Batman: The Caped Crusader, Vol. 4

Batman: The Caped Crusader

by Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle (Illustrator), Jim Fern (Illustrator)

This new collection of 1990s Batman stories reveals the origin story of Tim Drake as Robin. With crime running amok and an overwhelming sense of responsibility to help all, Batman considers partnering up. Commissioner Gordon rekindles an old flame and Batman decides whether or not he is ready to fight crime with a partner by his side.

Collects Batman #455-465

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

328 pages, Paperback

First published May 26, 2020

About the author

Alan Grant was a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the creator of the character Anarky.

Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.

The pair eventually co-wrote Judge Dredd. They would work on other popular strips for the comic, including Robo-Hunter and Strontium Dog using the pseudonym T.B. Grover. Grant also worked on other people's stories, changing and adding dialogue, most notably Harry Twenty on the High Rock, written by Gerry Finley-Day. Judge Dredd would be Grant's main concern for much of the 1980s. Grant and Wagner had developed the strip into the most popular in 2000AD as well as creating lengthy epic storylines such as The Apocalypse War. Grant also wrote for other IPC comics such as the revamped Eagle.

By the late 1980s, Grant and Wagner were about to move into the American comic market. Their first title was a 12-issue miniseries called Outcasts for DC Comics. Although it wasn't a success, it paved the way for the pair to write Batman stories in Detective Comics from issue 583, largely with Norm Breyfogle on art duties across the various Batman titles Grant moved to. After a dozen issues, Wagner left Grant as sole writer. Grant was one of the main Batman writers until the late 1990s. The pair also created a four issue series for Epic Comics called The Last American. This series, as well as the Chopper storyline in Judge Dredd, is blamed for the breakup of the Wagner/Grant partnership. The pair split strips, with Wagner keeping Judge Dredd and Grant keeping Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. Grant and Wagner continue to work together on special projects such as the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover Judgement on Gotham. During the late 1980s, Grant experienced a philosophical transformation and declared himself an anarchist. The creation of the supervillain Anarky was initially intended as a vehicle for exploring his political opinions through the comic medium. In the following years, he would continue to utilize the character in a similar fashion as his philosophy evolved.

Grant's projects at the start of the 90s included writing Detective Comics and Strontium Dog, but two projects in particular are especially notable. The first is The Bogie Man, a series co-written by Wagner which was the pair's first venture into independent publishing. The second is Lobo, a character created by Keith Giffen as a supporting character in The Omega Men. Lobo gained his own four issue mini series in 1990 which was drawn by Simon Bisley. This was a parody of the 'dark, gritty' comics of the time and proved hugely popular. After several other miniseries (all written by Grant, sometimes with Giffen as co-writer), Lobo received his own ongoing series. Grant was also writing L.E.G.I.O.N. (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off) and The Demon (a revival of Jack Kirby's charac

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this era of Batman. It's before Batman become event driven. Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle put together a lot of great Batman stories and Breyfogle is one of my favorite Batman artists. In this volume Batman faces Scarecrow, Catwoman and the Joker. Sarah Essen is introduced, she's Commissioner Gordon's wife throughout the 90's. Tim Drake finally becomes Robin as well, putting on the costume for the first time.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another extremely enjoyable compilation of Batman comics, this time from the early 1990s. A real nostalgic treasure for fans, and a reminder of the simple pleasure comics can give, particularly in the era before convoluted storylines and crossovers became the norm.

[cloverina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Real talk, I need a break from writing long reviews.

I got this idea in my head that if I didn't write a few paragraphs on every single book or series that I read then I was doing it wrong. I forced myself to even when I was exhausted and even kept myself from reading more just to write reviews. I've been burnt out for a while, but it's full force now, and I just can't bring myself to write a whole review for this. It's one of the easiest kinds because it's anthology-style, but I just can't.

I've even been avoiding reading slightly more than usual just because I know I'll have to log it after and I'll have one more review on my plate. But somehow I JUST realized the fact that I can just... not.

I'm gonna come back at some point but these reviews were never for anybody but me, and if they're making me feel worse, I need to stop. Just writing this makes me feel lighter than I did before, honestly. Reading is the most comforting thing in my life and having it stress me out definitley hurt.

Anyways, this volume was very good. Maybe more like a 3.5 but it gets the 4 stars because it's Batman.

I love Batman.

[Matthew Ward · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars. A lot of people have told me that Tim Drake was their favorite Robin and I didn’t really get the appeal until I started reading his origin and early issues and seeing what he’s all about recently. I’m really digging Tim Drake as Batman’s new partner! The dynamic between the two is a lot different than Batman and Dick or Jason. Two standout issues in this collection would be the issue inked by Tim Sale (which I recognized immediately) and the annual where Batman takes a look into a possible future with a sane Joker and a Batman facing death row.

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Batman's hit the 90's! Tim Drake takes up the mantle of Robin after a bout with the Scarecrow. Catwoman returns, Batman goes west, and the far future world of 2001 is explored in an annual.
This collection contains one of the first Batman comics I ever owned, it was the second part of the story with the Shaman and this was the first time I got to read the complete tale.
Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle make a great team chronicling the Batman's adventures.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll forever shout to the rooftops that Grant and Breyfogle's work on Batman is unfairly underrated and I love that DC is publishing this series of trade paperbacks, highlighting their run as well as the efforts of several others.

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s something about comics from the 1980s and early 1990s that I have been enjoying, where there’s great stories that does not feel like I’m reading issues after issues of fillers. In this fourth volume from DC Comics which collects Batman issues from the early 1990s (Batman issues 455-465 and Batman Annual 15) we have hundreds of pages of the adventures of Batman!
The first story spans three issues and Batman is on a mystery case to solve involving why there are people putting on masks and slaying people. Bruce Wayne’s friend Vicky Vale the journalist is also on the case trying to figure out what’s going on and whose behind the killing, and though she doesn’t know Bruce Wayne is Batman, Batman has the strong commitment to also protect her from the criminals involved. This story also involves Tim Drake who is learning to grow into his role as Robin but Batman thinks he’s not ready yet. With the lost of his family and also his youth there’s the internal turmoil he faces. Yet during a moment when he believe Batman was in trouble, and he was, Drake will step on during the occasion when he’s most needed. The next story require a need to know some backstories from other Batman comics. There’s a Sarah Essen woman detective that shows up back in Gotham again, which is something readers of Batman Year One would recognize and also there’s also Harold Allnut whom in earlier volumes in this series was someone whom Penguin used for his ability to be an inventor of gadgets. When a little girl brings her broken toy to an abandoned building to leave it there for a mystery person to fix, the girl’s father is concerned and round up other neighbors to go beat the mystery man that turned out to be Harold. Batman intervenes and decides to take Harold to live at his Batcave. Gordon and Sarah grows deeper in their involvement in each other’s lives, decides to go watch an old movie playing again in the theatre called Zorro and suddenly we see there’s parallels in this story with a family that mirrors the Wayne story of going to a movie theatre watching Zorro, leaving early and a criminal confronts the family of three. But this time Batman saves the day, meanwhile Gordon and Sarah walks out of the theatre and all things seems happy but then Gordon has a heart attack. While Gordon is in the hospital we see Sarah Essen is on the case with a mystery involving stealing of cat artifacts and we have three women unintentionally forced to work together: Catwoman, Essen and Vicky Vale! There’s other stories on here too including one where Batman has to go out to the West Coast USA and it involves native Americans. For those who love Batman there’s quite a lot of stories to enjoy!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually so much fun and its classic Batman stories.

And there are so many great ones to include like the Batman vs scarecrow story with the latter injecting people who are committing crimes after the fear toxin and those strange masks and all which look like ghosts and its Vicki vale focused and I love it and the relationship between her and Bruce in this volume was awesome and then obviously Tim stepping up which was so good to see!

Then the story with how he rescues Harold which was too cute and then the relationship between Sarah essen and Jim Gordon in their old age and how they reunite and that was awesome until the latter meets an unexpected attack.. and yeah that one is emotional I will say.

There is a Catwoman story where she is stealing something only its organized by some guy called Landis and it involves some egyptian artefacts and how Batman stops this guy and also his gang and exposes them and a focus on Selina, Vicki and Sarah and all 3 women in the midst and it feels like a quick filler story.

There is a story involving a Native-american man called "Black wolf" where Batman has to team up with him and stop other people called Two heart and his gang who want to punish descendants of the europeans who took their land from them and it brings in the injustices done to them and involves Batman fighting strange apparitions and a good focus on Black wolf who was such a nice character and twists and what Batman does next, which was awesome and proves why he is a hero!

And there is an annual which is kinda like a dystopian story with Batman vs Joker and how the former is sort of arrested because of something he did and that one was awesome for real, and seriously I enjoy how it tied with this run with a focus on Anarky and even Tim and showing Batman and Selina being the ultimate duo and so yeah!

A fun volume with great focus on the mad and insane life of Batman filled with crazy adventures and the gotham cast that surrounds him with awesome art and writing all around and you will have a good time reading it!!

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

A series of mostly sentimental narratives surrounding the first appearance of Tim Drake as Robin. This volume had a lot of heart, with the initial issues focusing on the resumed relationship between Jim Gordon and fellow officer Sara Essen and many of the latter issues centered on Tim Drake trying to move on from the incident with his parents. In between these issues was my favorite storyline in the collection titled "Spirit of the Bat" where Batman tracks down the culprit for a series of murders that sees him venture to prominent locations in the American West. The story is stuffed with some great art from Breyfogle in addition to evocative prose from Grant that develops a wistful yet supernatural narrative around a generational native American dispute. Just a really solid episodic narrative with a great visual aesthetic and well delivered, if not conventional, themes. The collection ends with an annual participating in the "Armageddon 2001" event that is pure schlocky camp, the perfect kind of high concept stupidity that leans into its absurd plot points for some good laughs while not overstaying it's welcome. Grant really shows his range in this collection, writing dramatically different narratives effectively and embracing the tone of each wholeheartedly.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I do love that Breyfogle art, and these stories do feature Tim Drake’s first appearance as Robin, Jim Gordon’s heart attack that gets him to quit smoking, and the return of Sarah Essen. So it’s not as if there aren’t big moments, but the individual stories themselves are just sort of flat and forgettable. I read all of these as a kid and barely remembered any of them when I read them again now. And having just put the book down, I had to flip through it to remember what I spent the last few days reading. I wish some of Breyfogle’s best work wasn’t wasted on them.

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

While Grant came SWINGING on the start of his detective run, his later work seems to settle in just a "okay-good area". Nothing is horrible but a lot of the stories, save the ones revolving around Robin here, are just decent. I did enjoy the the last issue a lot, a kind of happy note. I also enjoy seeing Sarah return and Jim getting his shit together again. But the overall plot and "Villains" feels like a obvious downgrade from the first dozen or so issues from Grant.

[Mariano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Que dupla increíble Grant y Breyfogle. Y que loco cómo brilla Grant con los unitarios y el cast de personajes secundarios, pero las historias de varios episodios se terminan haciendo pesadas y medio místicas sin mucho sentido. Funciona mucho mejor cuando maneja un subplot secundario, como el crecimiento y estreno del gran Tim Drake o la nueva relación entre Gordon y Sarah Essen (tremendo final el del 459) o Bruce Wayne mismo. Gran personaje escrito por Grant que desapareció hace décadas.

[Peter Derk · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, the magic here is that these Batman collections are just one-off stories, not like huge events that force me to read some bullshit like Blue Beetle to know what the hell is going on, or maybe worse, allege to tie into some larger event, but it does so basically by just having a red haze in the distance that someone comments on briefly.

I'm into it. I don't really need two-year arcs, sirs.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this certainly won't go down as a classic Batman tale. While we do get a solid introduction to Tim Drake as Robin and classic Norm Breyfogle artwork, everything else is corny and forgettable. Alan Grant has penned many Batman tales but most here are only for completists. Overall, a bizarre read that doesn't hold up over time.

[C Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grant and Breyfogle’s first ten issues are enjoyable for the way they focus on building character relationships and background details while also advancing larger conflicts. They blend realism with more extreme or even supernatural elements, and they pull it off in most cases. The middle of this collection stalls a bit, but an overall enjoyable start to their run.

[Dylan-Nalani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Tim Drake. I also like the prospect of James Gordon being happy.

[Madison Hamner · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
got a bit slow in the middle, but Ace is in here and he is such a good boy!
.
the last two were crazyyyy

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable collection of early 90s Batman. There's a story with Tim Drake & Scarecrow, which ends with Tim donning the Robin costume for the first time. Then there's a couple of filler issues where my favourite parts were about the return of Sarah Essen and her relationship to Gordon. We've also got a story with Catwoman and Vicki Vale that was rather average. Next comes the shaman arc, which goes on a bit too long, but it has its good moments, and after that comes a story where Robin takes the center stage. The annual at the end was not my cup of tea, though.