DETECTIVE COMICS #525

"CONFRONTATION"
Writer Gerry Conway | Artists: Dan Jurgens & Dick Giordano
Letterer: Ben Oda | Colorist: Adrienne Roy | Editor: Len Wein

The Plot: Batman emerges from the river where Killer Croc vanished, and informs Robin and Commissioner Gordon that there is no sign of the villain. But as Batman climbs out of the water, he is secretly observed from the shadows by Croc himself. Later, following a date with Vicki Vale, Bruce Wayne wanders Gotham's waterfront and suddenly realizes that he noticed Croc but didn't register it at the time. He changes back to Batman and hads for the river, then tracks Croc into the sewer. But Croc gets the drop on the Masked Manhunter, nearly drowning him and then vanishing again. Batman searches for Croc and is ambushed again, then Croc disappears once more. Then, when Croc attacks from hiding a third time, Batman forces them both toward a large storm drain, which gives way and allows Batman to escape into the river. Batman emerges from the water in a riverside park, and vows that next time they meet, he will take Croc down.

Continuity Notes: The issue opens with some footnotes, as we're first given a brief summary of DETECTIVE COMICS #524 and BATMAN #358 when Batman describes to Robin how Croc killed the Squid and how Batman tracked him to his home. A page later, Batman tells Robin and Gordon about Croc letting him escape from the Squid's mob, again in DETECTIVE 524.

Bruce meets Vicki for a date and when she observes that he seems distracted, he tells her that he's thinking about Selina Kyle's obsession with him. He tells Vicki that Selina "needed" him to much, and he doesn't want to be needed by anyone -- which is what he likes about his casual relationship with Vicki. This naturally leads Vicki to bawl him out and then storm off.

Robin visits the Sloan Circus, where he catches the Flying Todds' act and then meets with them in their trailer. He asks for their help in capturing Croc if he should return to the circus, and after a brief conversation, Joe and Trina Todd agree. The scene also includes A) a footnote to BATMAN #358, in which Trina told Dick Grayson about Croc shaking down the circus for protection money, and B) a cute moment where young Jason Todd seems excited to meet Robin, but really just wants the Teen Wonder to tell him about Wonder Girl. There's also a brief moment where, after the Todds agree to help, Robin and Trina share a mutual sudden "chill".

My Thoughts: Before I dive into the story here, I want to quickly comment on the artwork in this issue. It's spectacular. Not to say the previous art through Gerry Conway's run wasn't great; Don Newton and Gene Colan are great fits for Batman, and fill-in artists such as Irv Novick and, in the previous issue, legendary Superman penciler Curt Swan, have all been great as well. And we've had a range of inkers as well, from the smooth and polished Dan Adkins to the rough and gritty Alfredo Alcala, and nearly all have looked great over the various pencilers.

BUT! Here's the thing: Dan Jurgens (only about twenty-three years old when he drew this issue!) and Dick Giordano were born to draw DC comics. I can't quite explain it, but something about Jurgens' work here evokes what I would call the DC "house style" of the eighties, and of course Giordano, the definitive Batman inker, only serves to enhance that feeling. Like, if somebody said to me, "What are Batman and Robin supposed to look like?" I might very well direct them to the two pages below, where they both (not to mention the Batmobile as well) look exactly as I have envisioned them in my mind's eye since I was a child:

Now, on with the issue -- and I have to say, this one gives me a weird sense of déjà vu. I have the feeling that I may have owned this issue when I was a boy. I would've been four years old when it was published, so that likely explains why I can't remember it well, but there are certain bits that are incredibly familiar to me, even though I know for a fact that I have never read the issue at any point in my life since I've been able to remember such things! But the bit I mentioned above, where Jason asks Robin about Wonder Girl, and the eerie scene where Bruce suddenly realizes that "He was there! Croc is alive!" (plus the equally eerie initial version of that scene in the opening pages) -- these are bits and pieces that exist somehow in my memory.

And for the record, the more I look at the issue's cover, the more certain I become that I owned it -- but is this a case of me truly remembering it, or a sort of self-fulfilling phrophesy where I'm somehow convincing myself to remember it even if it's not true??

In any case, this is a good issue, really selling what a threat Croc is to Batman. We've already seen how cunning he is and we've seen him easily take out a bunch of "civilian" security guards and use a sniper rifle to off the Squid. We also witnessed his recognition of Batman hiding on a rooftop a few issues back. And now we see him going at Batman hand-to-hand (admittedly with home-turf advantage in the sewers) and posing such a threat that the Caped Crusader is forced into retreat.

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, this Croc is a far cry from the dim-witted stooge of BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES. Gerry Conway's Croc is cunning, calculating, and brutal. I don't know if he evolved over time in the comics into the character the cartoon adapted him to become, or if the producers of BATMAN: TAS simply chose to dumb him down for their production, but I have to say that I really like comic book Croc a lot more than his television counterpart.

All that said, it's probably worth noting that in his very first BATMAN: TAS appearance, written by Michael Reaves, Croc bore more similarity to this original comic book version. In the episode "Vendetta", he's out to kill the men who got him arrested, and in the process he plants a bomb on a police boat, infiltrates Police Headquarters by impersonating Detective Harvey Bullock, and proves superior to Batman in their first encounter, forcing the Darknight Detective into retreat. (Sound familiar?) The episode even ends with a knock-down, drag-out sewer fight which surely seems inspired by this very issue. It's really only later in the series' run that Croc becomes sort of a dumb "loser" character.

Anyway! I'd been promising to wax philosophical on Croc for a few weeks now, so I hope it was worth the wait. Next week is Gerry Conway's penultimate Batman story, as the Croc epic barrels toward its tragic conclusion.