Batman: Shaman

Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #1-5

by Dennis O'Neil, Ed Hannigan (Illustrations)

Written by Dennis O'Neil, the dean of Batman writers. While on a case far from Gotham City, Batman is injured, and by the time he recovers and returns to his home, Alfred is missing. As Batman searches for his missing friend, the corpses begin to mount amid rumors of human sacrifice and strange, primitive rituals. Using his detective skills, the Dark Knight begins to trail the madman who has been terrorizing Gotham City. The trail leads back to Wayne Manor and a maniacal cult, with Alfred's life hanging in the balance.

Collects LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT #1-5.

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Dennis "Denny" O'Neil was a comic book writer and editor best known for his work for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retirement.

His best-known works include Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman with Neal Adams, The Shadow with Michael Kaluta and The Question with Denys Cowan. As an editor, he is principally known for editing the various Batman titles. From 2013 unti his death, he sat on the board of directors of the charity The Hero Initiative and served on its Disbursement Committee.

Reviews

[Sr3yas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman: Shaman (1989)
Modern Batman #2

❝ Be the Mask ❞

*"Am I stll high?"*

This is a very odd batman story that showcases all the crazy cheesiness of 80s adventure movies with a supernatural undertone. The first chapter of five-part story arc takes place even before Frank Miller's Year one and rest happens soon after Year one.

Before Batman was kicking ass of super aliens and immortal villains.. Before he had a batmobile and utility belt full of gizmos.. Before he became the most dangerous man on Earth... He was just a dude wearing a mask, roaming around in his city with his butler looking for clues. That side of Batman is equally important as the one he is now.

In this arc, Batman deals with the mysterious ritual killings and drug problems in Gotham streets. He is unpolished, not always able to save people around him and criminals don't talk to him unless he really persuades them.

That's a lot of talk, Bats! Well, nowadays he just grunts at criminals.

I enjoyed story's combination of supernatural and spirituality as well as the journey Bruce Wayne embarks to truly become the mask he dons.

3.5 Stars

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are reading this, ignore all the other reviewers. They are complete shit. I am not sure if they are Grant Morrison enthusiasts or just read the book when it first came out, and are finally reviewing it, or what their deal is. They are wrong on just about everything that I've read from them.

First, somebody said that this took place before Year One? Uh.. no. There's nothing that indicates that. In fact, quite the contrary. It even refers back to an event that happens in Year One (the night he saved a hooker, punched Selina, and then crashed a cop car after being shot by the police).

Secondly, this negates the other authors claim that Denny O'Neil is "retelling" the origin of Batman. He isn't. Batman had already established himself. The beginning of this takes place in a YOUNG Bruce Wayne's life. Nothing indicates this as an origin story. Rather, this looks more to be a bridge-the-gap story from when Bruce Wayne is an absolute beginner to a complete expert. This is further evident by the fact that Bruce already had a costume and a name "Batman". There may have been one indication that it was some sort of "retelling," when Bruce tells Alfred, "it's ready." But there is no other indication, and it all the evidence leans toward an coming of age Batman.

Thirdly, someone wrote that it was more drama than mystery. This is partly true because there was a lot of drama. However, there wasn't more drama than mystery, though. This is a much better story BECAUSE Bruce is becoming a better detective. Denny O'Neil is not stupid. There are many instances in this book that indicate mystery and detective like things. It's a lot more than I can say for many popular Batman titles.

Fourthly, somebody wrote that the art was just okay. In my opinion, the art was fan-fucking-tastic. I loved the art. I thought it was brilliant. However, if you don't think that's the case, may I just say you are then unimpressed with much art during the 80's because this was not too different. I simply just really enjoy 80's artwork in general. This wasn't some crazy changes, but it was still great.

All in all, this is a great book. I highly recommend it. The people telling you to avoid it? Well, maybe its their reviews that you should avoid because they clearly lack reading comprehension and give shit reviews.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A meaty origin story that may feel slow in comparison to more modern entries. It offers nice character introspection and a classic feeling adventure that ticks all of the Batman tropes.

[Mika (Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tell them they're finished. Tell them the street's belong to the Batman.

The art style is stunningly beautiful! I love how Bruce looks like as well as him in his Batman costume.

I liked the tribal tale about a bat and a raven. It reminded me a lot about Batman and made me curious to know if it was anyhow associated with Batman himself.

The raven was sick. His friend the bat, grew long fingers with webs between them and he fanned the sickness away from him.

I'm not really a fan of the whole ritual and godlike stuff. Honestly, I never liked stories that focus too much on any religion, so that's probably just an issue I face. I'm sure someone else will enjoy this story more, I just don't like religious stuff too much, but I chose to read this anyway since it's a Batman comic and I wanted to see what it had to offer and besides this topic, I enjoyed everything else a lot.
Also, I think just like Batman that these people hiding behind a God are just cowards.

You are the servant of a powerful god? Then, priest of Chubala, strike me yourself. I dare you, priest of Chubala, strike me or be known for the pathetic, cowardly thing you are!

While I wasn't showing any interest for the cult found primarily on Santa Prisca, I was still glad to see that it wasn't just about a tribal tale but that they had their own rituals, ideology and way of seeing the world around them. They were also not just the enemy of Batman, some people of their tribe were actually interacting with him completely normal, like Theodora. It was also nice seeing some Alaskan Indians, since they are rarely depicted in any media.

Of course, the bat mask shouldn't be missed in this review. It looked really cool, including the outfit the shaman of the tribe wore. I personally just couldn't take him serious as his appearance reminded me of Link with the Majora's mask (from the videogame Zelda) which made me laugh every time when I saw him. Obviously, the bat mask didn't look exactly like the Majora's mask, but with the arrow stuff going on it reminded me a lot of Zelda since he is an archer too.

James Gordon was unfortunately not often shown in this Batman comic, but I guess he couldn't be so much in the focus since the focus was the tribe after all. Was still nice seeing him, even if just for a short moment.

After Bat blew the sickness away from Raven, he collected it and took it to the nest of Vulture...

StoryGraph review

[Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

After a mountaineering accident, Bruce Wayne is nursed back to health by a shaman.

They have discussions afterwards, Wayne learns some secrets of the shaman and take them back to Gotham, where he becomes the Batman.

It is an excellent graphic novel and a perfect follow-up to Year One.

Beautifully illustrated, and a cool storyline.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published 1998 as the collected edition of Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1–5. The story spans several years, beginning with Bruce Wayne studying criminology with a bounty hunter in wilds of Alaska. His encounter with a Native American shaman sets off a chain of events that extends into the early years of the Batman.
The main mystery is well developed, although slightly masked by the sub-plot of mysticism -- I nearly forgot that Batman needed to discover the several issues. This is a good retrospective of a young and developing Batman.

[Himanshu Karmacharya · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the earliest crime fighting adventures of Batman. Here he's young, inexperienced, and often feeling in self doubt, which he overcomes as the story progresses.

Decent art and an interesting plot, with just the right blend of suspense and mysticism, makes this book an enjoyable read.

[DarkChaplain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not at all what I expected, but turned out pretty damn good.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

Individual issues rated below -

Batman: Legends of Dark Knight #1: 3.5/5
Batman: Legends of Dark Knight #2: 3/5
Batman: Legends of Dark Knight #3: 3/5
Batman: Legends of Dark Knight #4: 3.5/5
Batman: Legends of Dark Knight #5: 3.5/5

[fer · Rating 4 out of 5]

facilmente uma das historias mais esquisitas do batman que eu já li.

a arte é linda, tons de colorido mt vividos e aqueles traços de quadrinhos antigos. tem toda uma atmosfera bem sombria, de mistério, investigaçao. e é todo focado num culto, crenças indigenas e etc. uma vibe bem taciturna.

[James DeSantis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't noticed from my reading tendencies as of late, I'm on a bit of a Batman kick.

I read ALOT of late 90's, 2000's, and current Batman stories. But I missed a lot of the late 80's, early 90's, besides Knightfall. So I'm glad to finally read some of these on my Infinite app and man oh man, Batman Shaman is a great one to land on.

After reading The Question Omnibus it is NO question that Dennis O'Neil was a DAMN fine writer. He had a way with giving us realistic dialogue in a time where that wasn't always the case. A deep look into Batman's view points and why he does what he does in the early years. A Almost year one story but I think the cult like villains, more detective feel than expected, and a inexperience Batman really helped this title out. It's also the artist, who fucking NAILED Batman's feel and look. Some amazing shots in here that I want as posters.

Overall, besides a a little bit of a weaker ending than I wanted, this is a DAMN fine Batman story. A 4.5 out of 5.

[Whitney (The Cover Collector) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

Some notes I made while reading Batman: Shaman:

-Bruce Wayne is still a badass and killing inadvertently.

-Bruce beat up prostitute, Selena Kyle.

-Leave it to Bruce to take a woman home (to make his playboy image look legit) and then just drop her off. Poor girl thought she was gonna get laid.

-The use of color and lighting was great. Faces, not so much. Everyone looked middle-aged.

-The comics I’ve read from the 80s have been written pretty badly, but Dennis O’Neil did well here. Alfred’s dialogue was quite funny.

-This didn’t suffer from bloated dialogue, so I actually enjoyed it.

[Mohammed Abdikhader Firdhiye · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underrated Batman story, written by the legendary Denny O'Neill.

The kind of down to earth, simple stories that made Batman as big as he is today. Events stories like RIP will come and go, stand alone stories like this one is what makes Batman interesting.

[Tawfek]

if this is legends of the dark knight then i think i read it already and enjoyed it alot
4/5

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Batman: Shaman is a pretty decent graphic novel that follows on from Year One, it deals with Bruce becoming the batman and what it means to him. The story is a bit cheesy but it’s still a fun and enjoyable story.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A.K.A. 'Batman and the Temple of Doom.' Okay, that's a bit of a stretch but I was reminded of Indy's film more than once during this book. A pre-Batmobile ("To the . . . limo?!") /Batcave Dark Knight takes a cue from the Lone Ranger and dons disguises while performing some actual detective work. Also of interest were certain events which provided further detail to Wayne's backstory.

[Ben Truong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shaman is a five-issue storyline that could be found in Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight. The storyline takes place very early in the career of Batman around the first weeks after starting his vigilante career, but before he took up the name of Batman. Batman: Shaman collects all five issues (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #1–5) of the 1989 series.

Bruce Wayne and a bounty hunter climb a mountain in Alaska as they try to capture a murderer named Thomas Woodley. Woodley quickly manages to kill the bounty hunter before falling off the cliff after a small fight with Wayne. Wayne's supplies are lost with Woodley, which nearly results in Wayne's death when a Native American with her grandfather discovers him. The grandfather is able to save Wayne's life by taking Wayne to his cabin and tells him a story on how the Bat gained its wings, while wearing a mask of a bat. After he recuperates and leaves, Wayne is warned by the granddaughter never to tell anyone the story.

Upon his return to Gotham City shortly after, Wayne attempts to fight crime, but fails miserably. That night after he fails, a bat flies into the room and reminds Wayne of the Native American's story from years earlier and so he decides to create a costume for himself and become Batman.

Dennis O'Neil penned the trade paperback. For the most part, it is written rather well. O'Neil does a wonderful job continuing the Batman: Year One storyline by Frank Miller, by setting this storyline around it. It recounts the story of how Bruce Wayne came about to use the bat as the symbol to put fear in the villains of Gotham City as Batman.

Ed Hannigan is the penciler for the trade paperback. Since he was the only penciler, the artistic flow of the trade paperback flowed exceptionally well. For the most part, Hannigan is a wonderful penciler and captured the mysticism and lore of the beginnings of the Batman rather well – a tad date, but nicely done nevertheless.

All in all, Batman: Shaman is an interesting look to the beginnings of the Batman legacy and how Bruce Wayne thought up the symbol of the Bat to put fear in criminals in Gotham City.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This gets 4 purely because it's 'Year One 2.0' and has some nice references to Catwoman #1.

[Kyle Berk]

Works really well in characterizing young to slightly older Batman and Bruce Wayne. Showing his connection to his mask and multiple persona's. Worth the read for that aspect.

[Youssef · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[أمير العطار · Rating 4 out of 5]

القصة بتدور في العام الأول لبروس واين كباتمان، بيواجه فيها قاتل متخفى تحت قناع سحري لإحدي قبائل آلاسكا.
أول تجربة لي في عالم الكوميكس، وكانت ممتعة جدًا الحقيقة، رغم إني عاجز لحد دلوقتي إني أفهم الدنيا في عالم دي سي ماشية ازاي عشان العالم متوسع جدًا وكمية الأعداد مهولة تصل للآلاف، بس هحاول أستمتع قدر الإمكان حتى لو بقصص متفرقة كل فترة وفترة.

[Roberto Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

El inicio de las "Leyendas"

Leído en su versión recopilada por editorial OVNI Press de argentina

Es impresionante mirar atrás en el tiempo a finales de los 80 y ver el impacto que tuvo una película como Batman de Tim Burton en la popularidad de un personaje a nivel mundial. Mientras eso ocurría, en el nicho de los cómics DC cabalgaba en el éxito de Frank Miller y sus obras Dark Knight Returns y Año Uno de Batman y por ende, más cómics del personaje al mes eran del agrado de los lectores. Este fuel el título vendido bajo la consigna de el primer nuevo cómic de Batman en 40 años, y fue presentado con una historia escrita por su propio editor, que tomaba el reto e iniciaba el camino a otros autores para ampliar la leyenda de Batman en narraciones que podían haber ocurrido un tiempo después de terminar la historia de Año Uno de Miller.

En esta primera entrega de cinco números, vemos a un joven Bruce investigando un extraño nuevo grupo en la ciudad que realiza crímenes ritualisticos que le recuerdan una experiencia en sus viajes pasados, todo esto mientras alguien interviene en su investigación.

Sin batimóvil, con Alfred llevándolo de lado a lado, te muestran que el murciélago no tuvo todos sus implementos inmediatamente después de la obra de Miller, igualmente su metodología como detective no era inmediata y se basa a en revisión y reflexión.

Muy buen arte, funcional y fluido, dándole un tono serio a la obra y excelentes portadas por capítulo. Este es un gran inicio para una serie que incluye excelentes historias de Batman que décadas luego de su publicación original han sido continuamente recopiladas como novelas gráficas.

[Christopher Matthias · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVED this five-issue arc when I was a kid. It’s dark and mystical. It’s got its gore along with mystery. Bruce Wayne is an ubermench in the making. Perfect intrigue for my adolescence.

I picked it up again for some nostalgia during quarantine. It scratched that itch for sure.

A lot of it holds up. Some of it doesn’t. A lot has changed since 1989.

I’m not fully sure where I land on the representation of Indigenous spirituality, lore, and ritual. It’s a complicated thing to see that in a comic book for entertainment. Also, at the center of it is an exceptionally privileged white man. On the other hand, it’s treated with reverence. Bruce Wayne also feels guilt and remorse and attempts reconciliation; albeit through financial means before “getting it.” He also does an an interesting white guy to white guy shut down when the other character starts to tell a racist joke about the indigenous. It’s really moral that way.

There are also a few encounters with women that have varying degrees of romantic/sexual tension. Again, there’s a weird line walking that happens. Is it chivalrous, which is still very patriarchal and paternalistic in nature? Kinda. Is it also pretty important early in life to see the idolized male respect boundaries and engage as autonomous equals? Also yes.

On a scale of self aware wokeness, I’d give it a 1989 A+ and a 2020 B.

[Arthur Cristian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ignoring any continuity canon in the way I am reading Batman comics, I chose Shaman based on its intriguing title.
This comic sees Bruce Wayne at the start of his career as Batman, still trying to find his way and his approach against lawless criminals. I found the Native American story intriguing, especially how it was tied to Bruce and the bat. We also get some scenes that show a funnier Batman rather than the gloomy and dark one I’ve been accustomed to. The panel with him holding a Christmas tree and smiling is one of the funniest Batman moments I’ve seen.

This book also shows us how the Batcave came to be. Alfred is worth mentioning, too, as he has many sassy lines. I wonder if the rest of this collection, Legends of the Dark Knight, will have these nice light-hearted moments.

Reading this comic pushes me to start paying attention to Batman’s continuity, but even without reading Year One, which precedes this story, I can assure you that you will have a great time.

[Redwan Orittro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been collecting single issues of Legends of the Dark Knight for years not and realized that I will never be able to collect of them so picked up the first volume.

The story is about a young and inexperienced Bruce Wayne who is given around town by Alfred looking for criminals. In comes Native American Shaman and an imposter who puts the Batman to the test.

Liked the artwork which is iconic from the 80-90s.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. This was a retelling, or at least a look back at a bit of Batman’s origin and his early days dawning the cape and cowl, specifically on a journey to Alaska and meeting a tribe of natives there. In this story, there’s a great showing of the separation made between Bruce and Batman during this adventure, but also a great example of how the two identities work so well together. This book tends to show how Bruce is mostly just a means for Batman to get certain answers or intel occasionally.

[Andrew A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potentially aging poorly with some awkward in retrospect views and terminology around Indigenous people's


However
When taken as a product of its time, and the strong feeling that this was intended as a somewhat respectful approach.

A really fun noir tale of batman mastering his craft. Bruce understanding the power of the mask

And some great enhancement and subsequent development for year one Batman.
Art is fantastic
Really fun read

[subversivagrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

é o famoso aprendendo com seus erros. bruce wayne se tornando o batman e a surgimento da batcaverna. gostei bastante dessa hq, me surpreendeu. gosto quando mostram que o batman nao é perfeito. esse comecinho da construção dele como homem morcego é muito interessante. fico feliz por ter lido Ano Um antes pra complementar legal com essa aqui.

[Bryan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the plot to be a bit confusing and characters motivations were odd. I think this story was primarily to showcase early Batman and symbolism/metaphors involving masks. There’s a mix of supernatural and natural forces at play throughout.
Artwork was decent although a bit outdated now.

[Blake Billings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved everything about this story. Plus the art and colors used were spot on. So cool how intertwined it is with the year one storyline.