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Legends of the Dark Knight (1989)
Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight (1989-2007) #109
Primal Riddle' part 1! Batman is critically injured in a battle with the Riddler. The near-death experience separates his spirit from his physical being and the Dark Knight remains silent and devoid of emotion, despite Alfred's care!
- GenresComics
24 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 1998
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,374 books101 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.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 9, 2026
(B) 73% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: A sleepwalk plot, doesn't offer a lot, Batman's lost his soul—was sizzled free quite literally—disjointed on the whole.
*Progress update
Notes: A sleepwalk plot, doesn't offer a lot, Batman's lost his soul—was sizzled free quite literally—disjointed on the whole.
*Progress update
December 11, 2019
Primal Riddle 1/3
December 22, 2021
Primal Riddle Part 1 of 3
I have a high tolerance for nonsense, but what the fuck.
I have a high tolerance for nonsense, but what the fuck.
September 23, 2019
The Primal Riddle, Issues 109-111
Look, I don't know what this was trying to do, but I'm pretty sure it didn't do it. I'm a fan of this author, but this arc was a real curve ball.
I wisely did not bring this one up when interviewing the author. https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
Look, I don't know what this was trying to do, but I'm pretty sure it didn't do it. I'm a fan of this author, but this arc was a real curve ball.
I wisely did not bring this one up when interviewing the author. https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/in...
June 1, 2026
After a rooftop conflict with the Riddler, Batman falls onto a set of power lines and is thoroughly electrocuted. The shock causes Bruce's soul to leave his body and his disembodied essence soon migrates from host to host searching for Batman. Those persons harboring Batman's soul are embued with the traits of the caped crusader while the dark knight himself acts robotically without it, aimlessly searching for his essence while continuing to battle the Riddler.
Holy Bat-Cow this was contrived. While I assume the concept is supposed to be indulgently silly, the execution has little humor and feels far too self serious. The absurd narrative and boring riddler subplot were both a slog and there was little joy in the exploration of seeing Bruce's / Batman's spirit inhabit others. Luckily the art was quite nice, with a fun cartoony vibe that feels like a blend of Allred and Cooke. Even though the art lightens the ridiculous plot it cannot save it, and the end product feels like a cherry on top of dog food.
Holy Bat-Cow this was contrived. While I assume the concept is supposed to be indulgently silly, the execution has little humor and feels far too self serious. The absurd narrative and boring riddler subplot were both a slog and there was little joy in the exploration of seeing Bruce's / Batman's spirit inhabit others. Luckily the art was quite nice, with a fun cartoony vibe that feels like a blend of Allred and Cooke. Even though the art lightens the ridiculous plot it cannot save it, and the end product feels like a cherry on top of dog food.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews