Alan Grant is the Shadow of the Bat.
This is a comic bringing me back to my youth. I was a trouble child questioning why the mind works the way it does and I guess that is one of the charms the Batman books have on me, the best ones I felt are psychological and this comic was one of the first to pervert my mind to think of the id and ego conflict.
This comic as well is introduction to Zsasz and to this date I believe an underused character. In his first ever appearance we don't even completely see him, he is presented in mystery so we would be curious why he is so dangerous and till this date, that discussion Alan Grant made to write him that way has made Zsasz a villain I have been curious about.
Anyone who likes the Arkham concepts, from the building to the family, this is an arc to read. This is one of the classic definition arcs of why Arkham is important to Batman and I think it is a shame this comic is currently out of print.
When this comic was released it was sealed in a bag with goodies like blue-print of Arkham. I only reread this comic because I was currently on Comixology and I wanted a free read waiting for The Rum Diary to play in the theater. What I remember about the goodies they were fun when I first opened it, the feeling of being part of the world. Much like opening the Superman Death comic to wear the arm band. After the hoopla the goodies are forgotten and I guess that is why DC doesn't really bag comics any more, just gives plastic rings and metal pins.
This was a great way to start the Shadow of the Bat series and I will definately look into buying the series again if I can't find my singles soon.
Cheers
- Silkcuts.