Written by Dennis O’Neil.
Art by Jerry Ordway; Steve Oliff; & John Costanza.
Cover Art by Jerry Ordway.
SUMMARY:
First released in 2019 by DC Comics for the film’s 30th Anniversary, this 134-page ‘deluxe edition’ reprints the comic book adaptation of 1989’s Batman movie co-starring Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, and Jack Nicholson. A subsequent 2023 reprinting was issued – presumably, to capitalize on Keaton’s much-anticipated return as Batman in The Flash.
In only a month, the nocturnal Batman has become a terrifying urban legend to street thugs in decrepit Gotham City. Local reporter Alexander Knox and his glamorous new partner, photojournalist Vicki Vale, attempt to solve this mystery. Meanwhile, Vicki falls in love with enigmatic 35-year-old billionaire Bruce Wayne, who is reluctant to share his dark secrets with her.
Upon being double-crossed by his boss, Carl Grissom, psychotic mobster Jack Napier has transformed into Gotham’s latest warped creation: the Joker. Hence, Batman and his new arch-enemy commence a dangerous series of face-offs. Batman, with Vicki’s help, attempts to thwart the Joker’s mass poisoning of Gotham’s public with his sinister Smylex laughing gas. An ominous catch-phrase has Batman subsequently realize where his obsession with Jack Napier first began.
With an abducted Vicki’s life at stake, Gotham’s Dark Knight pursues the maniacal Joker into a climatic final showdown. The question becomes: who rules Gotham City’s nights?
Note: This title is also available digitally.
REVIEW:
Reading this adaptation, one will immediately recognize the 1989 comic book’s limitations, in fairness to O’Neil’s lackluster rehash. First, multiple scenes and characters are omitted – i.e. Bruce & Vicki’s initial meeting; no Harvey Dent seen; a drugged Alicia’s disfigurement revealed to Vicki, etc. The maximum page count no doubt prioritized what O’Neil could do with the plot’s content.
Secondly, aside from minor tweaking, O’Neil sticks close to the script’s dialogue. Like Craig Shaw Gardner’s novelization, the cast’s improvisations (i.e. Keaton’s memorable “I’m Batman” intro) aren’t represented. Frankly, they wouldn’t have the same effect in this medium. The reliable O’Neil, overall, does a decent job given how he’s creatively boxed in.
As for artist Jerry Ordway, he has a knack for conveying terrific close-up likenesses of the cast much of the time. Still, though generally faithful to the cast’s costuming, the visuals are otherwise pedestrian. Suffice to say, the art squad falls far short of recapturing Anton Furst’s innovative art deco design, let alone a welcome sense of the mega-budget cinematography.
It’s unfortunate that, back in 1989, DC Comics didn’t prioritize this project to merit its artistic A-game. It appears that DC has since refreshened (to a degree) the comic’s weak-looking inks with a more worthwhile upgrade, aesthetics-wise.
Even if this ‘deluxe edition’ isn’t a must-have, it’s a decent slice of Bat-nostalgia from DC’s archives.
Notes: O’Neil includes one brief scene (likely deleted from the finished film) where Knox poses as Batman’s ‘corpse.’ In one set of images (replicated on the back cover), Ordway presents nice head shot close-ups of Keaton, Basinger, & Michael Gough’s Alfred. Keaton’s depiction has a longer-hair comb-over, which, amusingly, resembles a toupee.
ADDITIONAL CONTENT:
In a full-page format, both covers of the comic’s prior release are included. A scanned copy of Ordway’s artwork, as obvious padding, effectively doubles this book’s size. Ironically, Ordway’s black-and-white sketches are more vividly noir than the inked version.
BRIAN’S OOD MOON RATING: 5½ Stars
Note: Craig Shaw Gardner’s intriguing novelization depicts the movie’s intended script before Basinger replaced an injured Sean Young as ‘Vicki Vale.’
Hence, subsequently deleted/un-filmed scenes include Bruce & Vicki’s horseback riding sequence and a masked Bruce’s improvised horseback rescue of Vicki from the Joker and his henchmen. This latter action sequence was replaced in the film by Bruce faking his apparent death in Vicki’s apartment before discreetly escaping to the Batcave.
