An encounter with someone just as highly skilled.
Bruce Wayne travels to Alaska together with a bounty hunter in search of a killer named Thomas Woodley. The encounter ends in a way Bruce wouldn't have preferred. Next, Bruce is stripped of all his equipment and food, and is found freezing to death in a blizzard. He's nursed back to health and is told a story about "The Bat" by the village healer and is warned not to share the story with anyone. Back in Gotham, a serial killer is on the loose, and a drug problem is beginning to run rampant. Batman seeks to put an end to it all, but he soon becomes the hunted by someone who's probably more skilled than he is. -summary
Batman: Shaman written by Denny O'Neil was released as the debut for the Legends of the Dark Knight series, which was released in 1989 and was meant to follow up on Frank Miller's Batman - Year One. The series is based on Batman's early crime fighting career,and Shaman has the feel of both; a prequel and a side story to Year One, due to the numerous references indicating continuity. Here, the reader will get another first person view of a green crime-fighter. Bruce is once again well examined and there are traces of that greatness when it comes down to solving cases he will soon be known for.
Once again, the character development concerning Bruce is among the strongest aspects of the story. He realizes quickly that he must become more than a man if he's to become the avenger of Gotham, whom seeks to terrorize the criminals that would harm the innocent. For a while, he begins to feel his role until he's encountered by an unknown assailant who's attacking him from a distance with arrows, and comes very close to killing or seriously injuring him. Through these skirmishes, he begins to doubt himself and comes to terms that this man could be better than he is. And if this man is better, then how many more like him are out there? This causes him to question should he even continue and the possibility of living a normal life begins to make sense. Self doubt is one of the most human of emotions, and this is what interests me so much about the character. Although we know that the Batman is a superhero, O'Neil reminds us that he's still just a man underneath the cape and cowl. This portion of the story utilizes his butler Alfred very well as that word of wisdom to help him grow as an individual.
The thriller aspect is well utilized when delivering a suspense filled detective story. Batman is trying to learn the connection between the killings, the drugs on the street, his experience with the Indian myth he learned, and his attacker. Although a small part of this story is very easy to figure out, the rest is well concealed for a good while. I think O'Neil realized readers were going to quickly learn who the attacker was, so he just decided to focus on other areas. He also examines some themes here, with the most interesting one being people's superstition and belief in the occult. One problem that I had which is pretty small, happens to be that small amount of predictability, but it doesn't bother me too much since the other elements work out well. The action panels are alright at best with the final fight scene being a really good hand to hand battle free of dialogue for the most part. I found the artwork to be dark and moody, which complimented the atmosphere and violent content rather well.
Batman: Shaman is a pretty good story all around. The pacing is good and there's a good amount of suspense. Although the portion involving myth and superstition was interesting, it didn't truly grip me, and because of that I felt some of the pacing to be off, others may enjoy that portion though. This is still a story I can recommend to Batman fans.
Pros: Character development, thriller element
Cons:Small pacing issues