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This is the second Batman trade I read this week (the first being the Darwyn Cooke trade) and it’s really interesting to juxtapose these two sensational illustrator’s work. Both Tim Sale and Darwyn Cooke are well-known for their unique styles and as such, their work on Batman has been collected into these graphic novels. This collects many of the smaller stories Sale as contributed to the Batman mythos. Of course his Long Halloween, Dark Victory and Catwoman: When In Rome stories have been collected long ago, so this fills in the rest of those holes in Sale’s storied career working with the Dark Knight.
We start with an introduction by Richard Starkings, an inker who has worked with Sale many times, and he mentions the attention to detail and the unique noses that Sale puts in all his work. Each separate story arc is prefaced by Tim Sale and his thoughts and memories of each tale.
-Madmen Across the Water- This was originally printed in the pages of Showcase ’94, spanning issue #’s 3 and 4 (March & April, 1994). The theme of this story was one that was very interesting. It was written by Alan Grant and inked by Jimmy Palmiotti, and features many of the Arkham crazies being brought to an island prison. The prison warden hates having these crazies here, and makes his feelings well known to Jeremiah Arkham. Soon, they decide a softball game will decide if the psycho’s from Arkham can be integrated into the general population. Of course, chaos ensues, and we get a pretty satisfying conclusion. There’s no Batman here at all, though that’s alright, the story stood on its own. This was very early on in Sale’s career and even Sale says he was nervous to look at this again. Still, Sale is a great storyteller and I love his use of shadows throughout, and he says he agrees with these decisions even now. I really liked the concept of this story, and it worked well.
-Blades- This comes from Legends of the Dark Knight #’s 32-34 (June-July, 1992) and is written by James Robinson. This three-parter was pretty decent, though not as good as Madmen was. In it, we have a new vigilante on the scene named Cavalier, a swashbuckler. He takes over for Batman who is busy tracking a killer named Mr. Lime, a murderer who only kills people over the age of 65. The art by Sale is just amazing. Some of the layouts and fight scenes are just so well-done and the attention to detail is a thing to behold. However, the story itself tries to do too much. In the span of these three issues we have people introduced every other page, the killer Lime is revealed as someone we’ve seen them in only one panel and is resolved halfway through the story, the hero becomes the villain though he still tries to be heroic, and the new vigilante’s foil (haha, pun intended) is not as innocent as she seems. There’s too much backstory for all these characters who aren’t even around after the story and although I appreciate what was trying to be done here, at times the story felt like just too much for a brief three-issue stint.
-The Misfits- This comes to use from Shadow of the Bat #’s 7-9 (originally hitting comic book racks in December, January and February of 1992 and 1993) and written by Alan Grant. Alan and Tim again create an awesome team-up, as Tim perfectly depicts the story of Batman fighting a new villain named Chancer. Chancer is new on the scene and joins some of the C-List bat-villains (Catman, Killer Moth and Calendar Man) to hatch a nefarious plot to kidnap the mayor, Gordon and Bruce Wayne. Well, they manage to do it and hold them ransom. We get Robin making an appearance and getting help from another vigilante in an invisible suit. While not as strong a story as Madmen, it does make up for it with some great fight scenes and a good use of characters we don’t often see.
-Date Knight- This is from Solo #1 (12/04) and is written by Darywn Cooke. It’s also in the Darwyn Cooke hardcover I just reviewed (Ego and Other Tails) and it’s really a fun look at the unique relationship between Batman and Catwoman. Only Sale could’ve drawn an issue like this.
-Night After Night- This comes to use from Batman: Black and White Vol. 2, which was released in October 2003. Kelley Puckett lends his writing talents for this one. It’s really a look at Bruce and the event that made him Batman in the first place. It’s a run-in with Joker that makes him relive these memories anew.
-The Bottom Line- Well, this is a real nice addition to the Tim Sale/Batman library. In addition to the stories, we get a complete Tim Sale cover gallery, from his Solo cover, to his run on Detective Comics (#’s 777-783, 788-791), to his Batgirl (#’s 69-73) covers, too. This is just a great value at $29.99. You get one of the greatest and most unique illustrators of our day, and even though he didn’t write the stories, the ones you get are pretty damn good. If you liked anything Tim Sale has ever drawn, you need to pick this up.
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