Customer Reviews

Batman and the Monster Men

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"Batman & the Monster Men" collects the six issue limited series into trade paperback format and is written and illustrated by Matt Wagner. Wagner sets this story in early Batman history, just about a year or so after the caped crusader first made his appearance in Gotham City. One of the advantages of setting a story in the past like this is that it gives the writer some poetic license to re-envision things as he likes and Wagner takes advantage of this in several ways. One is in the introduction of the Batmobile after Batman's first remote controlled, and rather mundane looking vehicle is destroyed in a crash. There's a rather amusing scene in the book when Alfred sees the car for the first time and wonders why Batman doesn't add tailfins to make it look even more like a bat...and idea that Batman takes quite seriously.

Another new Wagner take is Batman's first encounter with Professor Hugo Strange. Strange first appeared in Detective Comics #36. His appearance actually preceded the first appearance of the Joker by a couple of months. In this story, Strange is regarded as a rather crackpot scientist doing work in genetic research. He rounds up lost, homeless men off the streets to use as test subjects, and eventually mutates several into hulking monsters with a taste for human flesh. Besides Strange, the story's other main villain is local mobster Sal Maroni who is loaning Strange the money for his experiments. What he doesn't know is that Strange is using his monsters to bust up illegal gambling houses run by Maroni and stealing the money. He's using the mobster's own money to pay him back!

A subplot involves Bruce Wayne's girlfriend Julie Madison whose father is wealthy industrialist Norman Madison whose financial troubles also force him to go to Maroni for a substantial loan. Batman has an early encounter with three of Strange's monsters and barely escapes with his life. The battle shows how resourceful Batman is, even at this early stage. Meanwhile Strange is fascinated by Batman's sheer ability and wants to use his DNA for future experiments.

"Batman & the Monster Men" is the perfect story for Wagner's grim and gritty art style. Even the few daytime scenes are overcast against a pink sky giving the story a very noir-ish feel to it. Jim Gordon has not become commissioner yet, holding the rank of Captain, but he's already established a rapport with Batman and doesn't hesitate to call him in when the mutilated bodies are found at the illegal gambling operations. Look quick at the newspaper article about a criminal called the "Red Hood" who falls to his death in a vat of chemicals. This is, of course, reference to the identity of man who would later become the Joker.

Wagner shows why he is one of the best!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

Batman and the Monster Men takes place roughly one year into Batman's career. It's a retro story placing an older storyline into current continuity and has Batman dealing with the mafia as usual, but for the first time faces a much greater challenge he's never dealt with before.

At this point in his career, Batman believes he is on the brink of putting an end to organized crime in Gotham once he puts an end to the much talked about, but never seen, Carmine Falcone's operations. In addition to the Dark Knight, our main cast of characters includes Professor Hugo Strange, Sal Maroni, Jim Gordon, Julie Madison (Bruce Wayne's love interest), and her father Norman Madison.

What initially brought this novel to my attention was Matt Wagner. I had read Trinity and enjoyed his thoughtful insights on the characters as well as his beautiful artwork. Some have criticized Wagner's illustrations as being too simple, but he captures the characters' facial expressions and mood so vividly, you don't even need to read the text to know what they're thinking about. And speaking of dialogue, the characters have some great lines in addition to solid character development through their inner thoughts. Typically, I'm used to just reading stories told from one character's perspective, but in Monster Men, we get to know each of the previous characters listed personally through their thoughts, which was a unique way of narrating. There were a few times in Trinity where I wasn't sure if Wagner quite had Batman's character down, but here he nails his personality exactly how he should be portrayed. Dark, moody, secretive and most importantly, determined.

I won't give away too much of the main plot, but basically going into this, expect things to get mysterious and action packed about halfway through. Once the action starts, it doesn't slow down. I must say, this is one of the more violent Batman stories I've read in a while, up there with DKR. Let's just say the monster men have a taste for human flesh. It was also nice to be able to see Sal Maroni in a starring villain role, considering he is later notorious for creating Two-Face, but I never really knew much about his past up until now.

If this novel has any faults they're minor. Bruce's girlfriend, Julie, wasn't the most fascinating love interest he's ever had. At times she seemed like she wasn't very necessary to the overall plot and was only used when it was convenient. She often would talk playfully in legal terms just to remind us she was a going through law school and that got a bit irritating after awhile, but I wouldn't have necessarily written her out. Her father Norman plays a more important role and goes through the most character development out of any other. I would have liked to see Gordon used a little bit more, but this wasn't his story, and the times he is focused on are well written. I always enjoy reading stories of Batman and Gordon early in their careers and their controversial "partnership" taking form.

Wagner also remembers the little details, such as the creation of the bat-mobile and Alfred's suggestion to put fins on it to make it more bat-like. Putting Vicky Vale's name on the newspaper article featuring the Red Hood on the first page. Setting up Maroni's vendetta against Harvey Dent. The line after Gordon asks "Are you joking?" to which Batman responds, "I'm no joker". It's the small stuff that makes it feel that much more like a Batman novel and not just a generic story you could stick any other random DC hero in and have it feel the same. It's always a pleasure reading something like this when you can sense the author truly gets it and makes it his own. Don't pass this one up.

"Batman and the Monster Men" isn't bad. In fact, it's probably pretty good if you enjoy seeing the Dark Knight going against super-powerful adversaries. Personally, I prefer to have him go up against clever but non-super foes such as Joker, Penguin or a criminal scientist, or even a villain with offbeat and somewhat limited powers such as Bane or Matt Hagen's version of Clayface. I'm a longtime Batman fan, so I can enjoy just about anything featuring him; but I've read better, and probably won't re-read this one too often.

First off I'd like to say this belongs right beside Long Halloween and Year One. A very satisfying read. Don't overlook this one.

I loved it. It was a great story which reflected my ideal depiction of Batman, not only as one who is dedicated to fighting human crime and battling his infamous Rogue's Gallery of Supervillians, but a detective who ends up tangling with supernatural or preternatural forces as well. It harkens back to the Batman comic's early days, where he dealt with such villians as the Monster Men and others regularly. I have always been a fan of the stories in which Batman battles the Supernatural, as much as the tales in which he fights so called "normal" criminals, as these tales fully realize the Gothic atmoshpere of the entire series. These stories force Batman, who despite his fearsome costume (which he chose to induce terror in superstitious criminals),and by nature who is a man of logic and science, to confront and accept the reality of things that are beyond his realm of understanding.

BluesDruid

I've never been the hugest Matt Wagner fan. Sometimes his art can come across as rushed and slightly crude. That being said, he is a solid storyteller, and he finds his voice in 'Batman and the Monster Men'. The story takes place after 'Batman: Year One' and follows the Dark Knight's early adventures, which take a decidedly more supernatural turn from 'Year One'. I won't give away the plot points, you'll have to read it yourself.

Written and drawn by Matt Wagner, Batman and the Monster Men is a great story that takes place early in Batman's career. I love the portrayal of Batman in this story because he isn't too dark or brooding. He relies greatly on his detective work and is still struggling with balancing Batman and Bruce Wayne.

However, the real strength of this comic is how it tells several stories that all tie together at the end. Batman is investigating a series of grisly murders, which leads him to Hugo Strange, a mad scientist performing inhumane genetic experiments. Strange is funding his experiments by borrowing money from Gotham mobster Sal Maroni. Maroni is also loaning money to local businessman Norman Madison, whose daughter Julie is dating Bruce Wayne. These parts of the story all remain separate until a great clash at the end involving Batman, mobsters, and the titular Monster Men. While the ending is a more than satisfactory climax of the intertwined stories, it leaves just enough open ends for this book's sequel, Batman and the Mad Monk.

If you prefer a simpler version of the hero this is a great read. There is no Robin or Justice League or comical super villains. I would also highly recommend this to anyone just getting interested in reading Batman. I assume any Batman rookies start with Batman: Year One, and they should, but this is the book they should read next.

If your getting into reading batman i would highly recommend this along with it's sequel the mad monk which is also good. These two storys take place in batmans first year of crime fighting.

Matt Wagner mailed it in on this book. His cover art is extremely well rendered, atmospheric and detailed.

But the interior art appears to have been drawn in ink without first using pencils. John Byrne "pioneered" the concept when he was simultaneously writing and drawing Fantastic Four and Alpha Flight. Then, as now, the result is extremely undetailed and dark renderings. Wagner's interior art is cartoonish and sloppy. The story is too "super-hero" for Batman and doesn't fit the character's noir motif.

Loeb and Sale were able to incorporate super hero/super villain elements into The Long Halloween because Sale's moody, atmospheric art and Loeb's clever, suspenseful scripting made it all "believable". Here, however, Wagner's writing misses the mark, as does his "art".

For a great Batman TPB, pick up Steve Niles' and Kelly Jones' magnificent Batman: Gotham After Midnight. The story is not great but it works. Kelly Jones' art captures the horror-classicism of Bernie Wrightson and some of the flow and pacing of Frank Miller.

I loved this book! it had all the right themes and tones of a great Batman story. The monsters plus the Mob is awesome and thrilling. This is truly a great cobination. The only element in the story I didn't care for so much was Bruce's love interest, with the exception of her father.