Batman Begins
The year was 1939! World War 2 was just beginning and over here in America we were creating our heroes. In 1938 in Action Comics #1 creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created the famous hero Superman and a new genre was born. Almost a year later Bob Kane and Bill Finger debuted their version of a super hero. He had no powers relaying on his fighting skills, mind, fear, and objects close by. Who is this character? The Batman! In this issue of Detective Comics we get our first look at the Batman and his friend Commissioner Gordon. So I am first going to go over the cover. The cover is great and the yellow would've totally attracted the eyes of many on this brand new type of super hero. The art is great, though it is pretty simple compared to today's standards. However that is what makes it great in my opinion.
Inside we get an 8 to 10 page story of this Bat-Man (you must remember at the time Detective was not his own book at the time) which I find amazing. The Batman of 1939 was quite different. He doesn't have the complete trust of Commissioner Gordon and he even killed a man in this book. Despite all this though Batman is very much the same. He is a dark character and the vigilante we all know today. In this story for those of you who love to relate minor characters to major this story you can do a lot of that. A older gentlemen with the last name of Crane is murdered and the ringmaster of the murders is pushed inside a vat of chemicals. Could these be alternative origins of the Scarecrow and Joker? Probably not for either, but it is still fun to think about.
The art is in this book is equally amazing. Though it isn't as detailed as something you'd get from a comic book today the simplicity of these pencils by Bob Kane is what gives this early story it's charm. Also the ink are great as well as the coloring. The fun thing about this book is also the outdated outfits which is another part that gives this first appearance of a legend it's charm.
Overall this is a great comic with no faults (I mean you can't really criticize the debut of a legend). The only thing that I didn't like about this book was the how Batman didn't have any encounters with the insane villains we have come to love and his costume a bit different. These complaints are because I am used to seeing the Caped Crusader one way so this is not a fault with the book. It is more of something I wish I would've seen.
I would recommend this book to any fan of the Batman and people of want to get into comics whether it is through reprint or the actual print. It has amazing art as well as an amazing story. Thanks for reading and have a great day!
-Crazy Scarecrow
