The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 is written by Dan Jurgens and published by DC’s Black Label imprint. Artwork and main cover (left) are by Mike Perkins, colours are by Mike Spicer and letters by Simon Bowland.
The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
The year is 1939. The world, still reeling from the horrors of the First World War, is on the brink of tipping into an even more gruesome conflict, as fascism is on the march-and gathering strength in America’s darkest corners. Against this backdrop, a series of violent murders has begun in Gotham, and the recent emergence of the mysterious vigilante known as The Bat-Man has the power brokers of the city living in fear of institutional collapse. All of the evidence in the murder investigation defies logic: the perpetrators are all men who died in the electric chair. But when the Bat- Man comes face to face with one of these sickening anomalies, he barely escapes with his life-throwing into question his ability to survive in a world that is brutally evolving around him! Legendary writer Dan Jurgens and superstar artist Mike Perkins return to the earliest days of the Dark Knight, retelling one of his most infamous cases through an acutely modern lens, depicting a world paralyzed by anxiety and a desperate populace crying out for release!
Review
I’m sure you’re all well aware that Batman is my all-time favourite character. So I’m generally always game to see a new interpretation of The Dark Knight. Particularly when it comes from the creative mind of a legend like Dan Jurgens. Today, in walks The Bat-Man: First Knight a new three-part Black Label series which takes the vigilante back to his 1930’s roots.
But Neil there are plenty of different Bat-books in stores, what makes The Bat-Man a worth read, I hear you say. The answer is simple, Jurgens has created an incredibly rich world for the character to inhabit. This version of Gotham and the world it finds itself in is potent right from the outset. The pre-World War II setting, complete with devastating hangover from World War I instantly enriches Jurgens story. It seems even America and Gotham aren’t able to escape from the depression. With seemingly no way out other than war, faccism and Nazi-ism has crept in to the public conscious and threatens to unbalance an already delicate ecosystem.
The world is so rich, in fact, the Batman doesn’t show up in costume until page 18 (of 55 I might add). Before we get to Bat-Man himself there’s a dark and disturbing crime to contend with. So our entry point to 1939 Gotham is through Commissioner Gordon. Seemingly a Commissioner dealing with intense press intrusion on top of threats of Nazi spies and a spiralling murder rate. When we first meet him he’s questioned by the media about “the giant bat-creature” who is hot gossip around the city. So it’s clear that Bat-Man, whilst a relatively new figure, is making an impression on Gotham’s citizens.
The crime itself feature the gruesome beheading of local councilman Vincent Hodges. Violently attacked in front of a restaurant full of patrons including escort girl Ruby. The heat is instantly on the GCPD to bring the killers to justice. But when the press intrusion becomes too much it’s Bruce Wayne who steps in to save Gordon, whisking him away some helpful exposition and world building. We quickly learn that the Wayne butler – unnamed – moved on when Bruce went to college. We also learn that Hitler is very much on the rise to power and that America has its own Nazi Party with a strong foothold in the city.
It’s a scintillating slow-burn from Jurgens. There’s no sense of immediacy. No need to throw the kitchen sink at the reader to gain attention. These Elseworlds-style stories often rush to give us interpretations of the entire rogues gallery of characters. What does a 1939 Joker look like? Is Bruce still romantically entangled with a version of Selina Kyle? But there’s little to none of that here. It feels like Jurgens has entirely wiped the slate clean, using only the most salient points to reconstruct the character for a new story. It’s refreshing and quite frankly astonishing.
We’ve not even reached the crux of the story yet. Once The Bat-Man crashes through the skylight of the Mayor’s mansion all bets are off on the direction of travel through the rest of the book. Jurgens introduces some potentially supernatural elements to the story which spin things on a whole new axis. It’s exciting stuff. We get to see how this Bat-Man fights as well as getting an insight in to how he thinks.
It’s then that Jurgens really strikes to the heart of this story. With the Nazi threat looming, Bat-Man is rescued by an unlikely ally which speaks directly to the tensions of World War II. Sadly it also happens to reflect plenty of contemporary political and cultural divides which remain even today. The conversation between these two characters is riddled with subtext and multiple meanings. It will no doubt speak to different members of the audience in different ways. Jurgens dialogue is exquisite in this moment and strikes the perfect tone to deliver the subject in an impactful and meaningful way. Nothing is being handled lightly and the book is all the better for it.
Amazingly we’re only just beyond the half way point. So to keep this review from taking longer to read than the book itself I’ll simply say that the rest of The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 serves to set up more of both Bruce and The Bat-Man’s worlds. For Bruce that means an introduction to a familiar face for long-time readers. For The Bat-Man it’s about setting up relationships with key players who will help him to undertake his mission. As a three-issue prestige series it makes sense that Jurgens condenses a lot of this exposition in to the first book. Whilst 55 pages may feel dense to some, it’s certainly a far reaching first chapter that ticks all the boxes for me.
Artist Mike Perkins and colourist Mike Spicer, now known as the Mikes, bring an impressive visual landscape to the book. It’s more than worthy of the prestige title this book comes with. Gotham is steeped in shadowy, noir gloom. The city itself feels like it has a personality as the darkness tries to spread and encompass everything around it. Likewise the character designs and overall aesthetic perfectly fits in with the 1939 setting. I particularly like the callback to early appearances of Batman with the more animalistic ears and the purple gloves.
Something about reading The Bat-Man: First Knight feels like watching on of the classic black and white movie serials of the same era. The mix of historical setting and science-fiction/supernatural feels nostalgic and exciting so I can’t wait to see where it goes next.
Verdict
The Bat-Man: First Knight is an instant page turner. Echoes of classic Batman serial stories alongside atmospheric comic book visuals are a dynamite concoction that is not to be missed.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
