Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #76

Legends of the Dark Knight (1989)

by Scott Hampton, Digital Chameleon (Colorist)

"The Sleeping" part 1! While near death, Batman has an out-of-body experience, trapped in a nightmarish afterlife realm. To return to the living, the Dark Knight must battle savage mythic creatures and find his "soul twin."

27 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 23, 1995

About the author

A freelance comic book artist known for his diversity, Hampton has illustrated such iconic properties as Batman, Sandman, Black Widow, Hellraiser, and Star Trek in addition to work on his creator-owned projects such as The Upturned Stone.

He began his career following in the footsteps of brother and fellow comic book creator Bo Hampton. Both Scott and Bo studied under Will Eisner in 1976. Scott's first professional comics work was the three-page story "Victims" published in Warren Publishing's Vampirella #101 in 1981. Scott's work on Silverheels from Pacific Comics in 1983 is regarded as the first continuing painted comic. His latest works include "Spookhouse," released in 2004 by IDW Publishing, in which he adapted his favorite ghost stories into sequential form, and Batman: Gotham County line from DC comics in 2005. Scott is currently working full time on the creator-owned series "Simon Dark" with writer Steve Niles for DC Comics.

"The Upturned Stone" was optioned in Summer of 2005 for film production by David Foster, but the studio lost the option and the story was recently optioned by another producer. Scott is also pursuing a passion outside of comics: film making. He completed his first short independent film "The Tontine" in April, 2006. It's his loose adaptation of a 21 page comic piece that he worked on and appeared by the same name in the Hellraiser comic series. The 29 minute film was shot at the same cabin used in Eli Roth's "Cabin Fever (film)". There are versions of it available to view on Myspace (partial), Google Video (full), and Youtube (split into 3 parts).

Scott lives with his wife Letitia in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Rob S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite run in LOTDK. Excellent storytelling, front-to-back.

[Katherine (Kat) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

Stuck between a 3.5 and a 4 star with this issue.

[drown_like_its_1999 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Wayne suffers a severe concussion after a car crash and falls into a coma. He comes to in a sort of dreamland purgatory, instructed by a prophetic vision that he must seek and enter the "lake of fire" or risk never waking up. As he traverses this strange land, he finds others trapped in it's borders and joins forces with them in pursuit of each getting back to their real lives. The dreamland soon reveals an alternate timeline in which Bruce built a happy life with one of his companions and both struggle with the implications of regaining consciousness and forgetting their intimate connection.

I love this concept, and still enjoyed the experience, but felt the execution didn't quite meet its potential. The connection built between the two main characters was interesting but needed more development, distracted by some underwhelming comic relief from a third wheel. I also found myself a bit disappointed Hampton didn't use his signature painted style throughout (only in the covers), even if his pen + pencil utilization is still compelling and evocative.