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about_facesSometimes, seeing online scans of a comic I've already read allows me to read the story in a different light, sometimes to such extremes that it makes me feel like I'm only now reading it for the first time.
Such was the case when![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tungstencompton posted snippets from Denny O'Neil's "Duel," the first Legends of the Dark Knight Annual, starting with the opening sequence by Jim Aparo. Now, this comic didn't do much for me the first time I read it, but seeing these excerpts online gave me a whole new appreciation for this story, and what it means to one of the most controversial Batman questions out there. But to actually say what that question is would be a spoiler in of itself.
So with permission from the OP who scanned the pages in the first place, I'm reposting the Aparo pages here for several reasons, not the least of which being that I think it's some of Aparo's best artwork ever:
I believe that this marks the last appearance of the Aparo-designed Turtleneck!Two-Face. That's a look I'd love to see someone bring back.
Astungstencompton explained in the original post: The Master tells Bats that he must now make a decision: either become humble and find peace, or dare to go further down this route of violence than ever before, to find what lies at its heart. Batman asks how to do that.
Once Batman enters the door, dragging along his mysterious burden, the story becomes a series of wacko hallucinogenic situations by a rotating series of artists. You can actually read expanded versions of these scans at the OP's original scans_daily post, but the important thing to know is that there's a subtle common thread connection each of these stories, no matter how wacko the premises seem, such as Batman fighting demons in Hell, or Joe Quesada drawing Batman versus Vampire Talia and her pet dragon...
... following by a battle with an alien insectoid invader, courtesy of Tom Lyle and Ty Templeton...
... followed by Prohibition era mobsters, and, finally, zombie Nazis raised by the Obeah Man (the obscure villain who killed Tim Drake's mother and crippled Jack Drake). This, naturally, results in Batman versus Hitler, and with that premise, all should be right with the world.
Yep, it's all been one big hallucination, brought on by the head injury caused by the Joker which was referenced in the flashbacks at the start. Nice little foreshadowing on O'Neil's part there.
So yes, the whole issue was one big, convoluted, roundabout examination of why Batman doesn't kill the Joker. This is one of the most contentious questions both in Bat-Fandom and from non-Batman fans who hold up Batman's refusal to kill this mass murderer as a major reason why they can't get into the character. For me, it's become too much of a messy question to tackle at present, so I'll leave that debate to you guys in the comments. Me, I'm just here for the Jim Aparo.
After his glory days in the Bronze Age, Aparo's art seriously seemed to go downhill once he let himself be inked by someone else in stuff like A Death in the Family. Even when he inked himself again after that in stuff like the Knightfall era comics, it just wasn't the same. He seemed more stuff, less dynamic, more of a relic from a bygone era rather than a timeless master as fans like me have always seen him, and always will.
Looking at the above scans, I have to wonder if he was just let down by the poorer printing and coloring quality of regular Batman books, as opposed to LOTDK's prestige format. I'm not sure he ever looked quite this good in any story since, with the possible exception of the GCPD police mini-series, since Bill Sienkiewicz's inking makes EVERYBODY look better. But there's nothing quite like the pleasure of Aparo inking and lettering himself in stories such as this and this.
That said, I do make some exceptions, mainly where nostalgia is concerned. For example, I'd give up a moderately-sized toe to own this:
That right there is the first page of the first comic I ever read, and I'm incredibly jealous of the guy who actually owns it. Needless to say, this page had quite the lifelong impact on me.
Such was the case when
tungstencompton posted snippets from Denny O'Neil's "Duel," the first Legends of the Dark Knight Annual, starting with the opening sequence by Jim Aparo. Now, this comic didn't do much for me the first time I read it, but seeing these excerpts online gave me a whole new appreciation for this story, and what it means to one of the most controversial Batman questions out there. But to actually say what that question is would be a spoiler in of itself.So with permission from the OP who scanned the pages in the first place, I'm reposting the Aparo pages here for several reasons, not the least of which being that I think it's some of Aparo's best artwork ever:
I believe that this marks the last appearance of the Aparo-designed Turtleneck!Two-Face. That's a look I'd love to see someone bring back.
As
tungstencompton explained in the original post: The Master tells Bats that he must now make a decision: either become humble and find peace, or dare to go further down this route of violence than ever before, to find what lies at its heart. Batman asks how to do that.Once Batman enters the door, dragging along his mysterious burden, the story becomes a series of wacko hallucinogenic situations by a rotating series of artists. You can actually read expanded versions of these scans at the OP's original scans_daily post, but the important thing to know is that there's a subtle common thread connection each of these stories, no matter how wacko the premises seem, such as Batman fighting demons in Hell, or Joe Quesada drawing Batman versus Vampire Talia and her pet dragon...
... following by a battle with an alien insectoid invader, courtesy of Tom Lyle and Ty Templeton...
... followed by Prohibition era mobsters, and, finally, zombie Nazis raised by the Obeah Man (the obscure villain who killed Tim Drake's mother and crippled Jack Drake). This, naturally, results in Batman versus Hitler, and with that premise, all should be right with the world.
Yep, it's all been one big hallucination, brought on by the head injury caused by the Joker which was referenced in the flashbacks at the start. Nice little foreshadowing on O'Neil's part there.
So yes, the whole issue was one big, convoluted, roundabout examination of why Batman doesn't kill the Joker. This is one of the most contentious questions both in Bat-Fandom and from non-Batman fans who hold up Batman's refusal to kill this mass murderer as a major reason why they can't get into the character. For me, it's become too much of a messy question to tackle at present, so I'll leave that debate to you guys in the comments. Me, I'm just here for the Jim Aparo.
After his glory days in the Bronze Age, Aparo's art seriously seemed to go downhill once he let himself be inked by someone else in stuff like A Death in the Family. Even when he inked himself again after that in stuff like the Knightfall era comics, it just wasn't the same. He seemed more stuff, less dynamic, more of a relic from a bygone era rather than a timeless master as fans like me have always seen him, and always will.
Looking at the above scans, I have to wonder if he was just let down by the poorer printing and coloring quality of regular Batman books, as opposed to LOTDK's prestige format. I'm not sure he ever looked quite this good in any story since, with the possible exception of the GCPD police mini-series, since Bill Sienkiewicz's inking makes EVERYBODY look better. But there's nothing quite like the pleasure of Aparo inking and lettering himself in stories such as this and this.
That said, I do make some exceptions, mainly where nostalgia is concerned. For example, I'd give up a moderately-sized toe to own this:
That right there is the first page of the first comic I ever read, and I'm incredibly jealous of the guy who actually owns it. Needless to say, this page had quite the lifelong impact on me.
