NML Crossing, Episode 057 – Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #117 (1999)
NML Crossing, Episode Fifty-Seven
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #117 (May, 1999)
“Bread and Circuses, Part One”
Writer – Ian Edginton
Art – D’Israeli
Letters – John Costanza
Colors – D’Israeli & Digital Chameleon
Edits – Illidge, Gorfinkel, O’Neil
Cover Price: $1.99
Batman’s (still) back… and he’s (still) looking for a way to make a sizable splash in No Man’s Land. Lucky for him the Penguin is throwing a hellish Antiques Roadshow soiree that’s just asking to be crashed!
NML Crossing on Youtube
I think that just like Gordon is trying to expand his territory, Batman is visiting different neighborhoods to make sure that everyone in Gotham knows he is back. Batman is seen battling the Red Devils, which is a gang we have yet to see so it looks like he is in different territory then before.
Penguin is acknowledging that Batman is back for the first time in public, so of course he would be downplaying his previous interactions with Batman that he really come up on the wrong end of. He needs to appear strong to the masses.
Up until now very few of the residents of the No Man’s Land know that Batman is back, so his desire to make a big public appearance at the Penguin’s shindig is the best way for him to get as many eyes on him as possible. Then have them spread the word that the Bat is back and he means business.
Yeah, I think you do a good job here, Chris U, explaining an in-story logic for why we’ve had three arcs that are essentially Batman reestablishing his presence in No Man’s Land in very similar ways.
Also, with Batman as urban legend, it would stand to reason that he would need to be doing this multiple times in order for more people to believe he’s real and back.
Interestingly, though, this might be an effect of larger crossovers spread across different teams, since a similar repetition in story beats happened with Aftershock.
Those Cerebus phone books are cool collection formats in terms of price points.
I’ve only read the first one, and I wasn’t really hooked. It was OK but nothing special. I know that’s when it was mainly a Conan satire/spoof and that it later gets deeper, but I also know that some of that deep approach leads to Sim’s questionable attitudes, so I’ve had no desire to read past what I’ve done. (Although the art from Sim and his assitant – Gerhard? – is impressive and gets more impressive from what I’ve seen)
That Bone one volume is a cool collection too; I had it and lent it to enough people that it got to the point where it wasn’t even readable because of use (and, yes, reading it when it was in pristine condition was difficult because of size). I broke down and bought the individual color Scholastic versions on the cheap to replace this one volume collection, but I kind of regret it because the black and white artwork in that collection (and Smith’s original collections) is better than the color artwork, in my opinion. I think the coloring is well done, and amplifies the comedic elements, but I think it sacrifices some of the drama, suspense, and weight that the black and white artwork adds.