Written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Dick
Giordano, it relates the tale of Batman revisiting the site of his parents' murder on the anniversary of their deaths. But
more, he's on the lookout for a particular individual.
It seems in modern Batman stories, you can't go more than
a month or two without seeing Thomas and Martha Wayne
being shot dead and poor young Bruce left alone with his
grief and his rage. But when I first started reading comics
on a regular basis, this was not always the case. Now
I can't swear to the veracity of my memory on this but I do
believe "There Is No Hope..." is the first time I had witnessed
a modern telling of the seminal event that led to
Bruce Wayne's destiny as the Batman.
I may not have been quite as young as Bruce Wayne is
depicted here when I read this story but I was still young
enough to understand the raw terror of watching your parents murdered.
What O'Neil adds here is the element of someone
who took this devastated young boy in her arms and did
what she could to help.
As we discover, it is this woman that Batman is keeping
watch for, this woman who showed him kindness and
compassion. And for the first time, I truly realized the pain
at the core of Bruce Wayne that drives the Batman to
I've not sure what led editor Julius Schwartz
to get Dick Giordano to draw this story.
By this point, Giordano was no longer the mainstay inker of
the Bat titles he had been earlier in the 1970's, working
with Irv Novick, Bob Brown and Neal Adams.
But there's a certain grounded quality to Giordano's
work that underscores the reader's empathy with O'Neil's
words and the actions of the Batman. So kudos to
Dick Giordano for a magnificent job as well as to
Julie Schwartz for getting him.
But a tip of the hat to Denny O'Neil who crafts an
extraordinary story in those brief 12 pages.
When Batman finally meets up with Leslie Thompkins, we
find two people shaped by the same tragedy. But whereas
Bruce swore vengeance on all criminals and took up
the guise of a bat to bring fear to evildoers, Leslie
Thompkins pursues her work with the same
kindness and compassion she gave to young Bruce.
And through her, Batman realizes that maybe there is hope in
Crime Alley after all.
#########################################################
'Tis I, OLD Dave-El back. Detective Comics#457
also featured an Elongated Man back up,
the conclusion of a two parter by Bob
Rozakis and Kurt Shaffenberger.
Given the lighter tone of most Elongated
stories, I'm a bit surprised Schaffenberger
wasn't called on more often to draw his adventures.
Ralph Dibny drank a formula called "Gingold" to
give him is stretching powers. It had been
established that Sue was allergic to this
formula so one central mystery to this tale is
how is she doing that?
Sue saves Ralph and reveals the tricks of her trade.
So Sue loses out on recognition for her own achievements but
hey, she's part of a power couple so there's that.
Hey, it was 1975. We thought polyester was a fashion choice
so what did we know?
But the main driving force was that poweful lead story,
Over the years, the role of Leslie Thompkins has been retconned
where she became a medical doctor who knows Batman is Bruce Wayne and has provided medical assistance to Batman and his retinue.
Thompkins is still a character driven by compassion but she has a sharper edge to her and less than patient with Bruce's chosen
life of violence.
 |
| by Mike W Barr, Alan Davis and Paul Neary , Detective Comics#574 (1987) |
#########################################################
Next week: Comic Book Retro 50 returns with a look at the comic books I bought in July 1976.
No comments:
Post a Comment