The grim jester called... The Joker!

When people talk about whether or not Batman should ever kill, the discussion inevitably comes around to the Joker, a homicidal maniac who continually breaks out of custody to murder again and again. The government is helpless to stop him, so the only way for someone to end his terror is to end his life.

Batman seems tailor-made for the job. He's outside the law, has a supposedly unquenchable thirst for vengeance, and has experienced in very close, personal ways the Joker's capacity for murder. He knows without doubt that this is an unrepentant person incapable of rehabilitation who will only be stopped by being killed. That Batman's "code" prevents him from doing what needs to be done is frankly a massive impediment to suspending disbelief about the dark knight and his world.

One way of relieving this untenable tension is to ease off on the Joker's murderous impulses. I like the Silver Age Joker who was more interested in pulling off capers with panache than spreading terror, but that's not exactly true to the character's Golden Age roots. As presented in Batman #1 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson), the Joker is definitely interested in showing off, but he's just as into murder. The original Joker isn't a fun character, he's a horrifying madman.

He's also a massive hit and his creators seem to know it. He appears in two stories in Batman #1; jailed at the end of the first one and... well, we'll look later at what happens in the next. But I'm curious to see how the Golden Age storytellers kept the Joker around before Batman's "code" created an easy, ridiculous out.

Shadow of the Bat

I was tempted to use the first panel of Detective Comics #37 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson) in which Batman gets lost in the country and stops at a farmhouse for directions. It's pretty funny, but it's not fair to the rest of the story, which is a really good mystery.

Batman uses intelligence and good detective work to uncover a gang of spies, then his physical skills and fearsome presence to bring them down. The panel above is a great example of how spooky and intimidating Batman can be when he wants to.

Batman, Hero of the People

Batman may still be wanted by the police, but public perception of him changes after he defeats Hugo Strange in Detective Comics #36 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and introducing Jerry Robinson to the series).

A couple of notes: The Monk from Detective 31 and 32 may be Batman's first supervillain, but Hugo Strange is the earliest who lasted and became a permanent part of Batman's rogue gallery. Strange was designed to be a major bad guy from the get go. Batman already knows who he is in this story and refers to him as "the most dangerous man" and "the greatest organizer of crime in the world." Clearly he was meant to be Moriarty to Batman's Sherlock Holmes.

Strange's infamy works in Batman's favor when word spreads that he defeated the villain. The people of Gotham are now on Batman's side and I have to imagine that some of the cops' views on him have likely changed as well.

The problem is that - legally speaking - Batman's still a murderer. I haven't kept a strict count, but I'm pretty sure that he's either directly killed or allowed someone to die in every story since his first appearance. It this one, he's found standing over a dead body and the police assume he's the killer. That - and Batman's having to clear his name by bringing in Strange - is a standard mystery trope, but it's especially appropriate in this series given Batman's past actions.

Still, nice to see that his reputation is changing a little and that the citizens of Gotham at least appreciate what he's trying to do. I can feel my own attitude about him start to change as well. He may have started his mission in a selfish place - and his methods may not be as effective as Superman's - but he's still a force for positive change and it's impossible to dislike that.

Batmobile, Mark II

In Detective Comics #35 (by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff), Batman has finally quit driving around his bright red sedan and appears to have bought a model that's more fitting for his nightly activities. No special modifications yet, but he's on the right track.

World's Greatest Detective indeed

Back to Batman.

In Detective Comics #34 (by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff), Bruce Wayne is still in Europe, on his way home after the events of Detective 31 and 32. At his hotel, he sees a guy across the lobby wearing a trenchcoat with a pulled-down hat and thinks he recognizes the chap as "old Jed Farnol."

This leads to a gothic tale involving a wicked count, a family fortune, and the stupidest death trap ever, but the real mystery is what the heck did Bruce Wayne see in this guy that reminded him of his buddy Jed?

Daily Panel | Destroy the Mall; destroy America

The Mutant Punks attack the Mall of America in Ryan Kelly's Funrama #1.

Daily Panel | Only You

From The True Story of Smokey Bear. 

Daily Panel | Traveling 'alone'

From the one-shot comic, Those Who Travel Alone by B. Sabo. I picked this up at Autoptic last weekend with a longer graphic novel (Francis Sharp in the Grip of the Uncanny!) by Sabo that I can't wait to dig into. Really love her style.

Daily Panel | 'Two gifts, in fact'

Stephen Mooney's Half Past Danger (colored by Jordie Bellaire) is quietly becoming the most awesome comic on the shelves. Sort of Captain America: First Avenger meets Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Jurassic Park with a ninja for good measure. What's amazing is that it's not just a bunch of random, awesome stuff thrown into a big pot, but also holds together as a great story. Hoping there's more where this came from once the mini-series is finished.

Daily Panel | GRURK!

Behind on my Batman reading, so here's a panel from the wonderful and awesome IT CAME! #1 by Dan Boultwood, Esq. If you like '50s alien invasion movies, do yourself a favor and find a copy. It just came out last week and you're missing out.

Daily Panel | Batman's secret lab

One more from Detective Comics #33 before we move on. After the origin story is over, this issue also reveals that Bruce Wayne has a secret lab behind a fake bookcase in his house. It's no Batcave - and for some reason he's still keeping his Batman costume in a trunk in the main part of the house (either that, or there's a large window in his "secret" lab) - but it's movement in that direction and an important development.

Daily Panel | Bruce Wayne, Master Scientist

I was planning to move on from Detective Comics #33 today, but this panel in Batman's origin (by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane, and Sheldon Moldoff) caught my attention.

A lot of notice gets paid to Bruce Wayne's physical and criminological training, but not so much chemistry. Of course, he'd have to be an expert chemist to come up with all those smoke bombs, sleeping gases, and Shark Repellent Bat Sprays, but it's more proof that Bruce Wayne could have been a positive influence on Gotham City if he hadn't been consumed by the need for vengeance.

Daily Panel | Cal McDonald meets Dusty the Mummy

I'll get back to Batman tomorrow, but was re-reading Steve Niles and Kelley Jones' Last Train to Deadsville and holy cow! I always forget how awesome Jones' monsters are until I come face to face with them again.

And tying this back to Batman: if you've never read Niles and Jones' Batman: Gotham After Midnight, you're missing out. One of my favorite Batman stories ever.

Daily Panel | 'Warring on all criminals'

After the cool, two-part story in Detective Comics 31-32, we get an interlude in 33 about Batman's fighting a guy in New York with a dirigible and a Napoleon complex (to the extent that he also tries his best to look like Napoleon). It's weird, because Detective 34 will send us back to Europe for an adventure during Batman's trip home from Hungary, so chronologically, issues 33 and 34 should be switched.

Detective 33 isn't best known for its Napoleon villain though, but because it finally reveals the origin of Batman. I like the panel above because it goes to show how much Batman's changed from the version portrayed by his creators. Like with the introduction of his code against killing, we've constructed a Batman who fights crime so that no one else has to suffer like he did. He does this at great personal cost, so it's ultimately an act of heroism, even if the way he goes about it is super flawed.

That's not the original version though, who was really just all about the vengeance. The murder of Bruce Wayne's parents was a terrifying experience for him that made him understandably angry at criminals. As Yoda wisely observed, fear leads to anger and anger leads to hate. That's the path that Batman's on, but what he doesn't seem to realize is the last part of Yoda's maxim: "hate leads to suffering." His thirst for vengeance isn't going to help Gotham. It will create more fear and start the cycle over again.

Batman started his mission from a really bad place and he's headed in a tragic direction unless something changes. Fortunately, Detective Comics #38 is coming up quick.

Daily Panel | Batman stays at the best hotels

Detective Comics #31 and 32 make up one of my favorite Batman stories of all time. In No. 31, Batman's fiance, Julie is kidnapped by a hooded villain called the Monk and taken to Hungary for mysterious purposes. No. 32 reveals that the Monk is actually a vampire, and he's not working alone. The woman Batman's carrying above is either under the Monk's power as well or is working with him. There's some question about it in the story, so I won't spoil which.

The "Carlathan" Mountains of Hungary are a perfect setting for a Batman tale. I mean, even the hotel is awesomely gothic and creepy. Add in the vampires, the werewolves they control, a horse-drawn coach, and Batman swinging everywhere on the rope ladder attached to his Bat-gyro, and it's just about perfect. Also note that Batman's gloves are now at a more familiar length. That changed with this story as well.

By this time (starting with Detective #30) Sheldon Moldoff was helping Bob Kane on inks, so the panel above (from Detective #32) is by Gardner Fox, Kane, and Moldoff.

Daily Panel | 'Where does he get those wonderful toys?'

Batman may drive a bright red sedan and keep his costume in a box in his study, but he starts adding some style in Detective Comics #31 (by Gardner Fox, Bill Finger, and Bob Kane).

The second weapon he mentions is, of course, the batarang in his hand. Julie is his fiance. Should be interesting to see how that relationship works out.

Daily Panel | To the Bat... trunk?

Remember the other day when I said that Batman operated out of his living room in the early days? I wasn't exaggerating. No Batcave, just a trunk where he keeps his costume.

From Detective Comics #30 by Gardner Fox and Bob Kane.

Daily Panel | Batmobile, Mark I

Batman's first ride wasn't nearly as cool as his later ones. One of the fun things about revisiting the early Batman stories is to see him develop from a one-man show operating out of his living room into the magnificent icon he would become.

From Detective Comics #29 by Gardner Fox and Bob Kane.

Daily Panel | Batman kills

For the second time in two issues, Batman tosses a bad guy to his death. In Detective Comics #27, he socks the main villain into a vat of acid (and comments, "A fitting ending for his kind"). This time, it's a nameless jewel thief. And in case the diminishing "Yaaaaaa" doesn't make clear what's going on, the story spells it out later when two police rush into the scene who were attracted by "the body of the man who went over the roof."

I don't completely understand why it's important to a lot of readers that Batman doesn't kill. In fact, one of the things that ultimately killed my interest in Batman and made me question corporate superhero comics in general was the amount of attention the comics give to this concept. The Joker's always escaping death to return later was a fun aspect of superhero comics until the genre "matured" and storytellers started wanting to comment on it. Batman developed an explicit No Kill clause in his moral code, which created more commentary, occasionally between Batman and another character.

The thing is: the No Kill clause really is dumb, especially as stories get darker and villains get more violent. At some point, Batman becomes complicit in the suffering and deaths of the Joker's victims because he refuses to do the one thing that he's equipped to do, but the police can't. And it's also dumb to have that pointed out in the comics themselves, because there's no good, satisfying answer for it.

[From Detective Comics #28 by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.]

Daily Panel | Outlier

From Outliers #1 by Erik T. Johnson. The comic is on sale this week (published by Alternative Comics) and I highly recommend it.