Review – Batman ’89 #1
Review – Batman ’89 #1
Writer: Sam Hamm
Artist: Joe Quinones
Publisher: DC Comics
Release Date: August 11, 2021
Variant Covers: Joe Quinones, Francesco Mattina, Jerry Ordway, Mico Suayan, Warren Louw, Carla Cohen, Taurin Clarke, Ken Taylor
Chapter 1: Shadows
Step back into the Gotham of Tim Burton’s seminal classic Batman movies! Batman ’89 brings in screenwriter Sam Hamm (Batman, Batman Returns) and artist Joe Quinones (Dial H for Hero) to pull on a number of threads left dangling by the prolific director. Gotham becomes torn in two as citizens dressed as Batman and The Joker duke it out in the streets. As D.A. Harvey Dent tries to keep the city together, he targets the one problem tearing it apart: BATMAN! And he’ll get Bruce Wayne’s help in taking down the Dark Knight!
Writer: Sam Hamm
Hands up who wanted to return to Burton’s Gotham of the late 80s and 90s? Me too, so When the boys at DC called on Scriptwriter Hamm to fill in the blanks between Batman and Batman Returns it should be an easy win.
The story starts with Halloween in Gotham and groups of things dressing as The Joker while Bat-fans are balancing out the cosplay with as the Dark Knight. Assistant DA Harvey Dent is out for dinner with his girlfriend Barbara Gordon (err.. obviously she’s not the teenage version I hope) and is about to propose when an explosion disrupts the meal.
Keaton’s Batman stops a group of Joker goons from robbing a couple of security vans by blowing up a helicopter, so remember kids and fanbois the Batman kills. Barbara’s handbag is snatched and Dent deals with the goons that took it as the Batmobile drives past. This sets him off and he visits his friend Bruce Wayne to ask for support to remove Jim Gordon as commissioner. A weary Bruce declines and Dent warns him he will start a war against costumed vigilantes.
We start to see a bullish Dent pushing people around and using his trademark coin to get his own way. He lays a trap for Batman lighting up the Bat-Signal but Batman is of course ahead of him.
I will say that there is way too much Dent and not nearly enough Batman in this issue. The characters feel quite one-dimensional and boring which is not what you want for a first issue
Artist: Joe Quinones
Quinones struggles to bring the world Burton to the comic page and there are lots of horrible headshots for Bruce, Harvey and Jim Gordon (take a look at our Rogues Gallery above at the size of Bruce’s forehead making him look like the man with two brains. We’ve lost all of the architecture, grandeur and pageantry from the movie to the page and instead, it looks like a man in an ill-fitting Bat Suit in a few panels.
Overall Thoughts
You should never rub another man’s rhubarb and Burton will be spinning in his grave (he’s not dead, he just sleeps in a coffin) at the thought of what this has done to his legacy. Do yourself a favour and watch the original movie and bypass this mutant halfbreed.
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I hoped you’ve enjoyed my review of Batman ’89 Issue #1
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