Spooky Batman! - Batman and the Monster Men

This week, I've tried to show that Batman can do a wide-variety of horror stories. But when the character was created in 1939, that was never intended. Remember: his first appearance was almost 30 issues into a book called Detective Comics. Overtime, the character evolved into perhaps the most elastic superhero in terms of genre remixing. But in the beginning, Batman was fighting the mafia and organized crime--only later did he start fighting psychotic super villains. 

Matt Wagner's Dark Moon Rising mini-serieses demonstrate the change in story. In an interview with IGN, Wagner explains, 

"...it struck me that there's no real transition story of how [Batman] starts countering what will ultimately be termed "super-villains." In Batman: Year One, he's fighting the organized crime scene that's gotten its hooks in Gotham's political machine. And then you turn around and it's all costumed villains. I thought it'd be a good scenario to depict how he moves from one to the other." 

Thus, Batman and the Monster Men is an adaptation of a Golden Age  story from Batman #1. And while it does predominately focus on Doctor Hugo Strange’s freakish monster men creations, the story could be just as easily titled Batman and the Mobster Men for the way it shows Batman’s main crusade is against organized crime. 

Now, the story is fun and snappy so I don’t want to spoil much. Basically, Bruce Wayne falls in love with Julie Madison (another Golden Age throwback), who’s father happens to be loaning money from the mafia. Batman finds out about it, tries to stop him, but starts unraveling a bigger plot in which Dr. Hugo Strange is creating freakish Frankenstein men to terrorize the mafia. Soon, fights ensue and Batman must stop the gigantic behemoths. 

Wagner says this story takes place right after Batman: Year One; as Batman transitions into fighting the supernatural, he becomes stronger, more confident, and better at fighting crime. 

However, I assert, this is his secret downfall. Batman is a Sysiphusian figure who can never accomplish his ideal (...and everyone stops reading). The better he gets at fighting crime, the more savvy the criminals get, the more ruthless their actions, the more trouble they become. Batman is pushing a boulder up a hill and he’ll never make it to the top in time.

Now, a skeptic might say, “Yeah duh Batman’s foes get stronger and more badass--if they didn’t, then no one would buy the next issue. It’s capitalism, stupid!” But, this is my point exactly. Batman can never truly win. And with that, it makes sense that the stories have gotten progressively darker and more gritty over time (sans the 1950s-1960s). The reason Joker has to cut off his face is because he needs to top his psychotic nature to match Batman’s psychotic vigilantism. 

Consider: at the start of Batman’s career, there’s no Arkham Asylum. It gets invented as a place to put his foes. He’s the reason it exists. Now, Bruce Wayne and Wayne Industries have also created a whole bevy of Batman’s foes in the past including Mr. Freeze (Wayne paid for his people freezing experiments), Poison Ivy (Wayne paid for her plants), Man-Bat (a Wayne scientist), Joker (fell into acid at Batman’s mistake), Jason Todd’s Red Hood (Batman let Joker kill him), and more! So many of Batman’s villains are just ghosts from Bruce Wayne’s past. By the time Batman is a super-competent crime fighter who actually could stop organized crime, he no longer has time to do it! He’s instead forced to stop the giant crocodile man or the venom-doping strong guy. This gives the mob time to organize and plan bigger and better crimes. 

Because of Batman, there must always be a bigger crisis. People always must be in greater danger. In fact, exactly like capitalism. The newer the crisis the bigger it gets. If Batman never existed, Gotham City would be over run with street crime and little boys would watch their parents get shot in crime alley. However, because Batman exists, Gotham City is now always at the mercy of total psychos who’s only motivation is to destroy all possible. What’s the better world to live in? I dunno.

Come back tomorrow and watch Batman turn into a vampire