Just give us a Batman book, that plays in the 40´s. It should stand alone, no shared continuity with whatever. No superpowers, just crime/action/heroes and villains. No other characters like Superman etc. No Robin!
Yeah, now that I think about it, it does make sense.
I mean, its one of the most iconic early Golden Age Batman stories (alongside 'The Case of the Chemical Syndicate', obviously, and the Monk two-parer), but if they were choosing to adapt a story from that era, I'd have preferred something different. After all, as you've pointed out, we've already gotten an adaptation of this one.
'Dirigible of Doom' would have been an interesting one. An early Batman taking on a wannabe dictator with a death-ray sounds like pulp-fiction gold, and would really help distinguish this from your average Year One Batman story!
Hell, even the Dr. Death story (which also kinda got a modern adaptation in Zero Year) might have been a better pick.
Still, regardless, I am excited for this. I hope they retain the bit with Batman gunning down the Monster Men (and hanging one), and don't chicken out and retro-fit modern "Batman doesn't kill" ideas to the First Knight
An interesting idea...but how much scope is there really in such a project? Remember, the pre-Robin phase actually lasted all of 11 issues. And if you get past that period, even if you exclude Robin, but feature the likes of Joker, Catwoman, Penguin etc., then how different would this be from your average Year One Batman book, aesthetics aside?
I think a better application for this might be a series of minis or one-shots? Either adapting old stories, or doing new ones set in between?
And why stay restricted to the Golden Age? Why not a Silver Age Batman mini as well?
i love Golden Age Batman im sure i would read this
Mike Perkins was on Word Balloon so we got some info - Jurgens will also be on soon so I assume we'll get more then:
- This is set roughly 1 week to 1 month after Detective Comics #27
- They're not looking to revist or expand upon what Wagner did
- Will focus on Batman going after gangsters and corrupt politicians rather than supervillains
I'm not sure how doing monster men is not revisiting what Wagner did?
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THE BAT-MAN: FIRST KNIGHT #2
Written by DAN JURGENS
Art and cover by MIKE PERKINS
Pulp novel variant cover by MARC ASPINALL
Variant cover by SEBASTIAN FIUMARA
$6.99 US | 48 pages | 2 of 3 | Prestige Plus | 8 1/2″ x 10 7/8″ (all covers are card stock)
ON SALE 4/2/24
Monster men continue to terrorize Gotham City, but with the body count rising, the GCPD is no closer to solving the mystery behind these seemingly undead assailants, and the Bat-Man and Gordon are the only ones willing to brave the criminal underworld to crack the case. It’s after a near-death brawl saving the mayor from the monster men that the Bat-Man must face a stark reality…are his fists and willpower enough to save Gotham?
Here's the Word Balloon episode - they touch a bit on this project but there's not much there in terms of detail, Jurgens does mention Hugo Strange and his monster men but it doesn't sound like they will be the main villains, instead it'll be someone called "The Voice". re: Matt Wagner's work he says he purposefully didn't go back and read Mad Monk/Monster Men before beginning work on this. Finally Perkins is currently working on the art for issue #3 so hopefully there'll be no delays.