Retro Review Month: Superman and the Men of Steel - Here We Go Again

Superman is dead...in the comics...again...I should elaborate.
Prior to "Rebirth", DC published "The Final Days of Superman", a two month crossover event involving all the Superman books where after certain events across the Superman and Justice League books, Superman's body was failing him and this would not be a time the Man of Steel could cheat death. In my opinion, this story started out well in the first half with Superman getting his affairs in order (even if it was kind of ripping off "All Star Superman"), but really got sidetracked with this one guy who through a convoluted way got Superman's powers and believed he was actually Superman and Clark Kent. Aside from that, the story does end with Superman's death as he says his last words to his friends: Batman, Wonder Woman, Steel, Lana Lang, and Lois Lane. I was somewhat disappointed though that there was hardly interaction between him and the pre-Flashpoint Superman. Anyway, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at how this version of the character began.
Back when the New 52 kicked off in 2011, there were two Superman solo books, the main Superman title showing his present adventures, while Action Comics, written by Grant Morrison, would (initially) show the character's new beginnings. Prior to the New 52, I had barely followed Superman, but as he was getting his origin retold (for the third time within 10 years), I saw Action Comics as a good point to jump on.
So let's dive into "Superman and the Men of Steel."

I should note a few things though. While this arc is considered to run through Action Comics #1-8, #5-6 were an interlude story so I'll be skipping those issues. And while some of these issues include a back-up story, I usually skip those anyway, so those won't be part of this either

 Issue one starts with Superman putting the fear of God into a corrupt businessman named Glen Glenmorgan (I guess the parents weren't real imaginative when picking names) in his penthouse after easily going through his bodyguards, as the police arrive and order Superman to put Glenmorgan down, saying he will as soon as he confesses to his crimes. Superman then leaps from the balcony to the streets below, landing safely and still holding Glenmorgan, who promptly confesses in front of the police to using illegal cheap labor and bribed city officials. Superman then speeds off away from the police, as they shoot at him only to have the bullets bounce off him.
What I like about what Morrison does here is that he takes Superman back to his roots. Way back in the original Action Comics #1, Superman used his guise as investigative reporter Clark Kent to expose corruption and get justice no matter what, and became Superman when more needed to be done. It's exactly what we see here. He isn't even shown to fly yet, just like when he first appeared. You'll also notice that he wears a t-shirt with the S-shield, jeans, and the red cape. It makes him look more like a man of the people. It's very easy to cosplay too. Hell, I still have the cape from a Superman costume I had when I was a little kid.
At a military headquarters, General Sam Lane is discussing how to capture Superman with scientific consultant, Lex Luthor. They take control of the city's electrical grid to slow Superman down, first by using a wrecking ball, which hits a building scheduled for demolition but has a group of squatters living in it. Superman saves them, making sure they all get out before the building collapses. Following that, one tank shoots an electrified net at Superman, who shakes it off and uses the wrecking ball to smash it. Another tank fires a round at Superman, who is then shielded by the squatters he saved, giving him time to escape, but not before saying they shouldn't "get in trouble on my account". This goes along with what I said about Superman being a man of the people, with those he save returning the favor in protecting him.
Later on, Luthor orchestrates a train, which has Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen as passengers, to derail to draw Superman out. Superman does save the people, but the train almost smashes him into the Daily Planet, pinning his unconscious body to the building, making it easy for the military to capture him. A nice touch to end the issue is that Luthor compares Superman to historical instances where an indigenous species is brought to a new environment and causes the extinction of another. "Non-native strains WILL destroy the entire ecologies, given the opportunity", he puts it. It stays in character with Luthor's belief that Superman is a danger to humanity.

As issue two begins, Superman is strapped to a chair and being tortured, forced to breathe in sarin gas and electrocuted, with doses getting stronger and stronger. Luthor oversees the process, wanting to see how much Superman can endure. A nice touch I like is Luthor constantly referring to Superman as an "it", not he, another instance of not considering Superman a true man.
Outside the facility, Lois is trying to get to her father and find out what they've done with Superman. While he doesn't give in, Lois is able to charm her ex-boyfriend Sergeant John Corben, getting close enough to steal his pass key to get in. Eventually Superman is able to break free from his confinement, and on his way to escape, he discovers the rocket he was brought to Earth in, and it even communicates with him in Kryptonian. Considering the situation, Superman promises the ship he'll come back for it as he makes his exit.
An angry Corben decides they need to proceed with the Steel Soldier project, even though it's "six months away from being safe", believing it's the only thing that can stop Superman, and more personal to him, get Lois back. The issue ends with Luthor communicating with Brainiac, who wants "the specimen", referring to Superman.

Issue three is mostly the aftermath of the previous two issues, with Glenmorgan using his influences to smear Superman to the public, and it works. The squatters he saved before now bash him on television, and when Superman saves a little girl and her cat from being hit by a truck, only to be met with fear by the girl and anger from nearby civilians, who throw bottles and bricks at him. This has an effect on Clark, who in one panel is shown to have thrown his "S" shirt in the garbage, and apologizing to a picture of his foster parents, saying "[he] tried." So yeah, it's not just the new movies that show Clark feeling inadequate and unwanted as Superman, and let's keep in mind this book came out two years before "Man of Steel". It's just not as focused in this story as it was in the movies.
Later, Clark, Lois, and Jimmy go to a factory where the rebuilding of the subway train and question the supervisor about it, considering they're going to use more robotics to build and run the train, costing people their jobs. Suddenly, robots begin coming off the assembly line to the surprise of everyone. "Your planet's DATABASE has been copied and filed", they say. "In advance of imminent DESTRUCTION and the extinction of ALL LIFE--TERMINAUTS WILL PRESERVE SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACTS".
Elsewhere, John Corben is getting ready to be the first test subject for the Steel Soldier project, with the "Metal-Zero fusion". Metal-Zero. Metal-0. Metallo. Is that clever? I think it is anyway. As the process begins, Corben is infected by Brainiac, who speaks through him. "I am the VOICE of the COLONY of the COLLECTOR OF WORLDS", he says. Luthor, present at the scene cheerfully greets him and reminds him of their bargain, with Corben/Metallo/Brainiac (or whatever) wanting to know where Superman is as the issue ends.

There's not much to say about issue four because it's really action heavy, with Metallo and the Terminauts attacking the city, stealing "significant artifacts" and fighting against Superman, who gets an assist from John Henry Irons (AKA Steel), a doctor who quit the Steel Soldier program, but had his own suit on hand. It's all for not though, as Brainiac raises the city from the ground, shrinks it down and places it in his collection on his ship. "Planter 205 Survivors" he says. "You have been filed. Bottled. Preserved for all time. In one hour, preservation is complete and irreversible. Welcome to the collection." It's here we get our first look at the New 52's Brainiac.

 

(Okay, I'm cheating by using a panel from issue 7, but that's the best pic I could find.) It's not a bad resdesign, giving us something different with a bug motif. As it would turn out, it's more of a drone from the real Brainiac that would appear in the future.

Among the citizens captured are Lois, Jimmy, and Luthor. Back on Earth, General Lane asks Superman if there's anything he can do. Superman says he has an idea as the issue ends.

Skipping to issue 7, Superman, equipped with an oxygen tank and a ramp set up, gets a running starts and leaps as high as he ever as to get to Brainiac's ship in space, only to be electrified by the ship's tendrils and brought inside. Brainiac's machines try to preserve him, but Superman isn't having it. Superman then happens upon a collection of bottled cities, including Kandor, which Superman remembers from dreams, faint memories from when he was a baby. Kryptonian garb is also on display as one of Brainiac's artifacts. Brainiac explains that he collects cities and artifacts from doomed planets and reveals to Superman that he comes from Krypton. He then wants Superman to choose which city to save between Kandor and Metropolis in a kind of "nature or nurture" experiment. He taunts Superman with the possibility of being with his own people and that "The PINNACLE of human technological achievement was "Metal-Zero", a WEAPON they made to KILL YOU." Superman then smashes open the case containing the Kryptonian suit and puts it on, transforming into his updated suit as he decided to fight for Earth.

A lot of flack the New 52 Superman costume got was that it was armor and that Superman doesn't need armor because he's indestructible. But see, it's not about wearing armor. It's about heritage. He's honoring his people by wearing the armor. I don't know what's hard to get about that.
Brainiac and Metallo then appear to battle him as the issue ends.

As the eighth and final issue of the arc begins, so does the battle, and as it rages on, Corben is able to regain control of himself and attacks Brainiac, asking Superman to save Lois and the city before being taken over again. Superman then realizes that Brainiac values the cities and threatens to destroy them if Brainiac doesn't do what he says. I'm assuming that Superman's plan was to stall Brainiac, because he reached into the Metropolis bottle to grab his rocket, which had also been miniaturized, thrusting it like a bullet in Brainiac's brain (?), and apparently the rocket transforms into a giant crystal, destroying Brainiac and I assume becoming part of the ship's A.I., which allows Superman to take control and place Metropolis back on Earth. I'll be honest, Morrison's writing can get a little crazy and hard to follow sometimes, this being one of those instances. But the basic idea is the day is saved thanks to Superman, who gets the key to the city in the end as he is accepted by the city as a hero (not to mention he is now able to fly).

This is really a basic summation of issue to issue, and I leave out a lot of details, partly because I wasn't sure how to reference them in the scheme of things, and also because there were some details that were a larger part of Morrison's run on the book.
I'll admit that maybe the story isn't as good as I remember, but I believe Morrison succeeds at what he set out to do, and it's something I didn't realize the first time around. It's shows Superman's transformation from hero of the downtrodden to protector of the planet, wanting to take down corrupt officials and ending up fighting an alien overlord, in addition to the escalation of his powers and the people's growing appreciation of him. A nice touch was Clark not knowing his true origins before taking on his role of Superman, which gives way for the choice Brainiac offers him between saving Kandor or Metropolis.
What also really stood out to me was Lex Luthor. He was very steadfast in his animosity towards Superman, believing the alien to be a threat to humanity, and even being hypocritical in working with Brainiac. Hell, Luthor would have rather stayed miniaturized than allow Superman to save him, believing this was the better path toward salvation. Something to note though is that Luthor appears to be a little heavier than he would usually be depicted. I'm not sure if that was the artist's intent, but I could see that Luthor would probably want to get in shape for his future battles with the Man of Steel.

Overall, this story does a good job at reintroducing elements of the Superman mythos in a new timeline. I recommend this to anyone wanting to get into Superman, as I would with other attempts to retell the character's beginnings.

RATING: 8/10
RECOMMENDATION: 10/10

Retro Review Month: Fear Itself - Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

We've come to the low point of Retro Review month. Way back when I started this blog, one of my first reviews was for Marvel's "Age of Ultron" event, which I rightly trashed. Despite that, there's another Marvel event within recent years that I've read that I think is just as bad. Maybe not worse, but still bad and pretty much forgettable: "Fear Itself".
When it comes to Marvel events, they're usually good at having some build-up either through current ongoing series or being built off of previous events. "Fear Itself" basically came out of nowhere, and in the grand scheme of things, was really just a blip in Marvel's history, hardly being mentioned afterwards and any apparent ramifications being undone almost immediately. As much as I hated "Age of Ultron", it at least had build up and you could say it helped plant the seeds for 2015's "Secret Wars". Besides that, it was kind of apparent that "Fear Itself" was very similar to another event from another company, but we'll get to that later.

Unlike my other reviews his month, I will not be going issue by issue. While rereading this story, I found very little to talk about the issues individually, and will be talking about the story as a whole. I think the reason I'm not going by issue by issue is because there's very little substance. In fact, a thought I had reading through this was "This is what a Marvel comic written by Michael Bay would be like, isn't it?". I mean, if you think about the Transformers movies, there's usually no build up from the previous movie and the current villain comes out of nowhere. This is basically "Fear Itself"! Besides that, it's just non-stop action and any character interaction just feels off.
When it comes to the action, there are multiple moments throughout this story where there's a blinding flash of light, most of the time signifying a devastating explosion. After these explosions, we don't really see the effects of these blasts. Again, like a Bay-Formers movie, there's a lot of action where it's hard to tell what's going on and it's not very concerned with showing the devastation of these actions as long as it looks cool.

Let me go through the premise: The daughter of the Red Skull, Sin (who shares her father's complexion), unearths a being from Asgard known as the Serpent. Summoning hammers to falls to Earth, the Serpent imbues Sin and other heroes and villains across the planet with power, controlling them to spread as much fear and death as possible to make him strong enough to defeat his brother Odin and take Asgard for himself.
Now it may not seem like it based on my summation, but "Fear Itself" is basically Marvel's rip-off of DC's "Blackest Night" event, which came out over a year earlier. Let's look at some of the similarities, and honestly there's a lot more than I realized reading through this again.

1. The main villain has his right-hand general work to revive their master's power. (Nekron had Black Hand while the Serpent had Sin.)

2. The main villain uses objects to possess heroes and villains to do their bidding. (Nekron used rings to raise his Black Lantern Corps (which was more extensive) while the Serpent used hammers to create the Worthy.)

3. Among those possessed are a couple. (Hawkman and Hawkgirl became Black Lanterns while Absorbing Man and Titania were part of the Worthy.)

4. The main villain uses his army to spread as much death as possible to strengthen their power. (Given the Serpent's main goal was to spread fear, but he was doing it through death, so it's still similar.)

5. The main villain wants to expose an ancient secret hidden by their enemy. (Nekron wants to expose that life began on Earth rather than Oa as the Guardians of the Universe claimed whereas the Serpent is actually Odin's brother and possibly the true All-Father of Asgard.)

6. To fight fire with fire, the heroes get an upgrade to use similar powers. (Heroes and villains becomes deputized members of different Lantern Corps while Iron Man creates weapons in Asgard for the Avengers.)

7. Among the upgraded heroes is the wife of one the heroes the main villain has possessed. (Aquaman became a Black Lantern as Mera became a Red Lantern, whereas Bruce Banner/Hulk became part of the Worthy while Betty Ross/Red She-Hulk got a special weapon from Iron Man.)

I think I made my point.

As I mentioned before, character depictions are a little off. For example, Thor's speech pattern seems a bit modernized. In #1 he calls Odin a "one eyed bastard", and in #5, he calls Hulk "a giant pain in the ass". It isn't so much that Thor is cursing, but that is just doesn't sound like how Thor would speak.
When it comes to Odin, he's a real dick in this series. He basically plans to raze the Earth just to stop his brother from reaching Asgard, as well as ensure the prophecy that Thor dies in battle with the Serpent doesn't come to pass. Along with that, he keeps asking Thor to stand by with the Gods and not worry about the humans, with Thor constantly refusing him. I know it's supposed to add a father/son conflict, but when they keep having the same conversation with the same outcome, it loses some significance.

But probably my main problem with the character depictions in this series comes in #5, where the heroes seem to give up. It starts when the fully powered Serpent wipes the floor with the Avengers, and even breaks Captain America's shield.

I've come to notice that the breaking of Cap's shield is used to signify 'all is lost'. Even "Age of Ultron" did that. Both Dr. Doom and Thanos have managed to do it, and they're both some of Marvel's greatest villains. I'm not sure the Serpent, a character who has barely been relevant since his creation, should rank among them. It seems that the shattering of Cap's shield in this story was used purely for shock value.
Following this, Spider-Man helps Cap up and asks if he can head off to make sure Aunt May's okay. Cap allows it, and when Hawkeye asks why, Cap flat out says "Look AROUND you, Hawkeye...we're going to LOSE."
I guess I'll start with the Spider-Man part. I won't ignore that there were times when Spider-Man has put his Aunt May above everything else. There are two instances I remember from the early Lee/Ditko run. Amazing Spider-Man #9 showed Spider-Man swinging past a robber, who worries Spider-Man will catch him but then is confused why he doesn't, only to get arrested by a pursuing officer. It turns out Peter was rushing home to check on May, who had fallen ill. Later in #17, during a battle between Spider-Man and the Human Torch against the Green Goblin, Peter had overheard in the crowd that May had fallen ill (again; yeah this used to happen A LOT) and left mid-battle, leaving Torch holding the ball against the Goblin. I can forgive those because Peter was still a teenager. At the time of "Fear Itself", Peter was an adult and a full-fledged Avenger. I understand his concern for his aunt, but the way I see it, Peter leaving in the middle of a battle goes against his mantra of "with great power comes great responsibility". He should keep fighting and make sure civilians aren't hurt or killed when he could do something. And you know what? Aunt May agrees! In #6, when Spider-Man finds May is okay and tells her Peter wanted him to check on her. After telling her that Peter is safe, she says "Keep him safe. Keep EVERYBODY safe. You have a great responsibility, you know, and it wouldn't be right, me keeping you here away from it." Keep in mind that May doesn't know Peter is Spider-Man, so she may have just remembered Ben's line and wanted to say it in her own way. So in some sense this was kind of a waste of time in order to lengthen the book, but I'd be a hypocrite after saying in my Spider-Man Noir review how May acts as Peter's moral compass, and this moment shows that.
But back to Cap's line of defeat. With all the Marvel Universe has been through, I find it hard that Cap would be this beaten down that he's willing to accept fate. It doesn't help with his line in issue #6: "We need to start EVACUATING [...] We need to evacuate the EARTH. And I don't know how you do that." Is this all because his shield got broken? Despite this depressing behavior, Cap's still ready to fight to the end. So I'm not sure why it was decided to make him ready to lose too. At least in "Blackest Night", even when the situation seemed hopeless, the heroes were always trying to figure out a new plan to win.

If there were supposed to be two major ramifications of this event, it would be the deaths of Bucky Barnes and Thor. I say "supposed to be" because both deaths were undone almost immediately!
With Bucky, he had assumed the Captain America role while Steve had become the commander of SHIELD. So Steve becoming Captain America again was only a matter of when, not if, especially when a new solo series was announced and the first movie was coming out at the time. So yeah, Bucky's death in "Fear Itself" was pretty much given...only to find out a month later that they faked Bucky's death so he could resume his Winter Soldier persona for secret missions.
Thor does indeed die after defeating the Serpent. Back when I read this the first time, I didn't really feel anything, between the fact that comic book deaths are only temporary and that Thor has died before. It was a good sign that this death was temporary because his solo series was still going. How temporary? Well like Bucky, Thor was immediately brought back.
I guess if you read this story on its own, then these deaths might leave more of an impact, but knowing what happens afterwards really hurts the overall significance.

"Fear Itself" came and went, not leaving any real impact for readers or characters in the long run. If anything, I could recommend it if you want a pure action story, although it disappoints with its attempts to be something deeper. You'd really just be better off reading "Blackest Night".

STORY RATING: 4/10
RECOMMENDATION RATING: 2/10

We wrap up Retro Review Month next week as we take a look at another attempt to revitalize one of America's most beloved icons.

Retro Review Month: Spider-Man Noir - A Brilliant Reimagining

"If those in power can't be trusted, it's the responsibility of the people to remove them."

In the late 2000's, Marvel briefly published the "Noir" imprint of miniseries placing their heroes in a darker 1930's setting. As with most alternate universes like 2099 and Ultimate before it, Spider-Man was at the forefront when the Noir imprint began. At the time, I knew about this series but didn't really look past the covers, as good as they looked. My interest in Spider-Man Noir didn't really come about until he and his world were announced to be part of the upcoming "Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension" video game in 2010. The mood was very dark and the gameplay for his levels were reminiscent of "Arkham Asylum", which had just come out a year before. I became very interested in this character that I bought the first miniseries and the sequel "Eyes Without A Face" before the game came out. I remember my thoughts being that this is as realistic and gritty as Spider-Man can get, since at the time, that was all the rage.
Noir disappeared for awhile after that until 2014 when the "Spider-Verse" event began in the comics. He was reintroduced with his own one-shot story before being recruited for the multiversal Spider-Army, and is currently part of the cast of the "Web Warriors" book, featuring a team of alternate Spider-People from across the multiverse, who lend help to worlds that had lost their Spider-Man during the Spider-Verse event. In a recent issue, after my feeling he's been overshadowed in the book, Noir had a little bit of a spotlight shined on him, narrating a story from his childhood, and stealing a piece of the Venom Symbiote from Spider-Man India's world. While I'm looking forward to see where that goes, it was that focus that made me want to revisit the miniseries that started it all to see if it still holds up.

To get one thing out of the way though, I was somewhat disappointed that the cover art by Patrick Zeacher didn't really match up with the actual art by Carmine Di  Giandomenico.

Now don't get me wrong, Carmine's art is still good in the book, but I usually like it when the cover of a comic matches what's inside, so I was kind of expecting it to look detailed and somewhat dirty. Besides that, I did kind of assume that the art would be black and white to, you know, fit the Noir art style of its name. Instead, there's more of a sepia tone to it, which given the 1933 setting, still fits.
That said, let's jump into the story.

The story begins with police rushing into the Daily Bugle after receiving a call from J. Jonah Jameson claiming that he'd been shot. They bust in and see Spider-Man holding his gun and beside Jameson's body. Spider-Man tries to explain that it's "not what it looks like" and sprays web at the cops to make his escape out the window while still being fired at.
The comic flashes back to three weeks ago, with narration not by Peter Parker, but Bugle reporter Ben Urich. Urich visits a shantytown where social activist May Parker trying to rally the downtrodden. The Enforcers (muscle for Norman Osborn, a crime boss known as the Goblin) then show up to put an end to May's speech, harming her and Peter in the process. Urich shoots a picture of them, threatening to publish the picture if they don't leave. Ox wants to smash the camera but Fancy Dan tells him that Urich's "off limits". Urich takes the Parkers home, where we learn that they run a shelter for the homeless and that they had to put up fences after Ben Parker had been killed by the Goblin's mob. May goes to bed, leaving Peter to vent to Urich, angry about being harassed by mobsters for attacking the system. Urich then takes Peter to a speakeasy for called "The Black Cat" run by Felicia Hardy, where he shows Peter that those in the system, cops, politicians, and industrialists, are just as corrupt and that they even hire gangs like the Goblin's to silence those attacking them. The point Urich is trying to make to Peter is that there's a very gray area when it comes to good guys and bad guys, and that good doesn't always win. Despite this, Peter still wants to do what he can to help. Urich talks Jameson into hiring Peter on at the Bugle as a photographer, but will actually be accompanying Urich on assignments. Urich shows Peter a lot of the injustice and seediness in the city, but while he had hoped this would disenchant Peter like it did him, it only fueled Peter's rage and need for justice. Peter then opens up to Urich that he was the one that found his uncle dead, his body mutilated and torn into by wild dogs. However, Urich's narration reveals that he actually works for the Goblin, who pays Urich so he can feed his drug addiction. Not only that, but Urich was there with the Goblin and his men when they killed Ben, and that it wasn't wild dogs that ripped into him. One of the Goblin's men, the Vulture, had been a former circus geek who developed a taste for human flesh. I think you can put it together from there.
The first issue is really straight-forward, setting up the tone of the story and introducing the characters. I do feel it ends rather abruptly though with the flashback to Ben's murder, although the last page is a pretty decent splash page of Vulture beginning to feast on Ben, a lot of blood splattering, with the Goblin and his men looking on, unaffected while Urich is horrified in comparison. On a side note though, it may seem morbid, but this may actually be favorite alternate version of the Vulture.

Issue two begins with Urich and Peter in a crowd taking pictures of a fire burning down an overcrowded tenant building, the only casualty being a little girl.. Urich tells Peter his theory that the landlord set it up that the building would burn down and he would collect the insurance, fueled by the fact that one of the pictures they took puts Fancy Dan at the scene. Peter, still passionate and believing in justice, thinks they should turn what they know over to the police, but Urich reminds Peter how "everyone takes their cut" and "the corruption goes all the way to the top", saying that there's nothing they could do. Urich then sends Peter to take the pictures to the Bugle. When Peter returns, he finds Urich strung out from his drugs and unresponsive. Urich's phone rings and Peter answers. It's someone called "the Fly" looking for "Spider". Suspicious, Peter pretends to be "Spider" and Fly informs him of the Goblin's men picking up a shipment at the pier.
At the pier, Kraven and the Enforcers are picking up a statue resembling that of a spider god for Goblin's personal collection. Ox and Fancy Dan carry the crate holding the statue but drop it. After that, many spiders begin coming out of the statue's now open mouth and swarm on Fancy Dan, killing him. As someone who's (ironically) scared of spiders, that's pretty horrific. Peter is watching from the support beams above in horror when one of the spiders comes down from a web and lands on his hand. Taking a break for a second, I have to wonder how one of those spiders strayed from the group, climbed up to the ceiling, and lowered itself down to Peter. Now maybe one of the spiders got knocked upward from Fancy Dan's flailing, but I doubt it would be able to stick to the ceiling. Then again these are supposed to be magic spiders, and as we all know, if it's magic, we don't have to explain it (Quesada Logic).
So comes the part of the story we all know: the spider bites Peter. What's pretty interesting is that the panels of the spider biting Peter and Peter's reaction to it are connected by a mystic white energy, connecting the spider to Peter's head. Peter then gets a vision from a giant horrifying spider-like god. "Why do you tremble, little man?", it says to Peter. "My bite brings death only to those of evil intent...I will bestow on you a greater torment...the curse of power."
Peter then awakes hanging upside down from the beams in a cocoon. When he emerges, he finds his senses and agility heightened, followed by a look on his face of certainty, like he knew what he had to do.
Urich goes to see Osborn at this office, where we see that he not only has his statue, but somehow was able to capture all the spiders and place them in a glass case. Be it sharks, snakes, or spiders in this case, I guess all criminal masterminds need to keep some form of deadly creature nearby. Urich had gone there to turn over the picture linking Fancy Dan to the building fire as well as get paid for his fix. Suddenly, Peter, wearing a mask to cover his face, crashes into Osborn's office, using his new skills to knock out Kraven and Vulture, as well as use his organic webbing to keep Montana at bay. He tells Osborn that he's going to put an end to him, to which Osborn taunts that the only way to stop him is to kill him. Peter then sees the picture of Fancy Dan and realizes Urich was there. Peter catches up to Urich and berates him for being a druggy and working for Osborn. Osborn, Montana, and Kraven come out shooting at Peter, who escapes. Osborn wants Urich to find out who the masked man is, but Urich throws Osborn's money back at him and quits. Osborn realizes that Urich needs to be dealt with, but he needs everything Urich has on him. Urich then calls Jameson to tell him that he has all the evidence and files to expose Osborn. Jameson tells him he'll come to him so that Urich doesn't risk taking the files outside.
Peter returns home and breaks out his uncle's military items from World War I (still known as the Great War at this point in time). He takes Ben's service revolver and his aviator cap and goggles, sewing more cloth to it to create full mask to cover his face.

At Urich's apartment, he answers the door, only to be shot by Jameson.
Issue two is where I really feel things pick up, especially with Peter getting his powers and his costume. I like the idea that this version would receive his powers through magic, rather than radiation which was the main cause of a lot of Marvel characters' powers during the 60's. His powers are also limited too, only having enhanced ability, spider-sense, as well as the organic webbing, which sprays out rather than shoots a straight line (for those wondering, wall crawling and web-slinging were only given to the character in "Shattered Dimensions" and the "Ultimate Spider-Man" animated series to make him more similar to the mainstream version, which is no problem for me personally). The creation of his costume is nice to see too, and I love its simplicity, with his mask from his uncle's aviator gear and wearing simple clothing in addition, but still looking similar to what you would expect from Spider-Man. I've even thought of what a modern day Noir suit would look like.
If there's a couple problems I had with the issue, it's that Peter didn't make his costume before threatening Osborn. Also, I find Urich's codename being "Spider" a little too coincidental.

Issue three begins with Spider-Man heading toward Urich's to confront him, while also trying to figure out a scientific explanation for his powers. I didn't mention it until now, but Peter wants to go to college to be a scientist. That remains in spirit with the character, and I do like how he doesn't except magic for an answer (hear that, Quesada?). Anyway, Spider-Man enters Urich's apartment to find him dead. Peter, still torn up about his death despite his anger towards him, calls the police, who write it off as a drug deal gone bad. But yeah, so much for Spider-Man's christening moment.
The next day at Osborn's, he's angry at Jameson for not finding Urich's files on him, and wants to know who Urich would trust with them. It turns out that person was Felicia Hardy, who has Peter meet her at the Black Cat, where she reveals that she has the files and that Urich was planning to expose Osborn. She gives Peter the files and says that Urich said he would know what to do with them. Peter figures that "Ben must have told Felicia I'm Spider-Man." A little bit of nit-picking here, but I doubt that was Urich's exact words, since the Spider-Man had not become publicly known yet, so Urich must have just told Felicia about the abilities he saw Peter perform.
So as the Spider-Man, Peter begins to take down every operation and associate that works for the Goblin, and in true Spidey fashion, he leaves a calling card, with a pretty cool design.

A frustrated Osborn realizes that the Spider-Man must have Urich's files on him and wants anyone associated with Urich brought to him, including Felicia Hardy and Peter Parker.
At the same time though, Jameson has been running a smear campaign against the Spider-Man (but what else is new with JJ?). Well, what is new in this version is that Jameson is apparently working for the Goblin, so Spider-Man goes to confront him about what dirt Osborn has on him. Spider-Man enters Jameson's office to find him shot and barely alive. Jameson comments that "It must be open season." Spider-Man tries to question him but Jameson dies, and then the police bust in as we round back to where the story began.
Peter returns home and begins looking through Osborn's files again and finds something interesting. He then goes to the city morgue as Spider-Man to look over Jameson's body and tests his theory by pressing his hand down on Jameson's face and leaving a massive imprint. It turns out Jameson had been replaced by the Chameleon, Kraven's half-brother and another freak show attraction as a man who could morph his head into anybody's appearance like clay. This is a pretty cool take on Chameleon, even though Clayface have been a more appropriate name in this case.
The real Jameson is revealed to be held prisoner by Osborn as the Enforcers bring down their latest captive, Felicia Hardy. Osborn says they're waiting for "one more guest" as the issue ends showing Vulture looming over Aunt May, both looking for Peter in his room.

Vulture pounces on May as issue four begins, commenting how her "husssband had more meat on him" and "wasss delicious". Jeez, how horrifying would that be to hear? Spider-Man then appears in the doorway ordering Vulture to let her go. Vulture brags taunts Spider-Man that he isn't fast enough to stop him from "sssnapping her neck", so Spider-Man pulls out his gun. May begs him not to, but Peter's memory of finding Ben's body brings him to shoot Vulture three times dead. May then berates Spider-Man for thinking he's above the law, leaving Peter confused about why she would be concerned about the man who killed her husband and tried to kill her. "I don't want to live in a world where people kill one another like animals", she tells him. May wants Spider-Man to give her his gun, but realizing that his work isn't done, the conflicted hero leaves.
Spider-Man then infiltrates Osborn's "torture house" in the meat packing districts to find Osborn, his men, and his captives all there. We find out that Felicia had been at Urich's apartment, hiding when Chameleon as Jameson killed him, and that she was the one who shot "Jameson" at his office. Spider-Man leaps into action, webbing up Montana, taking out Ox, saving Jameson from Kraven's tiger, and knocking Kraven himself into the glass case holding the spiders from the statue. As this was going on, Osborn escapes into the sewer with Felicia as his hostage. Spider-Man catches up and knocks the gun out of Osborn's hand. In a struggle, they each remove the other's mask. Not only does Osborn find that Peter is the Spider-Man, but that Osborn actually has green scaly skin, hiding it under more human mask. It turns out Osborn was also a circus freak called the Goblin. Osborn recounts how he was ridiculed when he was young, but that now the name Goblin is one of fear and respect, and that those who see his true face don't live to tell anyone. Osborn taunts Peter to kill him, but with May's words still hanging over him and realizing that there's been enough death, he forgoes his vengeance and wants Osborn to stand trial. I didn't really appreciate this moment when I first read it, but I like how much of an influence May can be in Peter's life, sometimes even more so than Ben was. Despite blood already being on this Peter's hands, May does seem to keep Peter from going too far. However, a mangled Kraven covered in spiders arrives on the scene begging for help, but both he and Osborn fall into the water current and disappear, believed to be dead.
In the aftermath, things in New York have begun to take an upturn, with the corrupted officials being brought in and charged, the Goblin's operations in shambles with his remaining men in custody, and people feeling hope again. However, this doesn't mean Peter hangs up his suit. "The monster are always with us. But that's okay, because there will always be good guys too...and in the end, when all's said and done...good guys always win." That's a perfect line to end on, especially since this story began with the belief that being the good guy doesn't mean you win in the end.

Being my first time reading this in awhile, I feel "Spider-Man Noir" still holds up, maybe even more so. Since I feel I've become more politically inclined over the years, I've grown to appreciate the setting of the story during the Great Depression and kind of understand the views of socialism more between May's soapbox speeches and Franklin Roosevelt's election looming at the time of the story. Plus, between Obama and Sanders, socialism is still a hot debate.
During my first reading of the story, I was more interested in Peter's character and his actions as Spider-Man because I was wanting to get the idea of the character before playing him in the video game. This time around, I enjoyed seeing Peter's internal conflict more as well as the theme of corruption and the other characters involved.
As I said before and still feel, this is about as realistic and gritty as Spider-Man can get. It's not as fantastical as the mainstream Spider-Man universe, but it works. The villains are believable while Spider-Man's abilities are limited despite being still outlandish. I would like to think that if Spider-Man had been created during the Golden Age, this is probably how it would be done. At least aesthetically. The gore and grisliness wouldn't be there, but everything else, probably.

Spider-Man Noir is probably my second favorite alternate universe version of the character after Ultimate Spider-Man. Between this story, the sequel "Eyes Without A Face", and the "Shattered Dimensions" game, I even thought of potential stories set in the universe that would introduce Venom and Hobgoblin. I'm glad that Noir is back in the spotlight with the "Web Warriors" book, but I kind of hope he may get his own solo series at some point. Fingers crossed.

Overall, if you like alternate takes on well-known characters (and darker ones at that) or period pieces, I definitely recommend checking out Spider-Man Noir.

STORY RATING: 8.5/10
RECOMMENDATION RATING: 10/10

Next week, we learn that we really should fear fear itself.

Retro Review Month: "Batman: Lovers and Madmen" - (H)A For Effort

Welcome to Retro Review month! To explain, Retro Reviews are what I call my reviews for comic book stories that aren't as recent as other stories I would look at. I've only done this twice for Batman: Knight of Vengeance and Spider-Man: The Gathering of Five. For one reason of another, I've decided to look back on some stories that I haven't read in quite awhile and share my thoughts on them and see if my thoughts have changed over the years. So every Friday this month will be a new review, starting now.

There's a lot of hype right now for the animated film adaptation of "Batman: The Killing Joke", and why wouldn't there be? It brings back the iconic voices of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill, and it's based on the quintessential Joker story. One of the aspects of that story was that it showed the Joker's possible origin, who he was before and how he became the Clown Prince of Crime. It's seen by many as the character's definitive origin, but that didn't stop someone from trying to put their own spin on it.
Back in 2006, DC had cancelled its anthology Batman title "Legends of the Dark Knight" after nearly 20 years and over 200 issues in favor of a new series, "Batman Confidential". To try and put importance on the book, it was billed as telling in-continuity pivotal moments in Batman's career. Some stories included his first meeting with Lex Luthor, the return of one-time villain the Wrath, and the first and I believe only comic appearance of 60's Batman TV show villain King Tut. At #31 though, they dropped the importance aspect for just whatever story the writer wanted to tell, much like "Legends" did. It was here that my interest in the book began to waver and I dropped it shorty before its final arc and cancellation at #54.
But right now, we're taking a look at the book's second story, "Lovers and Madmen", which retold Batman's first meeting with the man who would become the Joker...in a story that would not be referenced in any other Batman story since then. But does that really mean that it sucks? Having not read the story in about 8 years, let's dive in, see whether my feelings have changed and how it stacks up against "The Killing Joke".

I don't usually talk about the individual issue covers, but I'm making an exception for this story because the covers and interior art from Denys Cowan was talked about a lot when this story was coming out.

The cover for part one isn't too bad, showing Batman chasing Jack down an alley way. As you'll see later on, this is actually the best cover out of all the others from this arc.
The issue itself with Batman, 42 weeks into his career, reflecting on how he's learned and adapted in his war on crime, realizing that criminals are creatures of habit and how to take them on, and that the streets are becoming peaceful. There's a couple panels that are worth mentioning. There's one of Batman wearing a costume with the yellow oval symbol on his chest with a caption box "I learned what was silly". It seems that the writer Michael Green was putting his personal opinions in the story. I know people have personal preferences when it comes to Batman's suit, but you shouldn't try to have the characters have those reflections, especially when said "silly" design is what a majority of people are familiar with it and is probably what comes to mind when they think of Batman. Another panel is Batman looking over a table of weapons talking about what was useful and what would slow him down. There's a few odd choices like nunchucks, a sai, and even a freaking mace. The mace really makes me scratch my head, because one, that's a pretty lethal weapon, and two, how would that fit in the utility belt?
Feeling chippy, Bruce decides to celebrate by going to an exhibit at the Gotham Museum where he meets Bruce Love Interest #539, museum curator Lorna Shore. I kid of course, but seriously, unless your name is Selina or Talia, you're probably not going to leave an impact on Batman lore.
Later on, Batman arrives to an apparent robbery at a jewelry store where the owner and his two sons are killed, but nothing is stolen. Batman researches in depth why someone would want to murder these people but comes up with nothing. And that's when we cut to a bar where we meet the perpetrator of this crime, Jack. He's first mentioned when the bartender tells the waitress "Get that joker out of here." That's kind of subtle foreshadowing I'd expect from "Gotham" (and I checked, Michael Green is actually a producer on the show, so that might explain a lot). The waitress begins talking with Jack and we learn that while Jack's very good at what he does, it's become to easy for him and he's bored, which is why he left the jewelry store without taking anything. The waitress tells Jack that he should he should give it another shot to see if anything changes for him, and he agrees. I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out, but the waitress is actually Harleen Quinzel, still a college student.
Jack helps a gang break into a bank, but he's still bored, so he kicks over a gumball machine to trip the security, leading to a shoot-out with the police. Jack runs into a security guard and hands him a gun, wanting him to shoot him. But then Jack notices that Batman arrives taking out his compatriots. "What's this? Look at him. That costume...Those toys he jangles around...Yet he's as serious as serious can be." And the final panel of the issue is Jack cracking a smile saying "He looks...ridiculous."
It's not a bad ending, showing that Batman's presence is that catalyst that puts Jack on his path to being the Joker.

The cover to part two is okay, but it's the beginning of the degradation of the cover art. The concept is simple with Batman standing prepared to fight with Jack's shadow over her, but I have to wonder if that's blood he's standing in. Where the heck is he? Also, the proportions of his body are kind of off, with his eyes being too far spaced.
The issue opens with Batman standing over the guard that Jack wanted to shoot him killed, with a note left for Batman saying "THANKS YOU MADE MY DAY". Jack then goes on a crime spree, committing unusual crimes with no rhyme or reason, all to get Batman's attention while also leaving Gotham in a panic. A frustrated Bruce gets a lead through a crime boss named Maletesta, who Jack was working for on the bank job before he screwed it up. Wanting to get his hands on Jack too, Maletesta tells Batman to let him know if he needs any help taking care of Jack. Taking a break from the case for a moment, Bruce goes to see Lorna, and the two sleep together, Bruce commenting that he feels at peace for the first time since his parents died. This is a nice moment, but we do actually see the two in bed together with the sheets barely covering them and they just look awkward in the position they're drawn in.
Bruce returns to find the newly completed Bat-Computer putting together a list of potential targets Jack may strike. The most likely target is a charity function at the Gotham Museum where Lorna works.
Not much to comment on in this issue. It's cool to see Batman becoming frustrated with the new kind of criminal he's seeing in Jack after believing he'd figured out how everything works. The stuff with Lorna was okay, but I think they pushed it too far by actually showing them in bed. I'm not a prude or anything, but it's just how it was drawn that made me feel uncomfortable.

Part three's cover is definitely the worst of the bunch. It's just really dirty, with lines and shadows drawn needlessly. But something's definitely up with Batman's face. I mean, his mouth looks like a stop-motion mouth placed in the wrong place. And what's going on with his left eye? Not only is it a little spaced out too far from the right, even more that the last cover, but it looks like his brow grew out and the eye is getting sucked into his head. Much like the cover, it's here that the art for the story starts to go downhill.
The issue begins with Jack and some other guys he hired crashing into the museum and shooting it up. Batman arrives, just as Jack was hoping for, and makes quick work of the goons. He turns his attention to Jack, who takes a hostage, and out of everyone there, who does he grab? Yep, Lorna. What are the freaking odds? With Jack holding her at gunpoint, Batman grabs one of the goons' guns and shoots Jack's gun out of his hand. While Batman himself admits that he hates guns, and is obviously not part of his arsenal, I think it's a good idea that he knows how to use one, like the situation called for here. Jack then pulls out a knife and stabs Lorna, leaving Batman to tend to her as Jack escapes, but not before getting his face scarred by a batarang.
Lorna is taken to the hospital and is critical condition, the doctors fearing the worst. Bruce tries to figure out his next move, going to see Jonathan Crane to make a psychological profile of Jack, Crane telling him that he's dealing with something more than crime or a single man, but insanity and evil. Not seeing any other options but unwilling to do it himself, Bruce calls Maletesta and tells him where Jack is, based on the Bat-Computer's possibilities of where Jack would go to fix his face, wanting Maletesta to do what he wants with Jack.
Let's talk about Batman's no-kill rule for a second. I won't pretend that he didn't kill in his first appearances, but it did eventually become a main part of the character. The movies have played fast and loose with this though. Keaton's Batman was a straight-up murderer on several occasions and I still contest that Affleck's Batman didn't set out to kill anyone and that any deaths that happened were indirect. But Bale's Batman did have a clear no-kill rule (ignoring that him allowing Ra's to die could be considered murder). At the time this story came out, "The Dark Knight" was still being made and the hype was building. In that movie itself, Bruce believed that the only way to stop the Joker completely would be to kill him, but he never did anything like Bruce is doing in this story. Bruce would have rather revealed his identity to the public than bring himself to kill the Joker. Yes, Bruce in this story is still young, but so he was he also in "The Dark Knight". Even if Batman does think killing as an option, he quickly disregards those thoughts.

The idea for part four's cover is actually a good one, with Joker emerging from the first time out of the chemicals that bleached his skin. The execution in this case, however, is pretty poor. Once again, the distance between eyes is too far and they're heavily black aside from the green pupils. He's also squinting where you would expect his eyes to be widened. Also, it looks like he's supposed to be smiling, but that can be attributed to the scars given to him from the previous issue, so I think he's actually scowling.
The art of this issue is pretty much the worst of all the issues, with disproportionate bodies, ugly imagery when it shouldn't be, not to mention a problem that began in the previous issue, lazy eyes (like one eye is veering off in the other direction than the other is).
Maletesta and some goons grab up Jack and take him to an abandoned pharmaceutical factory where they want to slowly kill him. They begin to beat him pretty bad, but Jack just criticizing their technique, like that they keep focusing on the face when it's already pretty beaten. I do kind of like that in the middle of a beatdown, Joker would criticize how it was being done. Jack manages to get the upper hand on them, but an ensuing fight where Maletesta and most of his goons are killed (save for one that Jack lets go because he suggested that they just shoot him) leads to a left-over vat of anti-psychotics to spill out, quickly filling up the room, with Jack in danger of drowning. Jack manages to find a vent that he swims through, escaping through a drain that leads him outside, where he emerges to find his skin bleached. He begins to laugh, thinking it's a joke.

Batman, who had realized his mistake and wanted to stop Maletesta from killing Jack, arrives too late and sees what Jack has become, asking himself "What have I done?"
The art aside, what I really liked about this issue was Jack's transformation into the Joker, and "Bunny on the Moon" bit is one of my favorite aspects of the story, just adding another crazy element to the Joker's unstable mind.

The cover to part five isn't too impressive with Joker just standing there apparently making his grand debut. Unfortunately, like the previous cover, the Joker's face is all wrong. His left eye is apparently much more to the side than a normal face, and his eyes are much smaller than you'd expect, squinting again rather than widened. And then there's the smile. That's supposed to be his most prominent feature but you have to get really close to tell that he actually is smiling.
This is where I think the story picks up, as we finally have Jack looking like the Joker, but the art is a little improved too, and even if there is some distortion, I think it fits with the Joker's warped mind.
The issue itself begins with Batman trying to chase Joker outside the factor, but loses him, believing that what he saw was a ghost. Bruce returns home to receive news that Lorna is alive and will make a full recovery. It's not exactly explained why or how she made such a change in condition, but let's just roll with it. Bruce goes to the hospital to see her still sleeping, promising not to leave her side until she awakes.
So while the Bat's away, the Joker will play. Wanting others to see the bunny on the moon like he did as well as get Batman's attention, he decides to step it up. He apparently has a lot of money because not only does he pay off Harleen's tuition, but he gets a huge decked out blimp flying over Gotham, having it explode with shards of glass falling to the streets, killing people and leaving them with big smiles on their faces. Despite a successful plan, Joker is disappointed that Batman does not make an appearance. Bruce is still by Lorna's side when Alfred arrives to inform him what happened. Bruce refuses to leave, but Alfred leaves his Bat-gear in case he changes his mind.
After this is probably not only one of my favorite parts of the book, but one of my favorite Joker moments all together when he pretends to be a clown at the circus.

What else can you say, but "disturbing". Just those last lines alone make this one of the most sadistic Joker scenes I've seen.
A news report following this scene describes hysteria erupted and that Batman didn't appear, angering Joker enough to smash his TV, questioning why Batman isn't going after him, even after Joker has rounded all the other criminals in Gotham "so he has no one to playtime with" but him. When he wonder if Batman cares, one of the Maletesta's men that Joker has strung up tells him that Batman actually wanted him dead, which makes Joker enthusiastic and sees that as a sign that Batman really does care, thanking the man with a spray of Joker gas.
Back at the hospital, Alfred is apparently fed up with Bruce's crap about standing by while the city is terrorized when, as Alfred bluntly and so rightly puts it, "You did this." I'm totally with Alfred on this one, as Batman's characterization is way off in certain areas of the book, from wanting Maletesta to kill Jack (even though he changed his mind too late) to staying by Lorna's side (well intentioned as it may be) instead of going after Joker. After seeing the Bat-Signal outside, Bruce suits up and heads to Gordon, but is greeted instead by the Joker, leading into the final issue of this story.

The cover to the finale is rather generic, with Joker and Batman facing off just inches away from each other. The art itself isn't really appearling, especially with Joker. Does Cowan have something against showing Joker's eyes? In this cover, I don't even think they're open. As menacing as Joker's smile is, it's the manic shown in the eyes that really seals the deal. And I'm no dentist, but I don't think people have that many teeth, and I'm talking about both characters here.
The issue starts the action rather quick with Joker coming at Batman with a knife and the two scuffling. Joker then pulls out a gun and fires, but where Batman thinks he misses, he turns around to see someone hanging upside down from a nearby building and Joker had shot the rope, beginning to snap. Batman races to save him, crashing into nearby window. Batman looks back outside to find even more hostages (15 by my count) hanging upside down with Joker firing off round after round at the ropes, taunting Batman that he can't save them. After a brief moment of shock at such insanity and evil, Batman shakes it off and catches as many people as he can. Joker becomes bored and decides to just blow the building up instead. Joker laughs as Batman arrives to beat him down. Joker thanks Batman for creating him, followed by a good dialogue between the two.

BATMAN: "All those lives. All those people--you MURDERED them! Why do you kill them?"
JOKER: "Why do you SAVE them?"
BATMAN: "Because LIFE matters."
JOKER: "ALL life? Even MINE? Well in THAT case..."

Joker then throws himself off the building ledge, laughing as he falls. Batman contemplates what to do, knowing that letting him die would save so many more lives in the future, but that even though it would be indirect, he would see Joker's death here as murder on his hands, so he saves him, handing him over to Gordon's custody. Back when this story was coming out and "The Dark Knight" was being hyped, I had hoped that this scene would be used in some way in the film. And while it does feature Batman saving Joker from falling to his death, that conversation about whether Joker's life matters as much as anyone's would have been a nice touch.
Gordon then informs Batman that the woman Jack/Joker stabbed at the museum (Lorna) had regained consciousness. Bruce goes to see Lorna, but lies to her about this being the first time he's come to see her and that he's not looking for anything serious, breaking her heart. Bruce's rationale is that he can't be Batman and have someone to love, especially with new enemies like the Joker popping up, which makes sense. The problem though is that Lorna, like many of Bruce's love interests, was a one-off character and I didn't really feel anything for their break-up.
After that we find that the Wayne Foundation has made a generous donation to Jonathan Crane's reopening and renovation of Arkham Asylum, with Joker being its first inmate. In his cell, Joker "talks" to Batman, telling him that with him around, he'll never be alone. (Joker: "I know you can hear me.") Batman is indeed nearby though with a thought caption reading "I can" as the story ends.

My thoughts on the story are rather unchanged from when I first read it years ago, although I did dig a little deeper this time. The art is all over the place, sometimes being good but also being twisted in moments that call for it and others that don't. The thing is though I don't think Denys Cowan is a bad artist, as he recently did the "Batman & Robin" tie-in for DC's "Convergence" event and the art was okay there. "Lovers and Madmen" was probably a case of having to rush it out to meet the monthly schedule.
As for the story itself, it's okay, starting out strong, kind of losing ground in the middle, but picks up again as it ends with the Joker fully suited up. But in a weird way, despite some moments I really liked, it doesn't feel like the Joker we would later see following this intended-to-be in-continuity story. We see Jack is crazy before his dip into the chemicals makes him slightly more crazy. It's kind of a problem I had with Joker in the 1989 film too (not to mention it seemed to be just Jack Nicholson in make-up). What "The Killing Joke" got right was showing that the Joker is just that: the Joker. It doesn't matter who he was before, because he pushed that person deep down inside as insanity and an obsession with Batman took over his life.
I think maybe what may have made this story a little better is if they rearranged some parts:
Jack trips the security at the bank, gets taken to the abandoned factory to get beat up, where Batman tracks them, and an ensuing battle causes Jack to become Joker, and he begins a crime spree all to get Batman's attention. He stabs Lorna at the museum causing Bruce to stay by her side as Joker ups his game, leading to the final confrontation between the two. This way, it becomes another option in Joker's "multiple choice past" as well as deliver a new first confrontation between the two without Batman knowing who Joker was beforehand.

Overall, despite the weird artwork at times, "Batman: Lovers and Madmen" is worth a read if you treat it as its own story and not worry about fitting it with other tales. As a Joker story, I think whether you like the character to have an origin or not may depend on your enjoyment. Who knows? Maybe by the end of reading it, you'll be able to see the bunny on the moon too.

STORY RATING: 6/10
RECOMMENDATION RATING: 5/10

Next week, we travel to Marvel Earth-90214 for some gun-toting and web-slinging action.