The Dark, Dark Knight: Monech, Jones and Beatty's Batman

A nostalgic look back at a bold and creative approach to the DC Comics ‘Batman,’ title from the ‘90s.

By Bernard O’Shea

15/0/14

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that after a long wait DC Comics would be collecting Doug Moench, Kelley Jones and (lets not forget) John Beatty’s run on the ‘Batman,’ comics from the mid to late 1990s. I am so excited about this decision because this particular run of the Batman title are the original comics I grew up on.

What is exciting about this run is that it combines unique, dark and paranoid storytelling with visually striking art that created one of the most distinctive creative periods in the characters history. It provided fans with a deeply gothic portrayal of the Batman featuring largely in short, self-contained stories with a liberal dose of the supernatural. It featured many of the Batman’s rogues gallery including; Black Mask, Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, Penguin, Clayface, Joker and Man-Bat. It also featured some guest appearances from equally dark heroes such as Swamp-Thing, Deadman, Demon and Ragman. 

In honour of this particular body of work I would like to briefly review this unique comic book run. The period of Batman comics that I am reviewing ran for 38 issues, (#515-552) during the ‘90s. The main creative team during this time was Doug Moench, Kelley Jones and John Beatty.

 


A darker Batman in action

Doug Moench began working in mainstream comics with Marvel in 1973. He built a reputation in the horror genre and created Moon Knight and Deathlok for Marvel Comics. Moench also wrote Batman and Detective Comics from 1983-1986, during this time he introduced Jason Todd as the second Robin. He was also one of the lead writers during the early 1990s during the infamous ‘Knightfall,’ Batman storyline. He created the main villain of the story; Bane. During the ‘90s he also collaborated with Kelley Jones and John Beatty on the ‘Batman & Dracula: Red Rain,’ graphic novel and subsequent sequels.

Kelley Jones began his comic book career as an inker for Marvel Comics in 1983. It was at some point during the ‘80s that fellow comic book artist Marshall Rogers told Jones he would one day do a memorable Batman.[1]At DC comics he re-designed the Deadman character and drew several issues of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series. He was also a regular cover artist for the Batman titles during the ‘Knightfall,’ storyline.

John Beatty also began his career at Marvel Comics in the ‘80s. Over a career spanning twenty years he was the inker on such titles as The Punisher, Captain America, The Nam, The Adventures of Superman and Batman. 



The All Black Batsuit -Batman #515


These accomplished artists became the regular creative team for the Batman title at a significant point in its history. Their run of issues sits between two major story arcs in the Batman comics; namely the Knightfall and Cataclysm/No Man’s land storylines. What is particularly refreshing about this Monech’s writing during this time is that the Batman title suffered very few interruptions in regards storyline crossovers. The stories Monech wrote were at the most no longer than three issues. As a new reader to Batman in the ‘90s it made my experience all the more enjoyable as the stories were straight forward, they were not entrenched in long years of continuity and the storytelling was linear, if the title had continued in the same vein as ‘Knightfall,’ I would have found it hard to continue reading the title with stories split across multiple titles. When I was growing up newsagents could be very inconsistent in obtaining American comic books in rural Ireland.

What I enjoy about Doug Monech’s writing on this particular run of the ‘Batman,’ title was the way he was able to; mesh certain staples of popular fiction together, so successfully. This Batman combined the superhero genre with gothic horror, suspense, the supernatural, personal drama, detective stories and often political tinged thrillers. At times it was almost as if he was channelling Edgar Allan Poe as a writer. Moench was able to effortless sew these elements together, which helped restore the Batman’s character as a gothic figure in the comics.

In this regard Monech was an excellent choice as writer for the title. He was able to restore an edge and vigour to the series. His Batman stories during this time reflected his beliefs about conspiracy theories and government responsibility. This is clearly evidenced in issue #516-517 which featured the CIA sponsored assassin ‘Sleeper,’ the government evolution experiment in the ‘Ogre and the Ape,’ story in issue #535, and the government manipulation of magnetic fields in the Man-Bat story through issues #536-538. Rather than detracting from the main stories, these elements emphasised to readers that there are shadowy corners of the world, where things happen that we don’t quite understand or know about. In a sense it emphasised the Batman’s existence as the gatekeeper between reality and the shadow world.


Batman #515

In addition, the inclusion of supernatural story elements was important because for the Batman to succeed in Gotham the character would have to be believed by the criminal underworld to be an urban myth. Moench crafted a gothic version of Batman in a post ‘Knightfall,’ world, complete for the first time with a black costume that previously had only been utilised in the movies. This Batman was a dark, brooding and obsessive vigilante who only appeared at night. This motive for striking fear into the hearts of criminals also helped to convey to the reader that the Batman wanted to be seen as a supernatural force.

An appreciation of the supernatural is fundamental to understanding Moench’s vision for this Batman. When supernatural elements were introduced, for example the Killer Croc issues, the Deadman storyline, the Spectre story and the Demon story, they were carefully chosen and the fantasy elements were measured and in keeping with the tone of the overall series. Moench was able to utilise characters who shared the Batman’s themes of vengeance, justice and retribution. They operated in a strange limbo just above the Batman’s own reality. Their inclusion helped re-enforce the supernatural element to the Batman and gave him back his edge as a horrifying hero that was originally a facet of the character in the 1930s.
 

'The Spectre,' Batman #541


This helped set the tone of this particular run but Monech’s strength as a writer lay in how he utilised other characters and villains during this time. Suffice to say he was working in a post ‘Knightfall,’ world so the supporting cast continued their trajectory from that storyline. Batman did not enjoy his traditional relationship with Commissioner Gordon. Gordon is depicted as struggling with his own personal life, losing his job being replaced by his wife and generally being distrustful of ‘Bats,’ after the multiple Batmen storyline. It’s another thread of Moench’s own paranoia being woven into the relationship between these two characters.

In contrast, Moench does an excellent job at writing Harvey Bullock, no surprise considering he created the character during his first run on the Batman title in the early ‘80s. Moench is able to portray Bullock with more humanity than I personally feel any other writer has been able to accomplish. The Harvey Bullock story in issue #520 is a personal highlight despite the unnecessary downbeat ending.


'Mr Freeze,' - Batman #525

Moench’s Batman was also psychologically charged, and it made strong use of an extensive rogue’s gallery as well as introducing some of his own creations like Sleeper, The Undertaker, Faceless and the Ogre. My personal highlights are the Killer Croc two-parter from #521-522 and the Two-Face two parter from #527-528 featuring the conjoined twins. Monech also re-introduced his own creation ‘Black Mask,’ which helped him explore the recurring theme of masks and identity throughout this run. Masks are a constant motif in the series, and are used to explore the duality of being and uncertainty of identity. It is a recurrent theme with many of the characters. 

'Black Spider,' -Batman #519

Johnny Lamonica the new ‘Black Spider,’ from issues #518-519, is a ‘pretty boy,’ henchman for Black Mask but his good looks cannot disguise his poor character. Likewise, ‘Faceless,’ the mail man shunned by his neighbours and who turns into a serial killer as a result, faces an identity crisis and begins mimicking his victims appearance, because he feels no-one cares about him that he is ‘faceless.’ There are many other examples of this during the run, which makes provides it with greater depth than the average superhero series.


What also provided depth to this series are the fresh and unique visuals provided by Jones and Beatty. Their Batman had tall razor sharp Bat ears, claws for hands, and a never ending cape that seemed at times to take on a life of its own not to mention all kinds of shapes. He was menacing and moody and had all sorts of weird steam punkish, gadgets including a retro fitted 1940s style Batmobile.
Kelley Jones art will always divide fans, with his unique take on human anatomy, bow legs, and often exaggerated and grotesque facial expressions. I remember fans being quite vocal through the letters page in their anti-Kelley Jones sentiment. One fan wrote, “I was not prepared for Jones’ abuse of the bat ears…I vote those ears are out of code, way too sharp, dangerous to low flying aircraft and a significant detriment to keeping one’s head up.” Another fan wrote, “Man Alive! He hasn’t yet figured out that the Batman isn’t supposed to be like unto a gargoyle. The ears are way too big.”

"Do my ears look big in this?"

I too was very much anti-Jones at the beginning. It’s probably because I had been so used to seeing artists who were still, in a sense, following the Neal Adams style of rendering superheroes from the 1970s. Jones credits his influences as being; Wally Wood (EC Comics, Daredevil), Graham Ingels (EC Comics; Tales from the Crypt), Jack Kirby and Berni Wrightson (Swamp Thing). However, as an adult looking back at his artwork on this run I continue to marvel at the gothic horror influences and I still can’t believe that he was allowed to draw a mainstream title in the way he did. I suppose the commercial success of Batman: Red Rain had a lot to do with it.
 

 

That said they are fantastic visuals. Jones’ pencils coupled with the excellent inking style of John Beatty provided me with some memorable panels. Kelley Jones was very adamant in the version of Batman he wanted to capture; “I wanted him to be intimidating, I wanted him to be never fully accepted as human by the sane criminals of Gotham. You have to remember, he is seen as a criminal or worse by the good citizens and most the police of Gotham. The nut jobs that comprise the Rogues Gallery, they must fear him entirely. That’s – to me – Batman’s real ‘power’.[2]



"What does this do, again?!"

It was this power and dynamism that Jones was able to infuse Monech’s Batman stories with. For me there was always a sense that when Batman was in costume he was more than a man, almost inhuman, a demon. Jones was also very clever at creating a unique visual world for the Batman to inhabit. Jones’ Batcave was always a joy to behold, it seemed to stretch on forever and it was full of bizarre crime fighting apparatus. It was more a mad scientist’s lair than a crime fighting Batcave. For casual comic book fans, it may have seemed that Jones was not an accomplished artist but to the contrary his take on human anatomy required a great deal of skill to accomplish. Even though the artist credits his drapery studies as being more important when taking into account the characters never ending cape.[3] I always felt that his artwork really soared when it involved one of the many supernatural guest stars.





Swamp Thing from Issue #522

His splash page featuring Swamp Thing in issue #522 is a marvellous. His version of the Spectre is horrific and unsettling at times and his work on the Deadman issues #530-532 are excellent. Jones’ perhaps is the only Batman artist to really capture the horror of a villain like Clayface or Killer Croc or depict the madness of the Scarecrow or any of the murderous villains who appeared during this run.

 

Jones also depicted a Gotham city that was dark and labyrinth like. Most of the action that we see happens in cramped apartments and alley ways. He also had great skills in creating unique inhabitants to live in the city. One of the great unsolved mysteries of this run is the puppeteer who stalked the streets of Gotham. This was a mystery person who wore a trench coat and carried a puppet dressed in a batman costume on strings. This mysterious figure appeared in issues #518, #519, #524, #529, #540 and #551. It was never revealed what the purpose of the character was to be, which only adds to the intrigue surrounding this mystery character. No Batman writer has since touched on it so it can only be assumed it was part of a later storyline that never came to fruition.


The mysterious Puppeteer

In total the Monech, Jones and Beatty run on Batman last just three years. It still amazes me that as a creative team they enjoyed such a consistent run on a mainstream title. DC Comics would eventually return to a more traditional superhero approach with the Batman title but this run still stands out as a significant period of storytelling in the characters history. What I find particularly interesting is that this creative partnership coincided with the release of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. Considering, that I began collecting Batman comic books as a result of Tim Burton’s Batman then it would be interesting to learn what the reaction was from young people who were introduced to the Batman comics during this time. I wonder how many really appreciated this version of the Batman and began collecting comics as a result of reading it.

After their run on Batman the creative team moved on to other projects. Monech and Jones would later team up on the 2013 mini-series Batman: Unseen, however John Beatty has retired from the comic book industry.

I think it’s wonderful that DC Comics are collecting this particular creative teams run on the Batman title. It is long overdue. It represents a bold and creative approach to a staple of the DC Comics universe and something no true Batman fan should be without. It’s the Batman I grew up and the one I know and love well. Like all good friends, it feels good to get reacquainted.

For a comprehensive review of the entire Monech, Jones and Beatty run read Greg Burgas review here: http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2010/04/20/comics-you-should-own-flashback-batman-515-552/

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[1] Unknown (2011) ‘Interview with Kelley Jones,’ http://www.strangekidsclub.com/2011/01/12/interview-w-comic-artist-kelley-jones/

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.