Writer: Kurt Busiek / Artist: John Paul Leon / Letterer: Todd Klein / Collects: Batman: Creature of the Night #1 - #4 / DC Comics
10th May 2021 (Released 20th April 2021)
The Pitch: Bruce Wainwright, a comic book-reading kid obsessed with the Caped Crusader, loses his parents in a violent crime...and in the real world, no superheroes exist to save the day. As the survivor of the brutal murder of his parents, young Bruce sees grief and rage build inside himself-until something strange starts taking wing in the Gotham night! Something similar to the comics he's been reading his whole life. As life begins to imitate art, will Bruce Wainwright be able to live up to his fictional namesake? A deliberate spiritual companion to the beloved Superman: Secret Identity, Batman: Creature of the Night puts a new spin you've never seen before on the legend of Batman-and the dark emotions that drive him!
One of the oft-said things about comics is that they're a form of consensual dreaming. You enter a world and simultaneously observe the actions and thoughts of the lead character whilst operating in their POV. Given this, could we also say that comics are a form of non-invasive psychosis? A mental break we can exist in for the fifteen minutes or so it takes to read an issue, the hour or two it takes for a trade? What happens when the stories and more importantly the characters, stay with us? This dark and wonderful book by Busiek and Leon attempts to answer that. A sort of spiritual sequel to Busiek and Stuart Immonen's Superman: Secret Identity, COTN naturally takes on a darker hue. Not so much an 'Elseworlds' as a 'Real Worlds', presenting us with places we might recognise and motivations that seem plausible despite the fantasy elements. A dark version of magical realism, a genre I happen to adore.
MOTIVATIONS SEEM PLAUSIBLE DESPITE THE FANTASY ELEMENTS. IT’S A DARK VERSION OF MAGICAL REALISM
This is a knife edge to walk. Ultimately, we like Batman because believe that with a push we could all become him. Truthfully, we all know that it's impossible nonsense to think that way. Busiek solves the problem by having The Batman manifest as a wraith, a spirit of both vengeance and protection for Bruce Wainwright. Bruce does not become the Batman. But he sees through his eyes and commands his actions. Living and operating within the constraints of a realistic milieu, Bruce initially cannot compute the events that befall him. The book captures perfectly the surreal feeling of losing one's parents and rage and powerlessness of being a victim yourself, whilst still living and having to simply carry on. Batman makes a perfect foil for this type of story because of all the characters in comics, he is the most real. I suspect it's a fine sense of irony that brings Busiek and Leon to the point where the only way to cope with a terrible reality is to create a fantasy.
I believe that it's not important for art to try answer questions but to at least ask them. The team here should be commended for for trying both. They give entirely plausible reasons for the things Bruce sees and does. They lay clues for the reader, not only about the crimes but about the how and why of motivations in people. The touching way they handle Bruce's uncle – his very own Alfred – is a stand-out section of the book in this regard. And like all good dramatists, they're able to take characters to the brink of sanity and incident, raising stakes and tension before bringing the characters back to safety – or in some cases, not. Bruce's mental slide is matched by the slow realisation that crime is everywhere in one form or another. Even in his own actions. But Busiek doesn't give us easy answers and simplistic morals. As one of the best humanists is comics, he makes the choices painful and real. Anyone who has read his work in the last three decades knows this is one of the areas he excels in as a story-teller. He makes 'the illusion of change' less of an illusion.
You can buy the original four-issue mini series from our webshop whilst stocks last, or get the collected TPB via mail-order or in-store from Gosh Comics. It’s also available from Bookshop.org.