It´s not that often that a Batman story is more touching than it is dark, or gritty, or violent. But Neil Gaiman´s and Andy Kubert´s “Whatever Happened to The Caped Crusader” is more of a heartfelt tribute to the character than the umpteenth “Batman is a freak and Gotham is a hellhole” story. It´s also a very surreal story, where Batman seems to be witnessing his own funeral, while a number of different characters he´s crossed paths with throughout the years tell very different versions of how he died.
As the stories are told, Gaiman takes us through all incarnations of Batman, from golden age to the Adam West show to The Killing Joke, and so forth. Andy Kubert does a great job of mixing up different styles of the big artists who made their mark on the mythos. It´s all different, and yet it all feels true to the character.
A common theme emerges from all the stories. It annoys me to no end how some fanboys pick a certain take on the character and become tremendously anal about this or that one being the “true” Batman, when in fact the multitude of potential interpretations and versions of the bat-verse is a big part of what has made him relevant more than 70 years after his creation. Gaiman acknowledges that there´s a myth, a legend of Batman that´s bigger and more lasting than any specific notions on how to portray him.
The one thing that never changes is that Batman has a destiny. And this is where we get to the revelation that the dark knight is having a near death experience – the hallucinatory nature of the experience explains the shapeshifting, surreal nature of the whole thing. And this is what his “real” death would be like. As Gaiman points out, this is the only way it can end for Batman. He dies for his mission, whether it´s saving Gotham, rescuing a baby, being killed by one of his enemies, etc. It´s the only thing that can happen, not only because he´s human and mortal, but because that´s the only way to stop him. Batman can´t quit, can´t give up. If he ever attempted to leave it all behind him, it would just devour his soul or come back to bite him hard in the ass, as it happened in The Dark Knight Returns, Mask Of The Phantasm and The Dark Knight, among other stories.
But, as Gaiman also points out, Batman never truly, really dies. For his legend is also bigger than the man himself. As long as his stories are told and his fans enjoy them, Batman goes on, for he´s not only a fun and interesting character, but also, much as his life is driven by tragedy and a frustrated will to correct it, he´s an inspiration, for his partners, the policemen, even maybe to some of his enemies. And most of all, to us. In his goodbye, Bruce Wayne gets to be a kid again, and he says goodbye to the world of Batman the same way a fan would, savoring the wonder of it as a child at heart.
As a fan of Neil Gaiman´s work, I´ve long waited to see him do a big story with the character – the satirical short story he did with Simon Bisley for “Batman – Black and White” is fun, but this talent and this character deserved more when put together. And they got it.
GRADE: A
No comments:
Post a Comment