman's associate. Julie shows up wearing a beautiful dress and introduces her father to Bruce. Meanwhile, Hugo Strange is after making his pitch to fund his research, when a young woman at the party implies that Strange's motivation to improve human genetics is merely selfish based on Strange's own short stature, glasses, and baldness. Strange ends up having to beg for funds from Sal Maroni, who has apparently been loaning Strange money for some time. Maroni bullies Strange for a bit, but agrees to loan him two grand.
With the help of his Sikh assistant Sanjay, Strange kidnaps the young woman who taunted him, and after stealing her money and jewelry, throws her in a dungeon where she is left to be apparently eaten by a group of mysterious monsters...
My Thoughts: This first issue does a great job of introducing the elements and players who we'll see throughout the rest of the arc. Wagner carries on in both writing and art style from "Year One" quite well, and integrates and updates the Golden Age concepts to the modern continuity. He gives Hugo Strange a turbin-wearing assistant like the early Dr. Death, as well as giving him a more believeable back-story and motivation than his original Golden Age conception as a Moriarty type figure. He also ties Strange in with the Falcone crime organization from "Year One", specifically in the character of Sal Maroni, a Golden Age mobster who was considerably re-invented in the Modern Age series The Long Halloween. Of particular note is Wagner's portrayal of Batman -- after a year in Gotham, having put the fear into the criminal element, this Batman is confident and optimistic. He believes he will win his war on crime and therefore is romancing Julie in anticipation of one day having an ordinary life. This is an interesting place to put Bruce before introducing him to his first extraordinary enemies, and was a psychology seen somewhat in the early parts of The Dark Knight feature film. This first issue is primarily expository in nature, but leaves us with a good cliffhanger for issue two.
The Art: Wagner's art is quite superb here, giving us a style that is reminescent of "Year One" but not attempting to copy it. Indeed, the characters are more stylized here, somewhat half-way between the "Year One" realism and the look of Bruce Timm's animated Batman series. However, Wagner creates an iconic look for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. He knows how to pose Batman and how to move him, and two panels border on iconic. His Bruce Wayne is definitive and a great look for the early version of the character. Also, Wagner's Hugo Strange is THE Hugo Strange, beyond the look of Bill Finger, Marshall Rogers, or Bruce Timm's look for the character. An interesting change is that Wagner's Julie Madison is a redhead, while her Golden Age counterpart had dark hair. Dave Stewart, colorist extraordinaire, worked on this issue, and he brings Wagner's semi-stylized art down to earth with a gritty palette based primarily in earth tones - reminescent of both "Year One" and Batman Begins.
The Story: Wagner's only setting things up here, so there's not much to say, but he does do a very good job of defining all the characters and their positions in the story. There's no confusion over any of the main players, and we look forward to seeing how their storylines will intertwine over the next five issues. Of note is Wagner's choice to make Julie Madison a law student, as opposed to her Golden Age version who was an actress. Some claimed this was to move Julie closer to the character of Rachel Dawes from Batman Begins, but Wagner says he began writing the series before that film was released, and changed Julie's profession to make her a stronger character and more logical attraction to Bruce Wayne. Also of note is that while Wagner retains the journal style narration for Wayne and Gordon from "Year One", he also gives each character an internal narration, with the caption boxes coloured differently for each individual, similar to Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns series.
Notes and Trivia: First Appearance of the Post-Crisis Julie Madison.