At the conclusion of last month's issue, Dr. Hugo Strange had fed a young woman who had insulted him to several large, monstrous, "test subjects", while Sal Maroni had lost a large shipment of heroin, and also loaned money out to Strange and Norman Madison, father of Julie Madison, who is dating Bruce Wayne, the Batman. Ahem, usually my sentences don't run on like that."Batman and the Monster Men, Part 2"
By: Matt Wagner
Colours: Dave Stewart
Letters: Rob Leigh
Synopsis: Various pieces of the body of the young lady from Part 1 are found in the sewer by Gotham Sanitation and brought to the attention of the GCPD. Captain Gordon is called in to examine the scene. He orders his men to patrol the perimeter, given him a chance to clandestinely meet with the Batman. He thinks to himself of how strange it is that he considers the masked vigilante a "friend", but that he owes him the life of Barbara and his son, at home. It is implied he is still with Barbara (meaning they have gotten back together since Turning Points #1), but is still having trouble forgetting Sarah. The Batman takes some hairs from under the fingernails of a severed arm, but admits to Gordon he has no clue what might be the cause. Gordon meanwhile, continues to have mixed feelings about his partnership.
Sal Maroni's thugs show up at Strange's laboratory to remind him about the money he owes, and let it drop that Maroni's men play a poker game every Friday. Strange recognizes such a game would be a good source of illicit cash, and begins to plan a raid with his assistant, Sanjay.
Bruce shows up late for a dinner with Julie, which happens often. Julie doesn't want to suspect Bruce of infidelity, but can't help it, based on his reputation. Bruce ducks out early after the dinner also.
As the Batman, he stops an armed robbery by ramming the getaway car with his own turbo-charged black Porsche (a reference to the early Golden Age comics where Batman drove a high-powered sedan, and to "Year One" where Bruce Wayne used a black Porsche on his ill-fated recon mission). He proceeds to take down all the robbers quickly, and while the cops on the scene think about pursuing him, they don't; they realize he does more good than harm.
We discover that Strange obtains the subjects for his experiments from Arkham Asylum, paying the guards under the counter and genetically manipulating the insane men. However, Strange's methods are crude and have so far all resulted in massive mutations, creating Monster Men.
Separately, Gordon and Bruce both find out the hair found on the dead woman was human. Bruce finds this difficult to believe, as the hairs were five times the size of an average human hair.
Meanwhile, Norman Madison's investments are all tanking and he finds himself forced to loan money once again from Sal Maroni. Afterwards, he talks to Julie about Bruce, stating that he doesn't trust the man's reputation.
Batman, meanwhile, is attempting to track the hairs through the sewers. He finds a ripped biohazard sticker, but no other clues. He admits the case baffles him and decides to concentrate on taking down Maroni.
Meanwhile, the mobster poker game gets interrupted by a very large, angry guest, and we get our first look at a Monster Man -- large, misshapen, hideous, strong, vicious, and bloodthirsty.
My Thoughts: Frankly, this series is fantastic. These are the sort of stories DC should've been telling and promoting in the months after "Year One", instead, this mini-series and its sequel got somewhat lost under the hype for (groan) Infinite Crisis, despite probably being the best Batman stories told in 2006. The characters are taut and believable, the story involves and engrosses, and the art is pleasurable to look at without being overcrowded or flamboyantly detailed. This second issue is great and keeps the reader looking forward to the remaining four. Who knew an expansion of a classic Golden Age tale could yield such good results?
The Art: More good work from Wagner and Stewart. Wagner's pencils occasionally misstep here (there's a panel of Bruce Wayne that looks very odd), but for the most part remain as enjoyable as last month. There are several Batman images that are just plain fantastic and Wagner must be ranked as one of the all-time best Batman artists along with Kane, Sprang, Infantino, Adams, Mazzuchelli, Aparo, Jones, Breyfogle, Sale, Lee, Mahnke, Kubert, etc. etc. even if he is one of the least-appreciated. I love his Hugo Strange especially. Also, the cinematic cut to black before the final page was a brilliant device.
The Story: I can't decide if Wagner is a better artist or writer, but he does both well enough that it puts people like Todd McFarlane to shame. Wagner especially has a great grip of characterization - his Gordon is the Gordon we've seen in "Year One" and prefaces the Gordon seen in Dark Knight Returns. He reads like Miller's Gordon, but from back when Miller could write. Wagner understands that characters go through arcs. You don't write "Year One" Batman like you write current-day Batman, and you don't write either like DKR Batman. I love the way Wagner's Batman is completely baffled by the extraordinary nature of these events -- this isn't the omniscient Batman of Grant Morrison's JLA run. This makes sense because Batman has yet to encounter anything but normal criminals at this point in his career. Wagner's Julie Madison is really loveable and believable and much better written than most of Wayne's girlfriends (if Golden Age Julie had been this interesting, she might have stuck around longer). I love Wagner's Hugo Strange - he has a fantastic hold on the character as a villain who has no idea he's the villain and in fact justifies everything he does with some kind of morality. Very believable and interesting.
Notes and Trivia: Batman loses his "night car" and realises he needs a better form of transportation.
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