Batman #598 (2002)

Batman #598 (February, 2002)
"Santa Klaus is Coming to Town!"
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Pencils - Scott McDaniel
Inks - Andy Owens
Colors - Roberta Tewes
Separations - WildStorm FX
Letters - John Costanza
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25

Hey remember yesterday when we met Santa Klaus?  Well, we're just two months later (publishing time), and he's back... just in time for Christmas, even!

Unfortunately, all of DC's books that shipped in December, 2001 were part of a weird "cover theme" month... and so, we're robbed of a fun Holiday cover.  Not the biggest fan of this (or any) cover-theme, but it's far better than that month during the late 90's where it was just close-ups on a hero's face.  Yeesh!

Anyhoo, let's see what this creep's got in his sleigh for us good girls and boys!

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It's a week before Christmas, and we open at Wayne Manor.  The man of the house is quite displeased that his bodyguard (Sasha Bordeaux) has found where he keeps all of the Christmas decorations.  He tells her they don't celebrate the Holidays there, but she ain't havin' none of it.  Before Bruce can put up too much more of an argument, he spies the Bat-Signal illuminating the night sky... and he's off to work in a flash.

We rejoin him, in his work duds, at a Gotham dentist office where he meets Detective Montoya.  She tells him that our new pal Santa Klaus had been brought in for some oral surgery (impacted molars!), and during the procedure, he happened to overtake the surgical team and get away!

Not before killing them though!

Renee brings Batman out into the reception area where he speaks to a couple of survivors: a nurse and a security guard.  They both report that Santa Klaus knew their darkest "naughty" secrets... it was as though he could read their minds... 

We catch up with Klaus as he roams the streets of Gotham, causing all sorts of mischief by telling people the secrets they never want to hear said aloud.  He happens upon a pair of panhandling children who he hires as gun-wielding "elves".

Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce gets all melancholy staring at Sasha's Christmas Tree.  He briefly allows himself to think back to a perfect holiday season from his youth, before snapping out of it.

Over the next few days, reports come in about a dude in a Santa costume (flanked by a pair of elves) handing out gifts to naughty men and women.  Those gifts are, naturally, bombs.

Batman is called in to check out the latest bombsite... a bar, where ol' Klaus just went nuts handing out "gifts" left and right.  A bartender managed to survive the blast, because he chased after "Santa" to try and get a gift for his kid.  That's when he saw him push the detonator... which blew up the whole joint.  The bartender claims to have overheard Santa Klaus say he now had "ze perfect chance".

Batman immediately assumes this means that the baddie is going to bomb Gothafeller Center... er, Gotham Square.  And, sure enough, Klaus and Company are present and accounted for... and handing out gifts!

Santa tries handing a gift to one man in particular, who turns it down on account'a he's Jewish.  This causes Klaus to fly into a rage... how dare he refuse one of his gifts!  Luckily, the ruckus caused is enough to tip Batman and the GCPD off on his location!

Batman has the GCPD comb the crowd for "gifts" while he gives chase to Klaus.  As he follows, Batman accidentally knocks a fella down.  Unfortunately, that fella was smoking a cigarette... which rolled right under the giant Gotham Square Christmas Tree!  Before we know it, the whole thing has gone up in flames.  They probably should've refilled the water reservoir!

During the struggle, Santa himself winds up engulfed.  Using his cape, Batman manages to put out the fire... and Santa Klaus's "season of giving" comes to a close.

We wrap up back in the Batcave, where Sasha has brought Bruce his Christmas gift.  He sheepishly tells her that he didn't get her anything.  She's not surprised.  Bruce unwraps the present, and is shocked that it's just what he had wanted (we readers don't get to see what's in the box...).  The pair retire to the not-cavey part of the Manor to watch some Christmas movies, and we're outta here.

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Well, that's more like it, eh?

While I'm certainly a "Christmas all year long" type'a dude, it's definitely better to see ol' Santa Klaus as close to the actual Holiday as possible.

Thing of it is, there ain't all that much more to say about him, right?  We know from yesterday's piece that he's going to punish all of the "bad" boys and girls... only this time around we get the added wrinkle that he might be able to read minds?  Does that mean he knows about Batman's secrets?  That kinda ups the ante, dunnit?  Guess it's a moot point though... dude went down pretty easy.

I'm not sure we've discussed Sasha yet on the blog... I thought she was a pretty fun character, and that she added a bunch to the bat-books around this time.  I had a buddy I worked with who was positively obsessed with her, for whatever reason... kept asking me questions about her, at a time when she only had all of five appearances.

I appreciated how she could go from all-business bodyguard, to a sorta perky, sorta charming pain in Bruce's butt.  I hated it when she got sucked into the post-Infinite Crisis Checkmate book, because that book be boring, my friends.

I'm not sure if this is a complaint or not... but, I'm really wondering what Sasha's gift to Bruce was.  It's been... jeez, 16-17 years since I read any of this... so I don't know if it was ever followed up on, or was just meant to be a nice "moment" between the two.  I'm pretty sure many readers were convinced that there was going to be a long and tangled romance between the two... and thought maybe this was going to be the start of it.

Of course, that's not the case... the following month will see Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure, which rolls right into the several months-long Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive storyline... which, I'm now kinda getting an itch to revisit.

Overall... this was a good read.  If you're a sucker for Christmas books like I am, this one's a no-brainer.  If you wanna see some Moonlighting-esque awkwardness and contention between Bruce and Sasha... you'll probably dig this one as well.  This issue is available digitally.

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Letters Page:

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Interesting Ads:

On the Ninth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, Batman #598, Batman #596, Flash (vol.5) #17,Batman and the Outsiders #31, Captain Atom #13! Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review.

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Batman #596 (2001)

Batman #596 (December, 2001)
"City on Fire"
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Pencils - Scott McDaniel
Inks - Aaron Sowd
Colors - Roberta Tewes
Separations - WildStorm FX
Letters - John Costanza
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25

Okay, we've got a strange one today... not necessarily Christmas themed, per say... but features a homicidal Santa Claus!  Er, make that Santa Klaus.

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So, the Joker did that whole prison riot thing at The Slab which led to plenty of baddies escaping into the world.  From there, he'd do the same thing over at Arkham Asylum... so, now there are a bunch more not-safe-for-the-streets types prowling Gotham City.  One of whom is a fella they call Santa Klaus.  He dresses up like Santa, ya see... he also speaks with a thick German accent.  This guy really seems to think he's Santa Claus, and takes the "Naughty List" deadly serious... which is probably the reason he was locked up in Arkham.

As Klaus deals with a motorist's carbon footprint, Batman is across town fighting his way through a burning building.  He's following the voice of, what he believes to be, a trapped civilian.  What it turns out being is a corpse with a tape-player strapped to its chest.  

So yeah, whole thing was a trap!  Batman grabs the body, and bursts out a nearby window before the place goes boom.

Shortly, Batman is chatted up by Detective Montoya... and another guy, maybe Crispus Allen... though, I thought it was a little while until he showed up.  Either way, it ain't Bullock.  Batman reveals that the body belonged to a fella named Yuri Kalanikov, a lieutenant in the Odessa Mob, and the third of their number to fall in the past couple weeks.  Batman is certain that Lew Moxon is behind this.

We shift scenes to Moxon associate, Mr. Zeiss.  At least I think he was still Moxon's associate/bodyguard at this point.  Either way, he's informed that Batman survived the bomb... and he's not surprised, after all... it is Batman.  He gazes out the window using a pair of binoculars, and we learn the next step in his plan.  He's planning on killing another Odessa Mobster, Gregor Popavich when he goes out to dinner with his young daughter.  Zeiss confirms this with his Russian hostage, Dmitri.

We rejoin Santa Klaus as the Batmobile roars past him.  He considers punishing him for speeding, but decides to take a nap in a dumpster instead.

Some time passes, and a bunch of nogoodniks happen across the dumpster dweller, and decide to push him down a hill and into traffic!  This doesn't end up well for anyone.

We pop back over to Batman, who is in position for Zeiss's assassination attempt on Popavich.  Zeiss is also in position, and has taken a few extra measures to ensure this all goes down according to plan.  He has a sniper... and a bomb!

No sooner do Popavich and his young daughter emerge from their ride, does Zeiss leap into action.  Batman follows suit.

Before Batman can nab the baddie, Zeiss grabs Popavich's daughter by the scruff of her neck and threatens to kill her if anybody moves.  Zeiss turns to Batman and informs him that, no matter what his next move is... somebody is going to die.  Either he'll break the girl's neck... or his sniper will take out Popavich.

Popavich pleads with Zeiss to kill him and let his daughter go, but before we can see how this would've played out, Santa Klaus has come to town!

The distraction is enough so that Batman can dive over to the girl and get her to safety.

The sniper finally takes his shot, and winds up winging Santa in the shoulder.  Now, it's down to just Batman and Zeiss.

Or, it would be... if not for that bomb Zeiss had planted as a back-up.

In the explosion, our man Zeiss manages to get away.  Moments later, the GCPD arrive on the scene, and when Popavich is asked for a statement, he claims that his "eyes were closed" the entire time.  Whatta jackass.

We wrap up with Santa Klaus being loaded into an ambulance where he tells the EMTs that they've both been "güt boys".

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Ya know, I hate using this small forum as a way to complain about current comics and the culture around them... buuuuuut, issues like this make me miss when we could get a Batman book that just told a good story, and wasn't trying to be (and being ridiculously lauded as) an "instant classic".  Though in fairness, I suppose if "retweets" were a thing back in ye old 2001, this one probably would've been hailed as such too.

What we have here is a pretty seamless way to tie into the Joker's Last Laugh crossover event, while keeping Batman's story moving forward.  Sometimes tie-ins result in a book's narrative being derailed for a time... here, however... it's not much of a hindrance at all!  We get a page of Jokery exposition to open the issue, and from there we're off to the races!  Really well done!

It is a bit of a breezy issue, a quick read... but, it's from the 21st Century, so I'm not really expecting more than a few good scenes.  Scott McDaniel's art is really nice... though, for whatever reason, I prefer him on Nightwing.  I'll say he's a better fit here than on the Superman books though!

Overall... like I said above, not a Christmas issue... per say.  So, if you're in a holly jolly mood, this one might not scratch that itch.  Though, if you're just looking for a good (if brief) story, this might be right up your alley.  This issue is available digitally.

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Interesting Ads:

On the Eighth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, Batman #596, Flash (vol.5) #17,Batman and the Outsiders #31, Captain Atom #13! Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review.

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Catwoman (vol.2) #1 (2002)

Catwoman (vol.2) #1 (January, 2002)
"Anodyne, Part One of Four"
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Penciller - Darwyn Cooke
Inker - Mike Allred
Colorist - Matt Hollingsworth
Letterer - Sean Konot
Assistant Editor - Nachie Castro
Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: $2.50

Was filing away some books I'd snagged in the cheap-o's a few weeks back, and came across this most excellent volume of Catwoman.  I love coming across parts of my collection that I'd (almost) forgotten about.  Been too long since I've read this one... let's read it together, shall we?

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We open with a... working girl soliciting a ride from a fella.  We'll call him John Brian.  When asked for her name she bites her lips and lies.  It's no bother though... Brian ain't here to talk anyway.  She hops in and they get right down to it, locking lips.  She pulls away after getting a look at his face.  He seems to get self conscious and yells at her to stop looking at him... from there it's academic.  He bashes her head through the window and proceeds to pound on her... likely until she passes.

From there, we enter into a hellish dreamscape.  Selina Kyle is surrounded by animated Catwoman costumes.

Turns out she's explaining her dream to Dr. Leslie Thompkins.  The Doc gives Selina some basic TV psychoanalysis, and tells her she's well on her way to getting "better".  She analyzes the dream as a subconscious battle for identity.  Selina claims to have not worn the costume for the past six-months.  Doc reinforces that any change Selina wants is in her hands.

On the street, Selina passes some seedy pushers and ignores their advances.  She heads to her current residence, which is a safe-house she's kept ever since her days as a working girl.  It was a place she shared with her "sisters", a sanctuary for them to go to when it was needed.  For the past six months, Selina herself needed it... apparently, she is supposed to be dead.  Having not read the end of the previous volume, I can't speak to that... I'll just take Ed/Selina's word for it!  As she settles in, we get a quick 'n dirty rundown of her costumed career... which, if I'm not mistaken, includes a nod to Batman: Year One.  Love stuff like that!

From out of the window, arose such a clatter... Selina popped her head out to see what's the matter.  Outside, there's a violent scene going on.  Batman is in the midst of a battle with the Riddler and his gang.  She spies Batman just about to take a bullet to the back, and so she chucks a brick at the gunman's noggin just in the nick of time.

After this, Selina decides to blow off some steam by doing some rooftop parkour.  As she goes, it's more than just her legs that are running.  Thoughts run through her head... she's still trying to place herself.  She's not right... she's not wrong... she's that space between.  She's come to a decision.

She returns her pad, and retrieves her costume.  The purple one.  She gives it one look before chucking it into the garbage.

From there, she puts together the ensemble most contemporary Catwoman fans are familiar with.  From the "letters page" that follows the story, we learn that Darwyn Cooke created this thing from soup to nuts... er, goggles.  It really is an amazing design... so simple, yet so detailed.  Definitely an outfit that can look great no matter who draws it... however, under Cooke's pencils... it really is amazing.

She takes to the streets on her first patrol in half a year.  Of course... she runs into Batman.  They chat a bit.  She wonders why he's always been there for her.  He tells her that he's never had any doubt that underneath it all, she's a good person.  It looks as though they might embrace, but Catwoman playfully pushes off his chest, launching herself in a beautiful dive.  Ya see, these two can be on a rooftop together without "doing it".

Selina returns home... to the sanctuary.  She's snuggling with her cat when she hears a jostling at her front door.  Thinking it's some lock-picker, she heads to the door to "greet" them.  Much to her surprise, it's a young lady named Holly.  An acquaintance from her "old life".  Holly knew about the sanctuary... and needed a place to crash.  Seeing Selina there, she assumes she's back in "the business", so she gives her the warning... there's somebody killing "us" out there...

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This series always reminds me of candy.  Not sure if that makes any sense, but it's really the best way I can describe it.  The first couple of years for this title were amazing.  Not sure if it kept up the quality level... it sadly fell under my "ax" around mid-2004 along with a whole bunch of titles I was following at the time.

I was always hesitant to pick up Catwoman during her previous volume... seemed like just a lot of big hair and big boobs.  One of those books that I'd kinda be embarrassed if my mother saw me buy.  I've since learned that a lot of that series was actually pretty damn good, and have since written the aesthetic off as just being a product of the times.

This Catwoman volume just looked immediately inviting... even with limited "experience" with the character, this issue does a fantastic job of dropping the reader into the moment with Selina.  It's a turning point in her life, and we are given the opportunity to watch her choose the direction her life is going to go.  All good stuff.

Dr. Leslie Thompkins does some decent "TV" psychotherapy... good enough for a superhero story, and helps get Selina from point A to B.  She usually makes for a good storytelling device... a good sounding board, allowing for natural character progression rather than reading thought balloon after thought balloon of expository hoo-ha.

This is a rather mature story... however, it is handled well.  Ya know, Selina's got a backstory... it's, questionable, depending on your mileage... but it's there, and it's nice to see it addressed here.

I've always really dug Ed Brubaker's DC work, and this is no exception.  Darwyn Cooke's stylistic pencils are a most welcome addition to this book lending to its unique and inviting aesthetic... I love his Riddler... really cool!  Great start to a great run.  The whole shebang is available digitally, so definitely give it a look-see if you're so inclined.

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It took me well over an hour to even get to my first random encounter
Still fun tho...