DETECTIVE COMICS #469 & #470

"...BY DEATH'S EERIE LIGHT!" | "THE MASTER PLAN OF DOCTOR PHOSPHOROUS!"
Presenting: The Batman you've been waiting for by:
Author: Steve Englehart | Artist: Walt Simonson | Inker: Al Milgrom
Colorist Marshall Rogers & Jerry Serpe | Editor: Julius Schwartz

We spoke a few weeks ago about Len Wein's brief attempt to "Marvelize" Batman in his "Bat-Murderer" story arc. But, as I noted at that time, Wein's instilling of Marvel-style plotting into the Caped Crusader's world felt unofficial, like it was his idea and not a mandate from editorial.

Steve Englehart's Batman run, on the other hand, was, as I understand it, a deliberate attempt by DC to "Marvelize" their comics -- however they didn't hire Enghlehart to do it to Batman! From what I've read, DC wanted Englehart to bring his experience and sensibilities from writing AVENGERS to JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA. Englehart agreed on the condition that he be allowed to write Batman as well. Thus, in addition to tackling JLA for a year, Englehart was also given eight issue of DETECTIVE COMICS on which to ply his trade.

(And it's neither here nor there, but Englehart had decided around the same time to retire from comics, so he wrote all his DETECTIVE issues in full script format and turned them in advance, then moved out of the country before they were even drawn!)

Look, I've gone on record here as not being much of a fan of Steve Englehart. I spoke to that point when I looked at Marvel's "Evolutionary War" annuals a few years back. But, for the most part, I actually really love his DETECTIVE COMICS run. That said, the run begins inauspiciously, with a pretty unremarkable two-part adventure, notable only for setting up sub-plot points which play heavily into the remainder of the run.

The story finds Batman up against a new villain, Doctor Phosphorous, whose skin was changed into ever-burning phosphorous by a nuclear meltdown. Phosphorous wants to destroy Gotham as revenge for his transformation, since the nuclear plant where it happened was put into place by the Gotham City Council. But partway through the story, he decides that killing Batman is more important than his revenge, and convinces a key member of the council to turn Gotham against the Caped Crusader. Our hero defeats Phosphorous in the end, however, restoring his good name.

Like I said; unremarkable. But the important stuff all runs mostly between the lame Phosphorous material. However, before we get there, let's take a brief moment to talk about the artwork in these two issues: frankly, it sucks. And I'll be the first to say that one rarely, if ever, sees that phrase used to describe the work of Walt Simonson, but there's no more delicate way to put it. This is flat-out the worst Simonson artwork I've ever seen. It's impossible to believe these issues were drawn by the same guy who so brilliantly and beautifully delineated the Manhunter saga just a couple years earlier, yet here we are.

Some might blame the poor art on inker Al Milgrom, but I don't really think that's the case here. I'm not much of a fan of Milgrom as a penciller, but I've generally found his inks decent. At worst, he tends to simply trace whatever the penciller drew. And it's not just the inking that's bad here; the figures are weirdly stiff and blocky, the layouts are boring... I can't help thinking that perhaps Simonson was rushed or otherwise occupied with additional work when he drew these pages. Or maybe he simply drew layouts or even thumbnails and Milgrom finished the art from those. But whatever the case, the end result is ugly with a capital "U".

But now the good stuff! Though the Doctor Phosphorous stories are pretty lame, Englehart also uses these stories to lay the seeds which will become the meat and potatoes of upcoming issues: specifically, this two-parter features the debuts of Rupert Thorne and Silver St. Cloud. Thorne is introduced here as the corrupt city council "boss" who masterminded construction of the nuclear plant that created Doctor Phosphorous. He's been in power for years and Batman knows him, but Englehart sidesteps the inevitable "If this guy's such a big deal, why haven't we heard of him before?" question by stating that Thorne has left Batman alone up to this point. He only goes after him now when, as noted above Phosphorous forces the council to do so. Thorne will be a recurring antagonist for the remainder of Englehart's run.

Silver pops up at a party aboard Bruce Wayne's yacht (and so does Thorne, but the yacht is Silver's first appearance while Thorne had debuted in the previous issue), where she and Bruce strike up an instant flirtation. Bruce excuses himself at one point to change into Batman and fight Phosphorous, which eventually leads to him spending some time in the ocean. Thus, when Silver runs her fingers through his hair after he returns to the yacht at the story's end, she notes that it's damp and begins thinking. Like Thorne, Silver will remain in play for the rest of Englehart's run.

Englehart also introduces a long overdue development to Batman's status quo in these issues. Recall that Bruce Wayne moved into his penthouse in Gotham proper in "One Bullet Too Many", the December 1969 issue of BATMAN. From that point forward, whenever writers needed him to use the equipment in the Batcave for any reason, they sent him back to Wayne Manor to do so. Englehart realizes how silly that is and simply brings the Batcave to Bruce! We learn here that Batman has set up a new Batcave beneath the Wayne Foundation building in a space the city had once intended to use for a subway system before abandoning the plan during World War II. Thus we no longer need to send Batman all the way out of the city simply to use his computer. The Batcave and all its amenities are right below him, as they should be.

Speaking of amenities, Englehart also introduces the peculiar (but fun) idea that, on a floor of his penthouse below the ultra-modern living spaces that he'd been using for the past few years, Bruce has a den decorated and furnished in a more old-fashioned style -- essentially, a little bit of Wayne Manor in the penthouse. It's a little silly, but I like it.

Thus begins Steve Englehart's brief-but-legendary run with the Batman. Next week, it continues with the return of Doctor Hugo Strange!