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Legends of the Dark Knight (1989) #109-111
Tales of the Batman: Steve Englehart
Some of the most memorable Batman stories of all time, written by Steve Englehart, are collected in a single hardcover volume for the first time.
In 1977 comics writer Steve Englehart left Marvel Comics following acclaimed runs on titles like The Avengers, Captain America and Doctor Strange, and came to DC to write the adventures of Batman in the pages of Detective Comics. Together with rising-star artist Marshall Rogers, Englehart crafted a dark, moody run of stories in which Batman faces his own lonely existence while struggling against one of his earliest foes, Dr. Hugo Strange. This run also includes the renowned "Joker Fish" storyline in which the Clown Prince of Crime comes up with his most off-the-wall scheme ever, along with a 2006 miniseries in which The Joker runs for office with the slogan "Vote for me or I'll kill you!"
This volume collects Detective Comics #439, #469-476; Batman #311; Legends of the Dark Knight #109-111; Batman Chronicles #19; Legends of the DC Universe #26-27; and Dark Detective #1-6
In 1977 comics writer Steve Englehart left Marvel Comics following acclaimed runs on titles like The Avengers, Captain America and Doctor Strange, and came to DC to write the adventures of Batman in the pages of Detective Comics. Together with rising-star artist Marshall Rogers, Englehart crafted a dark, moody run of stories in which Batman faces his own lonely existence while struggling against one of his earliest foes, Dr. Hugo Strange. This run also includes the renowned "Joker Fish" storyline in which the Clown Prince of Crime comes up with his most off-the-wall scheme ever, along with a 2006 miniseries in which The Joker runs for office with the slogan "Vote for me or I'll kill you!"
This volume collects Detective Comics #439, #469-476; Batman #311; Legends of the Dark Knight #109-111; Batman Chronicles #19; Legends of the DC Universe #26-27; and Dark Detective #1-6
452 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 2020
13 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,396 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
April 25, 2020
Tales of The Batman: Steve Englehart collects Detective Comics #439, #469-476; Batman #311; Legends of the Dark Knight #109-111; Batman Chronicles #19; Legends of the DC Universe #26-27; and Dark Detective #1-6.
I didn't really notice the creative teams on comics until I was older but I really liked Steve Englehart's Fantastic Four run. Since then, I've read his Doctor Strange run and enjoyed it quite a bit but his Batman runs were hard to come by until now.
This book should be divided into sections: Englehart's Detective Comics run of the late 1970s, his late 1990s/early 2000s run, and the reunion with Rogers and Austin on Dark Detective. I guess that's how I'll review it.
Steve Englehart's Batman is all detective, all the time. The books starts with a very human tale, scripted by Englehart with plot and pencils by Vin and Sal Amendola and inks by Dick Giordano. Batman witnesses a boy lose his parents in a way very similar to the way Bruce Wayne lost his. From there, Englehart and Walt Simonson introduce Doctor Phosphorus before Englehart teams with Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin for a six issue run.
The Rogers and Austin run is one of those legendary runs and deserves its reputation. Batman takes on Hugo Strange, The Penguin, Deadshot, and the Joker, but his realy enemies are corruption in the form of Rupert Thorne and his heart by way of Silver St. Cloud. Rogers and Austin tear it up on art with their lithe, athletic Batman and moody as hell inks and lighting. Englehart does a great job resurrecting Hugo Strange from limbo and making him a headliner and also goes a long way toward reving Deadshot. One more Dr. Phosphorus appearance with Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin on art and Englehart leaves the Batcave behind for 20 years.
Englehart wrote five Batman comics in late 1999, early 2000. The Riddler three-parter had a weird tone with Batman losing his soul. Dusty Abell and Drew Geraci did a good job on the art but the story wasn't my cup of tea, a little too metaphysical for Batman. The two-parter featuring Joker and Aquaman was too wordy and the art was garish as hell. I found myself skimming it just to get through it. It wasn't good if I'm not getting my point across. There was one bright spot in Englehart's 2000 Batman output, though. Got A Date With an Angle was great. Javier Pulido's moodly, retro art depicted a tale four days into Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. Bruce thinks he can juggle Batman and a love life but we all know how that works out.
The reunion with Rogers and Austin is a nice ending for the book. The dream team reunites thirty years later and picks up where they left off with Silver St. Cloud returning to Gotham with a fiance in tow and the Joker running for governor. It's interesting to see how Rogers and Austin's art has changed over thirty years, it's a little lighter in tone, maybe not quite as in synch, but still pretty good.
I don't know why Englehart's '70s run hasn't been an evergreen book for DC over the past thirty years or so. Maybe because it depicts the Batman as a much more fallible, human character than the verison they've been pushing for the past twenty years or so. Englehart's 1970s run is without peer. I'd give it a five if the book was solely those issues. His middle era of Batman is mediocre apart from Got a Date with an Angle. Dark Detective only suffered from unrealistic expectations.
The way Englehart writes the villains and Silver St. Clouid is the big attraction for me. He makes Hugo Strange, Doctor Phosphorus, and Deadshot seem like credible foes for Batman and his Joker is psychotic criminal to the bone, not the anti-hero some people try to cast him as. Silver St. Cloud goes a long way toward making it seems like Batman has sex, is actually interested in women, and isn't fighting crime all the time.
4.5 out of 5 Bat Signals.
I didn't really notice the creative teams on comics until I was older but I really liked Steve Englehart's Fantastic Four run. Since then, I've read his Doctor Strange run and enjoyed it quite a bit but his Batman runs were hard to come by until now.
This book should be divided into sections: Englehart's Detective Comics run of the late 1970s, his late 1990s/early 2000s run, and the reunion with Rogers and Austin on Dark Detective. I guess that's how I'll review it.
Steve Englehart's Batman is all detective, all the time. The books starts with a very human tale, scripted by Englehart with plot and pencils by Vin and Sal Amendola and inks by Dick Giordano. Batman witnesses a boy lose his parents in a way very similar to the way Bruce Wayne lost his. From there, Englehart and Walt Simonson introduce Doctor Phosphorus before Englehart teams with Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin for a six issue run.
The Rogers and Austin run is one of those legendary runs and deserves its reputation. Batman takes on Hugo Strange, The Penguin, Deadshot, and the Joker, but his realy enemies are corruption in the form of Rupert Thorne and his heart by way of Silver St. Cloud. Rogers and Austin tear it up on art with their lithe, athletic Batman and moody as hell inks and lighting. Englehart does a great job resurrecting Hugo Strange from limbo and making him a headliner and also goes a long way toward reving Deadshot. One more Dr. Phosphorus appearance with Irv Novick and Frank McLaughlin on art and Englehart leaves the Batcave behind for 20 years.
Englehart wrote five Batman comics in late 1999, early 2000. The Riddler three-parter had a weird tone with Batman losing his soul. Dusty Abell and Drew Geraci did a good job on the art but the story wasn't my cup of tea, a little too metaphysical for Batman. The two-parter featuring Joker and Aquaman was too wordy and the art was garish as hell. I found myself skimming it just to get through it. It wasn't good if I'm not getting my point across. There was one bright spot in Englehart's 2000 Batman output, though. Got A Date With an Angle was great. Javier Pulido's moodly, retro art depicted a tale four days into Bruce Wayne's career as Batman. Bruce thinks he can juggle Batman and a love life but we all know how that works out.
The reunion with Rogers and Austin is a nice ending for the book. The dream team reunites thirty years later and picks up where they left off with Silver St. Cloud returning to Gotham with a fiance in tow and the Joker running for governor. It's interesting to see how Rogers and Austin's art has changed over thirty years, it's a little lighter in tone, maybe not quite as in synch, but still pretty good.
I don't know why Englehart's '70s run hasn't been an evergreen book for DC over the past thirty years or so. Maybe because it depicts the Batman as a much more fallible, human character than the verison they've been pushing for the past twenty years or so. Englehart's 1970s run is without peer. I'd give it a five if the book was solely those issues. His middle era of Batman is mediocre apart from Got a Date with an Angle. Dark Detective only suffered from unrealistic expectations.
The way Englehart writes the villains and Silver St. Clouid is the big attraction for me. He makes Hugo Strange, Doctor Phosphorus, and Deadshot seem like credible foes for Batman and his Joker is psychotic criminal to the bone, not the anti-hero some people try to cast him as. Silver St. Cloud goes a long way toward making it seems like Batman has sex, is actually interested in women, and isn't fighting crime all the time.
4.5 out of 5 Bat Signals.
October 6, 2024
Nice collection of Englehart Batman stories including one of the best Joker stories with “The Laughing Fish” from 1978. My favorite section was the six part Dark Detective storyline featuring antagonists such as Two Face, Scarecrow, and The Joker.
The weakest issues were from the Legends of the DCU from 2000 featuring Aqua-man going up against The Joker which was not helped at all with art by Trevor Von Eeden, who is a good artist, but his real cartoony and trippy art just doesn’t mesh well with me or this story.
Otherwise, the bulk of this collection’s art was penciled by the great Marshall Rogers and inked by the amazing Terry Austin.
The weakest issues were from the Legends of the DCU from 2000 featuring Aqua-man going up against The Joker which was not helped at all with art by Trevor Von Eeden, who is a good artist, but his real cartoony and trippy art just doesn’t mesh well with me or this story.
Otherwise, the bulk of this collection’s art was penciled by the great Marshall Rogers and inked by the amazing Terry Austin.
April 28, 2020
Englehart and Rogers. Two names that defined Batman almost as much as O’Neil and Adams. Their tenure may have been shorter, but it’s no less iconic. Just look at the 89 movie and the animated series for proof, their cerebral takes on the character draw heavily from the “strange apparitions” stories (which appear in this volume with the exception of the Len Wein clay face two parter, for obvious reasons) and were even adapted in the case of the show. This also contains Englehart’s just as excellent work with Simonson, and his first Batman story, Night of the Stalker, which is an utterly fantastic start to the volume. The odd 90’s stories he contributed that appear in this volume are the weakest part, but they are definitely interesting. The Aquaman story is downright bizarre, but it’s hilarious.
Dark Detective is a fantastic coda to Englehart and Rogers contributions to the character, bringing it all in for a fantastic finale to the volume. There were stirrings that they wanted to do more, but that all ended with Rogers passing in 2007.
There’s the contents, which are stellar, but how’s the quality of the collection as a whole? Kinda disappointing. The paper quality is good, but the restoration quality feels off. I have the Strange Apparitions trade from 20 years ago in near perfect condition, and it’s linework feels a lot steadier. There’s even some messed up (faded in and out, and whited-over in one case) text. I have no idea why. The introductions for Strange Apparitions and Dark Detective are both missing, which is disappointing. There are no supplemental materials.
If you’ve got these stories in some form already, I’m not sure I can recommend this book. But if you don’t...
GET IT. SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC BATMAN STORIES EVER WRITTEN ARE IN HERE. LAUGHING FISH, FOR PETE’S SAKE.
Dark Detective is a fantastic coda to Englehart and Rogers contributions to the character, bringing it all in for a fantastic finale to the volume. There were stirrings that they wanted to do more, but that all ended with Rogers passing in 2007.
There’s the contents, which are stellar, but how’s the quality of the collection as a whole? Kinda disappointing. The paper quality is good, but the restoration quality feels off. I have the Strange Apparitions trade from 20 years ago in near perfect condition, and it’s linework feels a lot steadier. There’s even some messed up (faded in and out, and whited-over in one case) text. I have no idea why. The introductions for Strange Apparitions and Dark Detective are both missing, which is disappointing. There are no supplemental materials.
If you’ve got these stories in some form already, I’m not sure I can recommend this book. But if you don’t...
GET IT. SOME OF THE MOST ICONIC BATMAN STORIES EVER WRITTEN ARE IN HERE. LAUGHING FISH, FOR PETE’S SAKE.
January 25, 2022
Ths book, as the title indicates, focuses on the Batman stories written by Steve Englehart. While they vary in quality, I though they were all good to great.
The first half of the book collects the stories written in the 70's, strating with "The Night of the Hunter", a fantastic one issue story with artwork by Walt Simonson. Batman witnesses a child lose his parents like he did, and follows the culprits to bring them to justice. Its an emotioal story, and underlines the fact that Batman is a creature of justice more so than vengence. For such a small story, it packs quite an emotional punch. (5/5).
After that issue, we betgin the seminal arc "Strange Apparitions". It's a fantastic Batman story, one the best ever, and my personal favorite from the 70's. Yes, to me it surpasses Dennis O' Neil's work on the character.
It features alot of Batman villains, but there are a few plot arcs that tie the all run together very well.
This kind of longform storytelling was not very common at the time, so in that sense, it also breaks some ground. It also focuses alot on the man behind the mask, which is something that was sorely lacking in stories of that decade.Even the Joker, who in more recent stories was turned into a ruthless horror movie monster, is scary in this story, despite it being fifty decades old.
It also introduces one of the most memorable love interests in Batman's history - Silver ST. Cloud, a very intelligent, strong willed and interesting female character.
The artowork, mostly by Marsahll Rogers, stands the test of time with flying colours. Amazing, shadowy artwork, which to me, surpasses Neil Adams. (5/5)
The following story was published several decades later (1998), and one would think his writing wouldn't cut it in more modern comics, especially considering I had heard alot of negative things about it. Well, I though it was a fantastic story. Batman loses his soul (literally), and while his body remains functioning in a somewhat robotic fashion, his soul tries to find its way back to his body. Its an odd story for batman, but I think its great, and I quite like the artwork. (4/5)
After a very enjoyable one issue short story (5/5), we get "Dark Detective", that once again pairs Englehart with Rogers. However, it was published in 2005, and both writer and artist were very different at their craft from their earlier days. it doesn't quite catch the lightining in a bottle that their first pairing did, but its still a pretty good story.
Once again, lots of villains, but whose appearences serve a larger story arc, even more so than in Strange Apparitions. While its a bit less cohesive than most of his other writing, its still got some delightfully creepy moments. The Joker is written impeccably again, and the Scarecrow focused issues are very thrilling and atmospheric. I feel that Two Face overcrowds the story, and compromises its cohesiveness, but that aside, its a very good story. It's a sequel of sorts to Strange Apparitiions, SIlver St. Cloud returns in this story, and she remains a fantastic character. It was good seeing her back in the picture.
Marshall Roger's artwork, while different, still looks pretty good. I don't really like the finishes and colouring much though, it makes the artwork look somewhat amateurish at times, for a 2005 story. (4/5)
Full disclosure, though. This collection also includes a Aquaman/Joker story that I haven't read. The artwork was just so awfull I couldn't bring myself to read it, soI skipped it. Might read it in the future, but since it was collected somewhere between Primal Riddle and Dark Detective, I skipped it to get to the latter story. I don't know if its good or not, but I imagine its not. And the artwork is ghastly.
So overall, this was a fantastic volume. I got it mostly because of "Strange Apparitions", but all the other stories i read are all good. Great read for someone who enjoys 70's Batman, and Englehart's writing.
The first half of the book collects the stories written in the 70's, strating with "The Night of the Hunter", a fantastic one issue story with artwork by Walt Simonson. Batman witnesses a child lose his parents like he did, and follows the culprits to bring them to justice. Its an emotioal story, and underlines the fact that Batman is a creature of justice more so than vengence. For such a small story, it packs quite an emotional punch. (5/5).
After that issue, we betgin the seminal arc "Strange Apparitions". It's a fantastic Batman story, one the best ever, and my personal favorite from the 70's. Yes, to me it surpasses Dennis O' Neil's work on the character.
It features alot of Batman villains, but there are a few plot arcs that tie the all run together very well.
This kind of longform storytelling was not very common at the time, so in that sense, it also breaks some ground. It also focuses alot on the man behind the mask, which is something that was sorely lacking in stories of that decade.Even the Joker, who in more recent stories was turned into a ruthless horror movie monster, is scary in this story, despite it being fifty decades old.
It also introduces one of the most memorable love interests in Batman's history - Silver ST. Cloud, a very intelligent, strong willed and interesting female character.
The artowork, mostly by Marsahll Rogers, stands the test of time with flying colours. Amazing, shadowy artwork, which to me, surpasses Neil Adams. (5/5)
The following story was published several decades later (1998), and one would think his writing wouldn't cut it in more modern comics, especially considering I had heard alot of negative things about it. Well, I though it was a fantastic story. Batman loses his soul (literally), and while his body remains functioning in a somewhat robotic fashion, his soul tries to find its way back to his body. Its an odd story for batman, but I think its great, and I quite like the artwork. (4/5)
After a very enjoyable one issue short story (5/5), we get "Dark Detective", that once again pairs Englehart with Rogers. However, it was published in 2005, and both writer and artist were very different at their craft from their earlier days. it doesn't quite catch the lightining in a bottle that their first pairing did, but its still a pretty good story.
Once again, lots of villains, but whose appearences serve a larger story arc, even more so than in Strange Apparitions. While its a bit less cohesive than most of his other writing, its still got some delightfully creepy moments. The Joker is written impeccably again, and the Scarecrow focused issues are very thrilling and atmospheric. I feel that Two Face overcrowds the story, and compromises its cohesiveness, but that aside, its a very good story. It's a sequel of sorts to Strange Apparitiions, SIlver St. Cloud returns in this story, and she remains a fantastic character. It was good seeing her back in the picture.
Marshall Roger's artwork, while different, still looks pretty good. I don't really like the finishes and colouring much though, it makes the artwork look somewhat amateurish at times, for a 2005 story. (4/5)
Full disclosure, though. This collection also includes a Aquaman/Joker story that I haven't read. The artwork was just so awfull I couldn't bring myself to read it, soI skipped it. Might read it in the future, but since it was collected somewhere between Primal Riddle and Dark Detective, I skipped it to get to the latter story. I don't know if its good or not, but I imagine its not. And the artwork is ghastly.
So overall, this was a fantastic volume. I got it mostly because of "Strange Apparitions", but all the other stories i read are all good. Great read for someone who enjoys 70's Batman, and Englehart's writing.
May 1, 2024
Englehart kind of bored me. The stories seemed to be really stretched out, especially the later ones.
Marshall Rogers was a discovery. Looking forward to more of his stuff.
Marshall Rogers was a discovery. Looking forward to more of his stuff.
February 17, 2021
Classic issues with Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin in two different eras. Collection spans epics over many years.
May 10, 2022
I picked this book up as the closest thing to “Strange Apparitions,” a story arc that had been recommended to me when I inquired to more Batman-knowledgeable friends about which writers I should check out.
This is a little more and a little less than “Strange Apparitions” – it fails to include the 70s Detective arc where Englehart introduces his version of Clayface; while adding a 90s Riddler arc, a bizarre Joker-in-Atlantis adventure, and the 2005 miniseries “Dark Detective.”
“Apparitions” was sold to me as Hugo Strange-centric, and I was kind of delighted to find that Strange was but a cog in Englehart’s plot machine that revolved around the crooked Gotham city council and its president “Boss” Rupert Thorne. Pretty good Can’t Beat City Hall crime stuff for a book that features ACK! ACK! Penguins, Joker Fish* and, uh… ghosts?
Yeah, so Hugo Strange is actually accidentally killed by Thorne’s goons at one point, and his ghost torments the crooked city father to madness over the remainder of the issues. I was expecting some kind of long game where it turned out it was all an illusion – Strange trying to prove his brilliance by outwitting the seemingly unbeatable cartel at the heart of the city itself – but no such thing.
Maybe this was resolved in the Clayface issues that weren’t included?
The 90s Riddler arc where Batman has a near-death-experience and is temporarily divorced from… his… soul??? would seem to indicate Englehart is down for supernatural shenanigans. It’s a fun enough arc (and hilariously reminiscent of the “Bart sells his soul to Milhouse” Simpsons episode), but it truly is a bit of a headscratcher.
The Joker-in-Atlantis double issue is the weakest bit of the collection, simply because Joker is at his best when playing off normals/squares and “Atlantis courtiers” are too off-beat to function in that manner dramatically.
“Dark Detective” is a worthy follow-up to “Apparitions” (or however much of it I’ve read), turning the concept on its head once again. Turns out Englehart’s Batman isn’t about Thorne either… it’s about Silver.
Silver St. Cloud is one of Batman’s civilian love interests that I was aware of, but never had actually read about. I always assumed given her name and high-concept (for a civvy) look, she was some comically sexual supermodel or whatever, but she’s actually a pretty down-to-earth character (who happens to look like a lingerie model, which rocks). The romance with her was really nice; she’s not some super genius who figures out who Batman really is, she’s just close enough to Bruce that she’d recognize him in a Batsuit.
Englehart is very consistent from issue #1 about portraying Bruce as a guy with human fears and wants and needs rather than a crime-fighting justice machine, and Silver is someone who fulfills (most of) them. I was a bit worried about Silver not surviving the “Dark Detective” arc (the mid-00s weren’t great about female characters) in order to fulfill a thesis statement on Batman’s Lonely Crusade or whatever, but I was relieved to find that, while Englehart does kind of make this statement, Bruce’s final bachelordom is the result of a conflict between him and Silver where she exercises her own agency.
Probably a pretty cold take, but this is truly one of the best Meat N Potatoes Batmans I’ve read. If it were just Englehart's 70s run + Dark Detective, it'd have been 5 stars.
*”The laughing fish” is for my money the best Joker story I’ve ever read. Just something completely off-the-wall that isn’t inherently violent but it escalates into violence real quick once someone is even a hair’s breadth in the way of this scheme that could have been concocted at Paisley Park at 3am.
This is a little more and a little less than “Strange Apparitions” – it fails to include the 70s Detective arc where Englehart introduces his version of Clayface; while adding a 90s Riddler arc, a bizarre Joker-in-Atlantis adventure, and the 2005 miniseries “Dark Detective.”
“Apparitions” was sold to me as Hugo Strange-centric, and I was kind of delighted to find that Strange was but a cog in Englehart’s plot machine that revolved around the crooked Gotham city council and its president “Boss” Rupert Thorne. Pretty good Can’t Beat City Hall crime stuff for a book that features ACK! ACK! Penguins, Joker Fish* and, uh… ghosts?
Yeah, so Hugo Strange is actually accidentally killed by Thorne’s goons at one point, and his ghost torments the crooked city father to madness over the remainder of the issues. I was expecting some kind of long game where it turned out it was all an illusion – Strange trying to prove his brilliance by outwitting the seemingly unbeatable cartel at the heart of the city itself – but no such thing.
Maybe this was resolved in the Clayface issues that weren’t included?
The 90s Riddler arc where Batman has a near-death-experience and is temporarily divorced from… his… soul??? would seem to indicate Englehart is down for supernatural shenanigans. It’s a fun enough arc (and hilariously reminiscent of the “Bart sells his soul to Milhouse” Simpsons episode), but it truly is a bit of a headscratcher.
The Joker-in-Atlantis double issue is the weakest bit of the collection, simply because Joker is at his best when playing off normals/squares and “Atlantis courtiers” are too off-beat to function in that manner dramatically.
“Dark Detective” is a worthy follow-up to “Apparitions” (or however much of it I’ve read), turning the concept on its head once again. Turns out Englehart’s Batman isn’t about Thorne either… it’s about Silver.
Silver St. Cloud is one of Batman’s civilian love interests that I was aware of, but never had actually read about. I always assumed given her name and high-concept (for a civvy) look, she was some comically sexual supermodel or whatever, but she’s actually a pretty down-to-earth character (who happens to look like a lingerie model, which rocks). The romance with her was really nice; she’s not some super genius who figures out who Batman really is, she’s just close enough to Bruce that she’d recognize him in a Batsuit.
Englehart is very consistent from issue #1 about portraying Bruce as a guy with human fears and wants and needs rather than a crime-fighting justice machine, and Silver is someone who fulfills (most of) them. I was a bit worried about Silver not surviving the “Dark Detective” arc (the mid-00s weren’t great about female characters) in order to fulfill a thesis statement on Batman’s Lonely Crusade or whatever, but I was relieved to find that, while Englehart does kind of make this statement, Bruce’s final bachelordom is the result of a conflict between him and Silver where she exercises her own agency.
Probably a pretty cold take, but this is truly one of the best Meat N Potatoes Batmans I’ve read. If it were just Englehart's 70s run + Dark Detective, it'd have been 5 stars.
*”The laughing fish” is for my money the best Joker story I’ve ever read. Just something completely off-the-wall that isn’t inherently violent but it escalates into violence real quick once someone is even a hair’s breadth in the way of this scheme that could have been concocted at Paisley Park at 3am.
September 22, 2023
Eight issues.
Steve Englehart only wrote eight consecutive issues of Detective Comics, along with a single issue a few years earlier ("Night of the Stalker", one of the greatest single issue Batman stories ever written) and a follow-up issue of Batman a year later. And yet, for as long as I've been a fan of the character, I've been hearing about the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run, and how it was one of the greatest creative teams to ever handle the Dark Knight (which, given the talent he tends to attract, is a helluva statement).
And I gotta tell ya': after finally getting to read this run... I kinda see where the hype was coming from!
In just eight short issues, Englehart:
--Introduces Dr. Phosphorus (his own pet supervillain to add to the rogues' gallery)
--Introduces Rupert Thorne
--Introduces Silver St. Cloud (who I frankly think is WILDLY overestimated by fans as Batman's one true love. She's just some lady!)
--Brings back Professor Hugo Strange (who hadn't shown up in a comic since 1940!)
--Has Hugo Strange discover Batman's identity
--KILLS Hugo Strange
--Gives us one of the few fun Penguin stories I've ever read
--Brings back Deadshot, a silly character previously only seen in a single Silver Age story, and completely reinvents him into the version we know now
--Oh, and he ends his run with the goddamn LAUGHING FISH, one of the all-time great Joker stories!
There's also a clear wellspring of love for the character and his history on display in this run! Not only does Englehart revive characters from the Golden and Silver ages, but he litters his issues with homages and references to classic Batman stories-- creators' names, lines of dialogue ("LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH-- AND LAUGH AGAIN!"), all sorts of cute touches. It's also clear that Englehart is more than a bit of a fan of Batman '66-- from the jovial and upbeat camaraderie he writes between Batman and Robin, to the inclusion of the red Hot-Line to the Batcave... and even Chief O'Hara himself!
Unfortunately, those eight issues are very much a product of their time-- and when you move past them to read Englehart's more contemporary work, it becomes obvious that the author hasn't quite kept up with the zeitgeist of the character.
What's probably most fascinating about Englehart's late work on Batman-- in particular the Dark Detective miniseries-- is that his voice for writing the character hasn't changed AT ALL. He still very much writes these books for a presumed audience of thirteen-to-fifteen-year-olds, despite the fact that most actual kids reading Batman in the 21st century would have NO familiarity with his previous work on the character. On one hand, I admire the purity of that approach; Batman is a character that was created FOR children, and not enough writers cater to that younger demographic these days. But on the other hand, fans of his original run would all likely be well past grown by now, and I'm betting they weren't happy that the follow-up proved to be something as bonkers and juvenile as Dark Detective turned out to be.
Anywho, on the whole, this collection is a pretty solid slice of Batman ephemera, ranging from fairly decent to outright classic adventures. He's not my favorite Batman writer, but he's definitely an influential one!
Steve Englehart only wrote eight consecutive issues of Detective Comics, along with a single issue a few years earlier ("Night of the Stalker", one of the greatest single issue Batman stories ever written) and a follow-up issue of Batman a year later. And yet, for as long as I've been a fan of the character, I've been hearing about the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers run, and how it was one of the greatest creative teams to ever handle the Dark Knight (which, given the talent he tends to attract, is a helluva statement).
And I gotta tell ya': after finally getting to read this run... I kinda see where the hype was coming from!
In just eight short issues, Englehart:
--Introduces Dr. Phosphorus (his own pet supervillain to add to the rogues' gallery)
--Introduces Rupert Thorne
--Introduces Silver St. Cloud (who I frankly think is WILDLY overestimated by fans as Batman's one true love. She's just some lady!)
--Brings back Professor Hugo Strange (who hadn't shown up in a comic since 1940!)
--Has Hugo Strange discover Batman's identity
--KILLS Hugo Strange
--Gives us one of the few fun Penguin stories I've ever read
--Brings back Deadshot, a silly character previously only seen in a single Silver Age story, and completely reinvents him into the version we know now
--Oh, and he ends his run with the goddamn LAUGHING FISH, one of the all-time great Joker stories!
There's also a clear wellspring of love for the character and his history on display in this run! Not only does Englehart revive characters from the Golden and Silver ages, but he litters his issues with homages and references to classic Batman stories-- creators' names, lines of dialogue ("LAUGH, CLOWN, LAUGH-- AND LAUGH AGAIN!"), all sorts of cute touches. It's also clear that Englehart is more than a bit of a fan of Batman '66-- from the jovial and upbeat camaraderie he writes between Batman and Robin, to the inclusion of the red Hot-Line to the Batcave... and even Chief O'Hara himself!
Unfortunately, those eight issues are very much a product of their time-- and when you move past them to read Englehart's more contemporary work, it becomes obvious that the author hasn't quite kept up with the zeitgeist of the character.
What's probably most fascinating about Englehart's late work on Batman-- in particular the Dark Detective miniseries-- is that his voice for writing the character hasn't changed AT ALL. He still very much writes these books for a presumed audience of thirteen-to-fifteen-year-olds, despite the fact that most actual kids reading Batman in the 21st century would have NO familiarity with his previous work on the character. On one hand, I admire the purity of that approach; Batman is a character that was created FOR children, and not enough writers cater to that younger demographic these days. But on the other hand, fans of his original run would all likely be well past grown by now, and I'm betting they weren't happy that the follow-up proved to be something as bonkers and juvenile as Dark Detective turned out to be.
Anywho, on the whole, this collection is a pretty solid slice of Batman ephemera, ranging from fairly decent to outright classic adventures. He's not my favorite Batman writer, but he's definitely an influential one!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 17, 2020A few years ago I embarked on a Batman chronological read, starting with the Golden Age and going forward (I’m still slowly working on it). I read whatever collections I could get my hands on, and when I got to the Bronze Age, I was happy to find a lot of it had been reprinted in nice new books. Still, there was one run from this era I didn’t get around the reading, the Steve Englehart/Marshall Rogers stuff. Well, my library just got this handy collection, so here I am reading their famous run now. How is it? Eh, alright.
Maybe it’s because I already knew what happens here, but I was kind of underwhelmed. This is where Bruce dates Silver St. Cloud, Doctor Phosphorus and Rupert Throne are introduced, and the Laughing Fish Joker issue happens. In between, Englehart resurrects Hugo Strange and Deadshot for Batman to face off against. Batman himself is very human here, best illustrated in the opening issue. It’s the best story in the book. I found the core Englehart/Rogers Detective Comics run to be inconsistent. The scenes with Silver St. Cloud are the best parts, and I can see why she was a big deal at the time. The crimefighting, on the other hand, is pretty standard. I couldn’t get excited over Hugo Strange, and the Deadshot* and Joker appearances are… okay, I guess. I kept wanting the story to focus more on the relationship, not politics and villains. On a different note, the art is great. Lots of eerie shadows and striking facial expressions. It holds up.
But that’s only half the collection. The rest is from the late 90s/early 2000s, all written by Englehart, and all forgettable. Some Silver/Bronze Age writers can adapt to more nuanced Modern Age writing, but most can’t. Englehart struggles. The Dark Detective miniseries with Rogers is decent enough, but I can barely remember the rest.
So I’d say the 70s stuff is worth reading, if only for its classic status. You can easily skip the second half.
*His first appearance since the 50s, in the now standard red costume.
Maybe it’s because I already knew what happens here, but I was kind of underwhelmed. This is where Bruce dates Silver St. Cloud, Doctor Phosphorus and Rupert Throne are introduced, and the Laughing Fish Joker issue happens. In between, Englehart resurrects Hugo Strange and Deadshot for Batman to face off against. Batman himself is very human here, best illustrated in the opening issue. It’s the best story in the book. I found the core Englehart/Rogers Detective Comics run to be inconsistent. The scenes with Silver St. Cloud are the best parts, and I can see why she was a big deal at the time. The crimefighting, on the other hand, is pretty standard. I couldn’t get excited over Hugo Strange, and the Deadshot* and Joker appearances are… okay, I guess. I kept wanting the story to focus more on the relationship, not politics and villains. On a different note, the art is great. Lots of eerie shadows and striking facial expressions. It holds up.
But that’s only half the collection. The rest is from the late 90s/early 2000s, all written by Englehart, and all forgettable. Some Silver/Bronze Age writers can adapt to more nuanced Modern Age writing, but most can’t. Englehart struggles. The Dark Detective miniseries with Rogers is decent enough, but I can barely remember the rest.
So I’d say the 70s stuff is worth reading, if only for its classic status. You can easily skip the second half.
*His first appearance since the 50s, in the now standard red costume.
February 27, 2025
Rightly celebrated anthology from Englehart who wrote a seminal Batman run in the late 70s which saw Hugo Strange (a 40s Batman bad guy who vanished) return, get killed and then haunt his murderers. The through-story or metatext isn't particularly extraordinary but Englehart's voice is just right and something about the cross between his seriousness and sense of humour enabled him to pen the legendary Joker storyline "The Laughing Fish" which supposedly inspired Tim Burton's movie (I can see it) - it's a must-read story for any Batman fan whether they do "old stuff" or not. After getting metaphysical again later in his career with a dead Batman's soul wandering around - I liked this story, but not the art - the Joker returns in a truly horrible, poorly written story with Aquaman (which nevertheless has a pleasingly offbeat art style) before retuuning to the spotlight again in the excellent 2000s story/run Dark Detective, another collaboration with Marshall Rogers. This starts out being about the Joker running for office (Vote for me or I'll Kill You) segues into a story about Two Face cloning himself (plays out brilliantly) and also Batman having sex and being in love, a subject which is handled surprisingly intelligently (Silver St.Cloud was supposedly meant to be in the 1989 movie but morphed into Vicki Vale). Truly wonderful stuff (It's really a 4.5* for the poor issues, but y'know, Goodreads) with top notch artwork from Rogers.
March 9, 2022
After reading this collection, I now realize that Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers might have had the same level of influence on Batman's modern interpretation as Denny O'Neil & Neal Adams, Frank Miller, Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale. That said: the Batman-stories of Englehart are absolutely bonkers. You can find the blueprint for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight in here, but in a weird amalgam framework, which combines Silver Age tone and tropes with a modern and dark twist, as if Englehart simply skipped out on Bronze Age developments and sentiments. The secret ingredient might be Rogers' artwork which creates such a unique atmosphere that I have never seen in a Batman comic before and still, it totally works.
June 20, 2020
Wow! Even after more than those 40 years, the "Strange Apparitions" storyline from Steve Englehart, Marshall Rogers, and Terry Austin -- along with Walt Simonson and Al Milgrom -- still holds up as one of, if not the greatest Batman story ever. It's a story that was made for DC's Deluxe Edition format, so why not give fans a break and publish it in that format too?
I know there was to be a follow-up to "Dark Detective" and part of me is saddened that Englehart, Rogers, and Austin never got to tell that story. Maybe someday DC will get Englehart and Austin together one last time, maybe with Howard Chaykin or Walt Simonson providing pencils.
Highly recommended!
I know there was to be a follow-up to "Dark Detective" and part of me is saddened that Englehart, Rogers, and Austin never got to tell that story. Maybe someday DC will get Englehart and Austin together one last time, maybe with Howard Chaykin or Walt Simonson providing pencils.
Highly recommended!
April 21, 2020
A Refreshing Family Friendly Read
So many comic these days that I have been reading have been inappropriate and uncalled for. Finally a giant great collection that features Batman at his roots, as a family friendly character. I don’t understand why he has to be so dark, these comics there’s a balance between the darkness and moodiness. A great comic for your collection of the Bronze Age and a great read for teenagers.
So many comic these days that I have been reading have been inappropriate and uncalled for. Finally a giant great collection that features Batman at his roots, as a family friendly character. I don’t understand why he has to be so dark, these comics there’s a balance between the darkness and moodiness. A great comic for your collection of the Bronze Age and a great read for teenagers.
August 15, 2021
For me, the draw that got me to purchase this book was the Englehart stuff from the 70s. I think I expected it to read like his Marvel stuff. But DC didn't use the same storytelling methods and as a result this stuff feels more dated. Actually made me want to read some of the more modern stuff instead. If you want to read this for the art, this collection is still a treasure. Lots of work by Marshall Rogers and Terry Austin. Also, the single issue drawn by Javier Pulido is great too.
March 15, 2022
While the art is mixed from story to story, the writing is top notch all the way through. "Strange Apparitions" and "Dark Detective" are two of some of the best Batman story arcs, and the opening issue of this collection may be one of my new favorite Batman issues. This is required reading for anyone that considers themself a Batman fan!
October 29, 2020
Featuring the best Batman multi-issue story of the 70s, and maybe the best Batman story every, this of course gets my highest rating.
The fact that the rest of the book includes stories that are not only not of the same grade for Batman or even Englehart does not detract.
The fact that the rest of the book includes stories that are not only not of the same grade for Batman or even Englehart does not detract.
September 15, 2020
Some very good and sometimes weird Batman stories in here. Strange Apparitions and Dark Detective are both amazing.
June 2, 2021
An excellent collection from an underrated author. The original run on Detective and the Dark Detective stories make the books worth it. The only weak story was the Primal Riddle one.
July 5, 2021
Two very strong arcs bookend some 90s mediocrity.
July 7, 2021
The 70s stuff is rad as hell. Pretty much everything from later is not great.
January 18, 2022
3 and a half stars*
December 17, 2023
Gave it four stars for the late 70's Detective stories, which is why I got the book.
The later stuff 90s-2000's is absolutely dreadful.
The later stuff 90s-2000's is absolutely dreadful.
December 15, 2024
The last story in here was the best one. Some timely stuff amid the more mundane/repetitive stories. "Vote for me or I'll kill you" and the jokerfish will always be iconic.
April 8, 2022
An enjoyable collection. Englehart's deal seems to be that he tries to keep a straight face while frequently writing Batman comics as an absurd comedy. This leads to some pretty weird stories, maybe most notably "Primal Riddle."
B
B
February 6, 2024
I dare anyone to read this book without concluding that Silver St. Cloud is the greatest Batman love interest of all time. She's too good for Bruce Wayne, challenging him to rise above being Batman in a way that depicts his second life as something to grow out of. Right or wrong, her presence allows Bruce to progress as a person while other prospective partners (ie: Catwoman, Talia) trap him within the fantastical elements of his personality.
(Also, this book as the Joker fish in it. As a whole, Englehart and Rogers' run is Hush 20 years before Hush. I'd give it six stars if I could.)
(Also, this book as the Joker fish in it. As a whole, Englehart and Rogers' run is Hush 20 years before Hush. I'd give it six stars if I could.)
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