Batman: El Murciélago y la Bestia

Batman Confidential #7

by Peter Milligan

Un hombre controla Moscu: Boris Stavrogin, el Zar. Ahora, el lider criminal tiene planes para otra ciudad: Gothan. Batman está decidido a detenerlo. Pero, por primera vez, el caballero oscuro está en la posición poco familiar de ser el menor de los miedos de los criminales. Batman viaja a Moscu para evitar que el Zar lleve una bomba nuclear a Gotham y tome como rehen a toda la ciudad, pero el Zar posee una arma mucho mas inmediata: el Oso asesino. Esta criatura, que lleva a cabo las órdenes de su amo sin rechistar, ha llenado las alcantarillas con la sangre de sus enemigos. ahora, para que el caballero oscuro se convierta en el ser más aterrador de Moscu, tebdrá que derrotar al Oso, o dos ciudades sufrirán una debacle inimaginable...
Contiene Batman Confidential 25, 29-35.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Batman, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 31, 2010

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dark Knight takes a cue from Coogan's Bluff (or Red Heat, Black Rain and/or other 'fish of out the water' detective movies, as Roger Ebert used to call 'em) and hauls his cape & cowl to freezing 'mother Russia' to take on organized crime. He also (rather anti-climatically) has to deal with an urban legend of a creature that is under control of a feared czar. Probably the most interesting character was Moscow's Commissioner Gordon equivalent, Colonel Lukzov, who demonstrates - to quote the aforementioned flick Red Heat - that "cops are cops the world over."

Not a bad premise, especially with trying something different, but it still seemed thin and stretched out over an issue or two too long. There is a nice tinge of poetic justice in the final lines of dialogue, however.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this takes place sometime before Batman gets a Robin. Alfred still has hair, but Gordon is commissioner, and it's definitely post-Joker. Although realistically this could take place at any point during Batman's run.

The story didn't really work for me, it wasn't bad, it just didn't hold my interest. Batman going up against the Russian mob is an interesting angle that I wish they'd explored without the need for a monster man.

[Anya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Batman goes to Moscow, fights a hairy equivalent of Killer Croc called The Bear, and The Tsar, a not very vicious, intelligent or inventive crime-boss who never does anything to make him worthy of ruling the other kingpins.

Everyone says "this isn't Gotham" more than once.

Batman makes a lot of amateur mistakes: wearing a pathetic disguise, using his hotel phone as Batman to call Commissioner Gordon, and getting caught by the local police in his hotel, to name a few.

The killer Bear is supposed to be a sympathetic character, but having him care for priceless Faberge figures hardly humanizes him.

The art was disappointing, very clean, but trying for a more realistic style that made everyone look young except for their hair colour and the awful attempt at wrinkles smattering their faces.

[Don · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman goes to Moscow. People say Moscow isn't Gotham City a lot. Add some kind of Hunchback of Notre Dame guy. Rinse; repeat for five issues.

Peter Milligan is better than this.

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman Confidential: The Bat and the Beast picks up where the previous trade paperback left off, collecting five issues (Batman Confidential #31–35) of the 2006 on-going series and covers one storyline: "The Bat and The Beast".

"The Bat and The Beast" is a five-issue storyline (Batman Confidential #31–35) has Bruce Wayne as Batman traveling to Russia to take on a mobster with sights on Gotham City. Batman runs afoul of the mobster's protector, the vicious, ursine-like Beast.

Peter Milligan penned the entire trade paperback. For the most part it is a rather mediocre story. Chronically, I'm not sure when the story takes place, but it is early in Batman's vigilante career – it definitely shows the sophomoric mistakes Batman has made, which he wouldn't have later in his career. In short, it is a forgettable story with equally forgettable villains.

Andy Clarke penciled the entire trade paperback. Since he was the main penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, I enjoyed his penciling style – it is clean cut and depicted the mediocre narrative rather well.

All in all, Batman Confidential: The Bat and The Beast is mediocre continuation to what would hopefully be a wonderful series.

[Wesley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book collects Batman Confidential 31 to 35 and was written by Peter Milligan with art by Andy Clarke. Peter Milligan is a veteran writer that I first came across in 2000AD where my favourite series he wrote was probably Bad Company but he has moved on to write for both DC and Marvel. Andy Clarke is a name new to me but he is also an alumni of 2000AD, of a later generation of creators, who has moved on to work on a number of titles for DC.

The story concerns a nuclear threat to Gotham from a Russian crime lord called the Tsar. Batman travels to Moscow to tackle the problem at its source only to find that the criminals do not fear him as they are much more afraid of the Tsar and his genetically modified muscle, the Bear. Batman must battle against the underworld in Moscow as well as a corrupt police force if he is to save Gotham from the predatory gaze of the Tsar.

This is a perfectly acceptable tale of Batman without being in any way extraordinary - as it is part of an ongoing series I am not sure if there was further context for the story in earlier issues but I doubt if it would make it any more compelling. I was expecting more from Milligan as he is usually a writer whose work I enjoy but I suppose that the things I like by him are more self created or esoteric - such as the aforementioned Bad Company and Shade, the Changing Man for DC . The art by Clarke was very nice and clean and reminded me of Frank Quitely's work with maybe a dash of Dave Gibbons and helped to make up for the weak story.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mainstream comic book titles, including anything with the Batman logo on it (which are many), often fail in that the writer tries, often desperately, to pick up previous plot and narrative threads – frequently failing – and then leaving all too soon, as another writer does the same. Fortunately for me, this five-issue collection from Batman Confidential proves this wrong. Milligan and Clarke have created a top-notch Batman tale that takes the Dark Knight to Moscow to infiltrate the Russian mafia, all while getting caught up in the twisted relationship between the Tsar and his hideously misshapen right-hand man/creature, the Bear. If all Batman titles were written and drawn like this, DC comics sales would rise in a Gotham minute. (Although with the insane amount of politics involved in the industry, I sadly doubt this to ever come to fruition.)

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! This was one hell of an awesome Batman book! First of all the art is unbelievably brilliant! Andy Clarke's flawless drawing does resemble the impeccable work of Frank Quietly, but is that a bad thing? (No!) And Peter Milligan's writing (often great) has been of varying quality in the past, it seems that with the right artist, his words really come to life. This is not your typical Batman story, the characters are realistic and engaging, and it was not at all predictable.
Damn good!

[Rory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Batman goes to Moscow to fight some evil mobsters. Everyone, including Batman, keeps talking about how Moscow isn't Gotham. Batman fights a beast who turns into (or turns out to be) a beast-with-a-heart-of-gold. Batman goes home.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a weird story. I'm always of two minds when Batman actaully goes against someone with real super powers and the Bear isn't a strong arguement for the pro catagory. This was like an off episode of the old 90's cartoon.

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note positive: i disegni meravigliosi di Andy Clarke. Ottime scelte per le inquadrature, corpi solidi, marmorei, convincenti. Ottimi giochi di ombre. Fine delle note positive. Non so se Batman è sempre così, ma qui sembra la propria macchietta: un pazzo criminale vuole estendere la propria area d'influenza a Gotham, minacciando di portarvi una bomba nucleare. Il criminale viene da Mosca, dove regna con il terrore grazie a una creatura di grande forza, il cosiddetto Orso. Il pipistrello, temendo di non riuscire a fermare il criminale in suolo americano, decide di anticiparne le mosse andando a Mosca. Mossa assurda, perchè così facendo in teoria dovrebbe rinunciare alla maggior parte del proprio arsenale e alla fama faticosamente conquistata per le strade di Gotham. E invece fila tutto, ma proprio tutto liscio: i criminali ben presto hanno paura di Batman, non c'è nessun vero problema nelle sue indagini, e dulcis in fundo l'unica teorica sfida, l'Orso, è in realtà una creatura di grande sensibilità, che in passato ha trucidato decine di persone, ma con l'arrivo di Batman decide di cambiare partito, limitandosi a scambiarci qualche pugnetto. Una volta convertito l'orso, il grande capo, che aveva terrorizzato un'intera città con un solo superumano di dubbio potere (in un mondo che di superumani è pieno, mah) perde ogni potere e (per i più sensibili: non leggete) gli ex colleghi criminali gli uccidono il cane. La polizia lo arresta, batman torna all'ovile più tronfio di prima. Peter Milligan mi aveva fatto una grande impressione in Human Target. Dopo di che il buio.

[Zach Boulden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic novel Batman The Bat and the Beast takes place in Moscow when a powerful Russian criminal named Tsar threatens to take over the Gotham City mob. At first it is confusing on how he will do this on his own but then they realize that he has help from an unknown associate and the capabilities could be endless with that being the case. They reside in Moscow so Batman has to go there and pursue them on their home field before it is to late. My favorite character was Batman because I personally just love Batman and he is my favorite super hero. Batman was pretty much the only character that felt real to me because he was the only one I really cared about. My favorite scenes were the intense fight scenes because I love it when Batman fights people I think it is awesome. What I did not like about the graphic novel was pretty much just everything that was not about Batman because the story was kind of weird and hard to follow but the fact of Batman being there made up for it. Overall I enjoyed the book because again, Batman is my favorite super hero and I can read about him all day. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is a fan of super heroes or more specifically Batman. Also to people who enjoy adventures and thrilling story lines.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

A crime fighter goes to Moscow when his city is threatened by a mobster with a nuclear weapon.

This was pretty disappointing - the plot was wafer thin with no real development of characters / storyline. Some of artwork was OK but overall this book was a bit throw-away.

[Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

O desenho é bem diferente e bonito. Mas a história deixa a desejar. Simples e bobinha demais. Muito murica contra comunistas

[Omar Zambrano · Rating 1 out of 5]

😴

[Sotofunkdamental · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historia prescindible con la mafia rusa de por medio, en la que Bruce Wayne viajará a Moscú para evitar que el Zar lleve una bomba nuclear a Gotham.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman out of Gotham for long stretches always feels odd, even with a good story-dictated reason for it.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mad Russian gangster calling himself the Tsar sets his sights on taking over crime in Gotham using an atom bomb - that is until the Batman stops him from smuggling it into Gotham and sends him back to Russia. Batman follows him to stop Tsar from using the bomb on anyone else and runs up against Tsar's most ruthless henchman, a deformed man called simply "Beast" (think Hank McCoy but brown) whom everyone in Moscow is afraid of. Batman must make himself more terrifying to the criminals of Moscow and take down Tsar and Beast.

Peter Milligan writes a fairly average Batman story where, despite being in the title, Beast doesn't play a big part in the book. His story is tragic, as you'd expect, and he's much less the bad guy and more a person who's been used and abused his whole life. Tsar is your template bad guy who's crazy enough to think an atom bomb is a good negotiating tactic and is an easy enough figure to dislike. Batman goes through the motions of terrifying garden variety gangsters but with the background cityscape of Moscow instead of Gotham, and ultimately any reader knows he'll triumph in the end.

Not a bad book but not a great one either, Milligan's written more interesting books (try "Sub-Mariner: The Depths" for a good read) and "Bat and the Beast" is ultimately quite forgettable.

[Dovile · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read this arc in separate issues, not the trade. The story was quite good, although the writer or editor should have checked the Russian words and names. At least in the separate issues, the policeman and later on the thug call the girl 'babushka'. I hope in the trade this been fixed, because for someone who knows Russian (I do) it's clearly a mistake. From the context I guess the writer meant 'baby', but 'babushka' means 'grandma' or 'granny' in Russian, which of course makes no sense to call a teen girl or her mother.

And also 'Sveti' is not a Russian girl's name, as all Russian female names must have the feminine ending -a, like 'Sveta', short for Svetlana. It's not a name at all. There can be a 'Sveti (Georgi/Vladimir/Nikolai etc)', but this just means 'Saint (George/Vladimir/Nicolas etc)', and 'Sveti' here has a masculine ending.

All this said, I'd recommend this for someone who's looking not for a Batman story, but a superhero/mobsters story set in Russia. Also it's stand-alone, so you don't need to read anything else to understand it.

[Weeably · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman was really out of element here. Many aspects point to this. He does make many mistakes, he is not in Gotham as is clearly stated in the book and he fights against villains not unlike others from Gotham. I read this book in hopes that Batman can do what he does well in any environment, and here he falls on his face. Not poorly written or a weak plot, it just does not feel like Batman. The villains being a Tsar and Bear. Neither being to bright, make quite a match for Bruce, and with Bruce getting caught by the police and using a hotel phone to call Gordon, it just doesn't feel like Bruce with these rookie mistakes. After years of reading Batman comics and trade paperbacks we would expect him to be more smart. If this had taken place in Gotham it may have been a bit better.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this graphic novel very much. The villains are great, especially the Bear. The action is steady and keeps you drawn in.

The only issue I had with this book was the fact that there were Russian words interspersed with English. If you are going to have marks in the dialogue to show that the speech is being translated, don't mix and match words just to show that you know a few words of another language.

[H. Givens · Rating 5 out of 5]

A self-contained Batman story, no confusing arcs, and with almost entirely new characters! Shades of so many traditional stories, combined in engaging ways, with a little Batman twist on how it ends. I especially love the coherent duality themes between the Bat and the Bear, Gordon and the cop, Gotham and Moscow...

[Nate Deprey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good story with the blandest of art. It is fun to see Batman in Russia dealing with corruption and crumbling infrastructure outside of Gotham. It shows that Batman is an urban force regardless of setting. It's just a shame the art with bland face characters and an main villain with an uninspired character design.

[JD Comics · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was expecting a really bad story given that this book has a 2.98 rating on Goodreads, so I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I like reading stories wherein Batman takes on mobsters and he did so in this story but against the Russian mob. I really don't like how Clarke drew Batman, but the rest of his art look good.

[Timo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman in Moscow? I'm not too sure if that is a smart move, but that is was Peter Milligan did. And I did not know that Batman can speak fluent Russian.
Oh, well, nothing too thrilling, a bit sad, mighty much action, good art.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a Russian mobster sets his sights on Gotham (unlikely, but hey), Batman must travel to Moscow--only to find that he isn't the scariest thing that lurks in the night.

Could have done with a little more character development and better transitions between scenes, but pretty good.

[John Yelverton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hands down, the worst "Batman: Confidential" book that they've ever done.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman speaking Russian for an entire book.

[Hamza Siddiqui]

I liked the beast plus how he became a hero and batman slammed a guy in the window.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one. Possibly because it takes batman out of Gotham. I like to see that.