Batman: La leyenda jamás contada

The Untold Legend of the Batman #1-3

by Len Wein (guion), Jim Aparo (dibujo), Dennis O'Neil (guion)

Durante décadas, los detalles del pasado de Batman estuvieron envueltos en un halo de misterio, y se contaron a cuentagotas en numerosos cómics. Pero todo cambió en 1980 cuando Len Wein, John Byrne y Jim Aparo lo aunaron todo en Batman: La leyenda jamás contada. La historia aportó nueva luz sobre los secretos mejor guardados del Caballero Oscuro y supuso un punto de inflexión que marcó el camino del futuro tanto para Batman como para DC Comics.
Esta edición recopila la miniserie completa junto a varios relatos clásicos donde también se aborda el pasado de Batman de la mano de Denny O’Neil, Dick Giordano, Alan Brennert, Brad Meltzer y Bryan Hitch. Además, incluye un artículo que repasa los orígenes de todas estas historias.
Guion: Len Wein, Dennis O´Neil, Brad Meltzer.
Dibujo: Jim Aparo, John Byrne, Dick Giordano, Bryan Hitch
Edición original: Untold Legend of the Batman núms. 1-3, Detective núms. 457, 500, Secret Origins of the World's Greatest Super-Heroes USA

Genres: Comics, Batman, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Fiction, Comic Book, Superheroes

150 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

Len Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men (including the co-creation of Nightcrawler, Storm, and Colossus). Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.

Wein was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2008.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When his father's bat-suit arrives in the mail, shredded, Batman finds that someone close to him means to destroy him, someone who knows his true identity. Will Batman find the person targeting him before winding up dead?

I actually own two versions of this: the black and white paperback version DC put out in 1982 and the undersized individual issues that came with the Batman cereal to coincide with the first Tim Burton movie. My old copy got waterlogged when my beer fridge leaked but I stumbled upon a new copy a little while back at the used bookstore I always go to.

Back in 1980 or thereabouts, John Byrne had a gap in his schedule and DC offered him Untold Legend of the Batman, a retelling of Batman's origin for the Bronze Age. Due to logistical issues, Byrne only did the pencils for the first issue. Jim Aparo, MY Batman artist, did the inks on the first issue and all the art on the remaining two. Jose Luis Garcia Lopez did the covers. How's that for art? For the time period, it was pretty much unbeatable. In black and white, Jim Aparo's wizardry is quite apparent, especially in his use of shadow.

As for the story, it streamlined, rearranged, condensed, and edited a lot of material that came after Batman's first Silver Age appearance in Detective Comics 327, establishing that Bruce Wayne was the first person to wear the iconic Robin outfit Dick Grayson is known for and Thomas Wayne was the first Batman of sorts. It also recaps the origins of Robin, Alfred, the Batmobile, Batgirl, Commissioner Gordon, and The Joker for the Bronze age.

The ending is kind of lame but since The Untold Legend of The Batman was a miniseries, it couldn't upset the apple cart too much. How many times has Batman been rebooted since Untold Legend of the Batman? Regardless, this is an interesting look at an interesting period in the life/publishing history of the Dark Knight, when Bruce Wayne lived atop the Wayne Foundation building because Wayne Manor was too big for he and Alfred when Dick went off to college. Batman is far from the flawless Bat-God he'd later be and seems a lot more human.

For a bunch of comics from 1980, The Untold Legend of the Batman holds up very well. Four out of five stars.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In The Untold Legend of the Batman, Batman, who keeps the bat costume his father wore to a masquerade ball when Bruce Wayne was a kid (and which is the inspiration for the modern Batsuit) in a display case in the Batcave, is mailed this bat costume, ripped to shreds. Dumbfounded, Batman looks to the display case and finds that the costume is indeed gone, and that a taunting note has been left behind, taped on the inside of the display case:

This is only the BEGINNING, Batman! Before I'm done, I will DESTROY you!

This raises so many questions. Who could have penetrated the defenses of Wayne Manor and uncovered the location of the Batcave? Which of Batman's foes could know his true identity? This story is used as a frame, within which the origin story of Batman, as well as that of several of his foes and allies, are retold (many if not all of them have already been told before in previous comics). Though these origin stories aren't anything new, it's nice to have so many of them collected in a single volume like this. I also enjoyed the story overall, and the ending was definitely unexpected. Recommended!

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just best Batman origin story pre-Frank Miller's Batman: Year One.

[Samhain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alfred basically hijacking Bruce's mansion is probably my favorite part of this story. I constantly forget that the origins of Batman were akin to an acid trip, but it's always worth revisiting.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This particular edition loses a star for the fact that it's a mass market paperback reprint of the comics. In this version, the artwork is all black and white—which, admittedly, looks pretty good—and the panels have been rearranged to fit the format. I wish DC Comics would actually collect the issues in a proper trade (or within an anthology along the lines of The Greatest Batman Stories Ever Told or Batman in the Eighties). That said, this is a well-done retelling of the backstories of the main characters in the Batman family. Jim Aparo's artwork is excellent (as is John Byrne's, for the few pages he contributes). There are a few things continuity-wise I didn't care for,—my least favorite being the fact that Alfred only becomes the butler at Wayne Manor after Bruce has already been Batman long enough to acquire Dick/Robin—but for its time, it was a great reexamination of the origins of Batman.

[Nathan Mohr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got this at the school book fair when I was a child and I remember being obsessed with it as it was one of the first Batman comics I’d ever bought. So it was a nostalgic treat to revisit it. It’s a simple retelling of the Batman mythos as part of the backdrop to a relatively simple mystery. The artwork is pretty good, though I am no expert, and everything is in black and white which I thought worked well considering. It’s not the best Batman story I’ve ever read (that would be the magnificent Court of Owls) but it is fun and made me feel like a grade schooler again.

[Bael Mont · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is very fantastic, the history of Batman is unique for DC lovers.

[Eddie B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fantastic origin story / introduction / homage / love letter to Batman and his fantastic world.

[Todd Glaeser · Rating 4 out of 5]

The format, a typically sized paperback, is of it’s time of 1982. I’d be interested in seeing the material in the modern trade paperback size. The artwork, by John Byrne (the first issue) and then Jim Aparo, would benefit from the reconstructed pages and larger size.

[Valéria. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, decent story. I've read this as child, so - nostalgia overload. Even those audios.. Ah.

[Breckin]

it was really interesting

[RandomReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very smart way to collect all origin stories in one story.

[Ganesh]

this is a amazing comic book.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cool little book. A great little recap of Batman's pre-crisis origin wrapped up in a mystery that takes Batman being his own enemy to a new (and kinda silly) level. I feel like I've read some of this before because a good chunk of it (the stuff with his dad) is used by Morrison in his run. I like how they go out of their way to explain almost everything related to Batman. I had no idea that a stunt driver built the Batmobiles for him. Also, weird version of Alfred, had no idea there was a version of him that wasn't around when Bruce was a kid. The art is fantastic too.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clásico generacional que redefinió el origen del personaje en su primer tramo de existencia, pero acusa el envejecimiento de su premisa. Para fans y revisionistas.

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story of the origins on Batman. Good plot and art. Recommended

[Big Time · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is actually wonderful.

[Comics Instrucciones de uso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con mucha frecuencia se simplifica la historia de Batman afirmando que antes de Frank Miller (década de los 80), la mayoría de sus comics eran desechables. Se matiza -también con frecuencia- un poco esta afirmación recordando las etapas de Dennis O'Neil y Neal Adams a comienzos de los 70, y de Steve Engleahart y Marshall Rogers en Detective Comics (fines de los 70), como excepciones a la regla e intentos loables de devolver al hombre murciélago la oscuridad con la que fue creado, pero que, al final, no dieron muchos frutos. Aunque mucho de esto es cierto (basta recordar que a comienzos de los 80 -y como ha confidenciado Mark Waid-, los comics de Batman estaban tan en decadencia que los editores de DC barajaron la posibilidad de darle superpoderes), no deja de ser una simplificación. Y este tomo es prueba de ello.
Acá hay puras leyendas. La historia que da título al tomo, publicada en 1980, tiene el mérito de ser una de las primeras miniseries de los comics de superhéroes, además de intentar relatar detalles del pasado de Batman que -increíblemente-, no habían sido tratados en más de cuatro décadas. ¿Qué ocurrió luego de la muerte de sus padres? ¿Quién lo cuidó? ¿Cuál fue el destino de su asesino? Es interesante constatar cómo mucho de lo que el legendario Lein Wein detalla acá, hoy ha desaparecido del canon del murciélago. Por ejemplo, se nos dice que Bruce Wayne fue cuidado, antes de Alfred, por la madre del asesino de sus padres, Joe Chill, o que la inspiración original para adoptar el traje de murciélago fue un disfraz usado por su padre, Thomas (Grant Morrison, en su etapa en Batman, sacará todo el provecho posible a ese disfraz). Y entre lo más disparatado, es que se nos cuenta que Bruce Wayne antes de Batman ¡probó usar el traje de Robin! Por suerte esa idea ha caído en el olvido. Todo está dibujado de un modo impecable por J. Byrne y, sobre todo, por Jim Aparo, quien con su trazo limpio y cuerpos espigados marcó toda una época, y prueba que sus mejores momentos están entre las cimas del arte del comic.
Hay también una historia de 1981, escrita por Alan Brennert y dibujada por otro héroe, Dick Giordano, en la que queda claro que la influencia del Batman más infantil de los 50 y 60 seguía en pie. Vemos a Batman y Robin realizar un viaje en el tiempo para encontrarse con sus dobles de una realidad paralela y enfrentar la encrucijada de si evitar o no el asesinato de los Waynes. La historia no es en sí memorable, pero siempre vale la pena revisar el dibujo de Giordano.
Otra de las historias, ya de 1990, "El hombre que cae", escrita por O'Neill y dibujada por el mismo Giordano, sirve, como contraparte, para detectar la indudable influencia de Frank Miller tanto en el tono como el dibujo. Compárese el trazo de Giordano en 1981, con el de 1990, donde evidentemente intenta imitar el estilo sucio y de primeros planos de Miller (véase la página 2). El propio O'Neill deja ver el influjo de Miller construyendo una breve historia sobre los años de aprendizaje de Batman (muy inspirada en "Year One"), que puede leerse como complemento de su notable "Shaman" (1989, dibujo de E. Hannigan), para "Legends of the Dark Knght".
Cierra el tomo, una pequeña reelaboración de la primera historia de Batman, a cargo de Brad Meltzer ("Identity Crisis", 2004), y Bryan Hitch. Ambos reconstruyen con respeto y eficacia la célebre "The case of the chemical syndicate", escrita por Bob Kane y Bill Finger en 1939, y la hacen coincidir con el origen del Joker. La historia cumple, si bien hay que admitir que el trabajo de Hitch a ratos parecen sólo bosquejos.
Dejo para el final la clásica "No hay esperanzas en el callejón del crimen", una mini historia de 1976 escrita por O'Neil y dibujada por Giordano, una historia totalmente avanzada a su época, y una de mis favorotas de todos los tiempos. Batman -se nos cuenta-, desaparece durante una noche cada año sin que ni siquiera Alfred sepa hacia donde va. Pronto se nos cuenta que va a reunirse, en el sitio donde asesinaron a sus padres, con Leslie Thompkins, que lo acogió tras la tragedia. Pocas veces se ha visto (sobre todo para 1976), a un Batman tan torturado, tan abatido, abriéndose paso hacia el callejón, sólo para besar en la frente a Thompkins a modo de agradecimiento por lo que hizo por él en el pasado. Es un compromiso tácito entre ambos, un código de honor, en fin: lo que hace que Batman sea Batman. Genio Dennis O'Neil por escribir algo así en esa época.

[Rexhurne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The origin of the batcostume is actually quite clever. As is the fact that the robincostume was the first costume Batman tried in his vigilante career (as a sidekick named Robin, brilliant!). It's also smart that we're given a possible backstory behind why Bruce's parents got killed, but it is kept vague what the exact motive for the killing is. Was it assassination under orders, or a robbery that escalated? Or so i thought, until it became 100% obvious that it was a hired killing. I wish it didn't. The deaths of bruce's parents are more powerful at the hands of just a regular criminal. Not everything that happens has to have a thought out plan behind it. In real life most bad things that happen are just accidents of being at the wrong place at the wrong time or being unlucky by chance. I wish comics reflected that more. That the mother of their murderer was the one that mothered Bruce is the ridiculous coincidence cherry on top. I was not a fan of that, but this is fiction, and coincidences like that make for good drama.

Some nice quotes about the life lessons young Bruce learns. We get to understand why he works together with the law, but doesn't want to be part of (and restricted by) it. Bruce notices early that the fairest results are not always gained trough the legal system, and sometimes that legal system is rigid and immoral for people that don't deserve it "But is that justice professor Rexford"? "No mister Wayne, that's the law!". Powerful, although it gave me Stalone judge Dredd vibes.

The history of Robin i already knew, but it was nice to see their different takes on why they fight crime. Alfred's backstory surprised me. I did read my share of Batman stories, but never did they go back in the life of the butler before the time of the waynes. I wish someone would go to my house and demand to be a butler here. The origins on the villains were the exact same from the old Batman comics and, famous through their exposure in a lot of other Batman coverage over the years. The ending was disappointing but that's fine. This book is more about the journey, the plot was just an excuse to get on the ride.

This whole story is retconned since the 85's and everyone uses the more serious Miller one for their inspiration (this book has a bit of the overdramatic that makes it comical at times). Still, it is an enjoyable read. The art is top notch for the time. I wish we knew more about the detective teacher he was a sidekick of (apparently he also was the first to deduce Batman's identity?). Such an interesting character and he only got a few panels.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

+5 An interesting piece of history since this is the second limited-run comic book series ever made, this serves as a worthy introduction to the origin stories of Batman and his supporting cast of allies and foes for uneducated readers of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s.

Condensing 40 years of Batman origin additions into a three-issue series with several flashbacks re-telling specific stories with new art was genius execution for writer Len Wein to do. Most of them were different in a few major ways compared to their contemporary counterparts for better or for worse, only because the stories used were pre-Crisis (before DC’s reboot event Crisis on Infinite Earths that reset the DC Universe). Despite the book’s title, Batman’s origin story is actually being re-told yet again with information given through said published stories, making it riddled with convoluted details and a conspiracy involving his parents and the mafia.However despite these unnecessary additions, it does mean the origins are not worth skipping over for the sake of differential material. Aside from the flashback sequences, there is a present-day mystery Batman is solving about who is messing with him in the Batcave, and the ending was incredibly weak. Mental illness goes away just by seeing your dead dad’s costume!

Attempting to derive further meaning from the ending, a lot of modern Batman stories are written as if Batman and Bruce Wayne are two separate individuals, but here the conclusion is they are one person dealing with the issues of both identities. Hated how almost all of the dialogue and narration used exclamation marks - it became old really quickly, and makes this book super dated. I’ve heard it was done due to exclamation marks being more prominent in case of any printing failures, but that doesn’t affect my opinion on how it was written.

The art by John Byrne and Jim Aparo is decent and consistent, with how the capes are drawn as if they’re flowing like water in the wind being the most admirable.

Only read if you can be patient with wonky exclamation points, consistent flashbacks and an anti-climatic ending.

[Read and reviewed in June 2023]

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Going to start this off by saying I am a little bit biased towards Len Wein because he helped write and create characters like storm, and thunderbird ( watch gifted to know who he is) and night crawler ( he didn’t create him but he wrote him in which to me counts ). So my love out of the way, this story is good, but not great. So we followed Bruce as he loses his grip after witnessing a devastating warehouse explosion. Now we never witness the explosion first hand, and only learn about it through context clues, and we learned that someone close to Batman is terrorizing him, so me being too logical thought oh is it gonna be red hood is my boy gonna be in this... but no Bruce just forgot his antipsychotics again.. and none of the vandalism was real? But in a scene robin calls a friend to help rebuild their car? Ok so most of the scenes in this were unnecessary, but that’s because this is written as a mystery I hear you say, BUT barely any of the scenes had a payoff to the overall mystery. 4/5 if by some chance you live under a rock and no nothing about Batman this is a good book to get you well versed in Batman lore.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give the story and art 4 stars but this cheap black and white small sized format gets a fail. As a kid I would have loved it but as an adult I would prefer to get the art the way it was originally presented.

The story is a fun overview of Batman and his friends and foes but done in a very clever way that isn't simply just a "here's the history of Batman". Instead it is presented as a tale of someone trying to kill Batman. It is entertaining and if you read it when it was published in the 80's it does a great job of giving readers a nice journey into the history of Batman. The one quibble I have is a key clue to the story - the reason this is all happening - is only given near the end and out of nowhere. It would have been nice if the writer had given us that information more organically near the start.

The art starts with heavy John Byrne and it is great and then Jim Aparo does more of the art and it is so-so. I was never a big Aparo fan - I found the way he drew Batman (especially his cape) too stiff.

Overall a solid series of comics but you should seek it out in a better format.

[Maclovio Fernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Untold Legend of the Batman was a quick page-turner that retells Batman's pre-Crisis origin story. It consolidates the growing lore that had been built over the years and covers the backstory for some of Batman's key supporting characters like Alfred, Robin, and Batgirl, along with some of his more famous rogues. This book had me reaching back for my Golden Age volumes to revisit some of the stories recounted, which allowed me to appreciate the original tales and reimagine them through Jim Aparo's amazing artwork (albeit in black and white). While Batman's origin has been modified post-Crisis, a lot of the key elements still stand the test of time and have shaped the Batman we know today. The ending was a bit of a twist, but it actually fits neatly into the concepts later revisited in Grant Morrison's "Zur-En-Arrh" arcs.

Overall, this book is a must-have for any Batman fan who appreciates the character's storied past, all wrapped in a concise retelling with streamlined dialogue and beautiful Bronze Age artwork.

[Jody Banman · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short mini series recapping the origins of Batman, what I remember most about it is that the version I had was a smaller premium format edition that I found at Woolco in the late 80's that was bundled with audio cassette dramatizations. The best part was that a synth-funk Untold Legend of Batman theme song was the first thing you heard when you played the cassette, and it is performed with such gusto that it's most likely the rarest, most hilarious Batman song you've never heard. It's on YouTube, search Untold Legend of Batman theme and you'll find it. I give the series two stars, but the song is something I've never forgotten, it's so weirdly hilarious.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those cute little B&W reprint pocket paperbacks that they used to sell in the 70's and 80's. The backstories of Batman and the main supporting characters (circa 1980) told in flashback, with a flimsy framing story that tries for "psychologically deep," but ends up being silly. The Jim Aparo/John Byrne artwork takes me back to the era that I first started reading Batman comics.

[Gloria Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting climax, but mostly just compiles and redraws older Batman stories relating to his origin and backstory in a. way that really just highlights how badly the precrisis canon backstories have aged. The new art is nice, but many of these are just identical to what was being done in the 40s and 50s and they really needed a more radical updating which Crisis would allow.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok, for its time I imagine this origin story would have been revolutionary in forming continuity in the timeline. However, having read a stack of Batman, I much prefer origin stories like the ones Scott Snyder done in the New 52’s or Neil Gaiman’s where there was an infinite loop of realities. This felt… lacking in depth in comparison.

[Agnosia Duarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

La historia principal es bastante interesante y busca poder ir llenando algunos huecos que existen, sobre los años previos a convertirse en Batman.Todo esto acompañado por los soberbios dibujos de John Byrne y Jim Aparo. Además de esto trae tres historias más que complementan bastante bien el tomo y buscan meterse en la sicología de este Batman más novato. Totalmente recomendado.

[Santiago RL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Batman deberá seguir las pistas por el tortuoso recuerdo de el camino que lo llevo a convertirse el señor de la noche, por un enemigo que lo conoce mejor que nadie y se obsesionara con descubrir que villano esta tras él , es una historia jamás contada

[Melissa Jacobson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.75

This was a bit of a different vibe compared to other batman comics which sort of took em out of the story. And even though my child dick grayson was involved this wasn't my favorite. It was still really fast and entertaining and had some amazing action sequences.