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Batman and the Monster Men #1-6
Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner
Writer/artist Matt Wagner's noir tales of the Dark Knight are collected in a single volume for the first time! Batman has spent his first year fighting organized crime-but nothing in his early career as the Caped Crusader has prepared him for the new menace facing Gotham City: super-villains! Plus, Two-Face creates an army of deformed slaves! Collects Batman and the Monster Men #1-6, Batman and the Mad Monk #1-6, Batman: Riddler: The Riddle Factory #1, Batman #54, Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #28-30, and a story from Batman Black and White #3.
475 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 23, 2020
27 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Matt Wagner
967 books231 followersMatt Wagner is an American comic book writer and artist. In addition to his creator-owned series' Mage and Grendel, he has also worked on comics featuring The Demon and Batman as well as such titles as Sandman Mystery Theatre and Trinity, a DC Comics limited series featuring Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
July 2, 2020
Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner contains Legends of the Dark Knight 28-30, Batman: The Riddle Factory, a story from Batman: Black and White #3, Batman: The Monster Men 1-6, Batman: The Mad Monk 1-6, and Batman #54. Matt Wagner draws all but one story and writes all but one story.
Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner sparked my interest for a variety of reasons. I enjoyed his Batman vs. Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theater, and the one issue of Mage I own. Mainly, I bought it because I wanted to read Batman: The Monster Men. The rest was a bonus.
Yeah, this is good shit right here. For the most part, Matt Wagner's Batman is in his early days, under gunned and in over his head at every turn. The first story, Faces, features Batman vs. Two Face and also features a criminal freak show. Wagner's art reminds me of Alex Toth's quite a bit in this one. I'd be surprised if Wagner didn't list Toth as an influence.
The second story, The Riddle Factory, was the only one in the collection not drawn by Matt Wagner and the only one I didn't really care for, although it had a few good moments. The coloring was garish as hell and I didn't think the art suited the story.
The Batman: Black and White story was only 8-10 pages but it was mind blowing and really showed what black and white comic art can achieve. It was simply fantastic.
The meat of the book for me were the two miniseries, Batman: The Monster Men and Batman: The Mad Monk, both reimaginings of some of Batman's Golden Age adventures, pulpy, horror-tinged tales featuring Hugo Strange and a vampire cult respectively. Matt's art evolved a bit since Faces but there was still a moody, Alex Toth vibe at times. Both knocked the batarang out of the bat cave for me.
As much as I was prepared to dislike the final story in the book, the only one not written by Matt Wagner, I liked it quite a bit. It was a standalone tale of Batman and Nightwing written by Tom King on the heels of Catwoman leaving Batman at the altar. It was a sweet little tale, tempered by the knowledge that Nightwing would be shot in the head shortly after.
Matt Wagner doesn't often get mentioned as one of the great Batman creators but for my money, Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner is a solid, hard to beat collection. 4.5 out of 5 silver batarangs.
Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner sparked my interest for a variety of reasons. I enjoyed his Batman vs. Grendel, Sandman Mystery Theater, and the one issue of Mage I own. Mainly, I bought it because I wanted to read Batman: The Monster Men. The rest was a bonus.
Yeah, this is good shit right here. For the most part, Matt Wagner's Batman is in his early days, under gunned and in over his head at every turn. The first story, Faces, features Batman vs. Two Face and also features a criminal freak show. Wagner's art reminds me of Alex Toth's quite a bit in this one. I'd be surprised if Wagner didn't list Toth as an influence.
The second story, The Riddle Factory, was the only one in the collection not drawn by Matt Wagner and the only one I didn't really care for, although it had a few good moments. The coloring was garish as hell and I didn't think the art suited the story.
The Batman: Black and White story was only 8-10 pages but it was mind blowing and really showed what black and white comic art can achieve. It was simply fantastic.
The meat of the book for me were the two miniseries, Batman: The Monster Men and Batman: The Mad Monk, both reimaginings of some of Batman's Golden Age adventures, pulpy, horror-tinged tales featuring Hugo Strange and a vampire cult respectively. Matt's art evolved a bit since Faces but there was still a moody, Alex Toth vibe at times. Both knocked the batarang out of the bat cave for me.
As much as I was prepared to dislike the final story in the book, the only one not written by Matt Wagner, I liked it quite a bit. It was a standalone tale of Batman and Nightwing written by Tom King on the heels of Catwoman leaving Batman at the altar. It was a sweet little tale, tempered by the knowledge that Nightwing would be shot in the head shortly after.
Matt Wagner doesn't often get mentioned as one of the great Batman creators but for my money, Legends of the Dark Knight: Matt Wagner is a solid, hard to beat collection. 4.5 out of 5 silver batarangs.
June 13, 2021
This hefty tome combines several of Matt Wagner's more standout Batman stories, and there's something to be said for his take on the Dark Knight, drawing more on the costumed detective of the early black & white movies than the high-tech ninja of today's comics and movies. That said, the charm tends to wear off pretty quickly here - there's something about Wagner's storytelling style that seems to work best in short bursts - so by the end of a story arc, you're ready to put the book down for a while. Wagner's a tremendous creator, and fans of his other work will doubtlessly find plenty to enjoy here, as well. But for some reason, Batman just doesn't feel as perfect a fit for him as it should, and when we gather so much of that work together in one volume, it becomes impossible to ignore.
January 20, 2025
While I haven’t read any of his most famous works, I am a huge fan of Matt Wagner’s deliciously pulpy (yet sneakily modern) Sandman Mystery Theatre. And I’d read a bunch of his Batman years ago, so decided to revisit it with this collection.
I’d say you can’t go home again, except this pretty much lines up with what I thought of the two trades - featuring Hugo Strange and the Mad Monk - back in the day. Good, but somewhat shy of excellence.
Everything else is much shorter and of various degrees in quality. The Two-Face arc that opens this is okay, although it goes to some goofy and, honestly, dumb places before it resolves itself.
The Riddler story has the distinction of being arguably the worst Riddler anything I’ve ever read, so, uh, good job there. There’s a short, yet very fun, black and white piece and the whole book ends with an issue penned by somebody else that’s a rather solid piece contrasting Batman and Nightwing.
Of the two main stories, Batman: The Monster Men is the best, even though parts of its sequel are better. Both of them are earlier in the career of the Caper Crusader, so Batman is frequently much farther in over his head than is typically the case.
This is, to my mind, more fun, as a fallible Batman is a little more interesting than the ‘I have plans and plans for those plans’ version. We see him iterating on his gear and improvising on the fly as he figures out his style. Not quite an origin story, however, which is appreciated.
There’s a lot more to work with when Batman hasn’t completely rejected his Bruce Wayne side as well, but that does sort of bring its own problems into things, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Hugo Strange makes for a strong adversary, presented here as a scientist who’s obsessed with overcoming biology to make the perfect human. He’s also fanatical about his physical strength and becomes obsessed with Batman, who represents the pinnacle of humanity to him.
It’s terribly hammy at points, to be fair, but it mostly works. I don’t love the more horror-themed Batman stories, I prefer my threats of the classic supervillain variety, but this does okay. There are lots of subplots involving gangsters and such to round it out.
It also leads directly into the next trade, where Batman squares off against the Mad Monk, who is having a grand time sucking blood and living in an abandoned castle. If the first volume leaned to your Frankenstein, you can figure it out for this one (it’s not the Mummy if you need a hint).
The final confrontation here is better than the one versus the Monster Men, yes, although it ends on an incredibly dumb deus ex machina that feels super cheap. The rest of that finale is solid though.
One of the big issues here is that these stories have no interesting female characters. Now, lots of comics are big sausage fests, that’s nothing new. But these two books have women characters it thinks are interesting, but actually aren’t. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it misogynistic, I don’t think the intent is there, but it is definitely thin in that respect.
Julie Madison, who was in the earliest Batman books, seems to exist to show Bruce letting his life slowly change to his focus on Batman as his playboy side encroaches on his crime fighting. Except she’s so boring that you could hardly blame him from choosing to solve crimes. At least she only gets damselled in one book.
The Mad Monk storyline brings in another female, designed to play up the sexy side of vampires, but she’s even more cardboard. And it brings out the unfortunate truth that Matt Wagner cannot draw a woman here to save his life. Julie is supposed to be a bit of a bombshell; she seems more like shrapnel. At one point she looks like her father in drag.
The superheroics fare better, but there’s just something missing here. Maybe it’s trying to drag something classic into a more modern era, I don’t know, but it never quite grabbed me the way I wanted it to. It’s also needlessly bloody - yes I know vampires are involved - with a fair chunk (ahem) of gore.
3 stars - passable, but not especially memorable. It’s not a regret, but more of a ‘sure, okay’. Wagner does literally all of these better in Sandman Mystery Theatre, from art to characters to plotting, and it’s where I’d rather be spending my reading time where he’s concerned.
I’d say you can’t go home again, except this pretty much lines up with what I thought of the two trades - featuring Hugo Strange and the Mad Monk - back in the day. Good, but somewhat shy of excellence.
Everything else is much shorter and of various degrees in quality. The Two-Face arc that opens this is okay, although it goes to some goofy and, honestly, dumb places before it resolves itself.
The Riddler story has the distinction of being arguably the worst Riddler anything I’ve ever read, so, uh, good job there. There’s a short, yet very fun, black and white piece and the whole book ends with an issue penned by somebody else that’s a rather solid piece contrasting Batman and Nightwing.
Of the two main stories, Batman: The Monster Men is the best, even though parts of its sequel are better. Both of them are earlier in the career of the Caper Crusader, so Batman is frequently much farther in over his head than is typically the case.
This is, to my mind, more fun, as a fallible Batman is a little more interesting than the ‘I have plans and plans for those plans’ version. We see him iterating on his gear and improvising on the fly as he figures out his style. Not quite an origin story, however, which is appreciated.
There’s a lot more to work with when Batman hasn’t completely rejected his Bruce Wayne side as well, but that does sort of bring its own problems into things, but we’ll get to that in a bit.
Hugo Strange makes for a strong adversary, presented here as a scientist who’s obsessed with overcoming biology to make the perfect human. He’s also fanatical about his physical strength and becomes obsessed with Batman, who represents the pinnacle of humanity to him.
It’s terribly hammy at points, to be fair, but it mostly works. I don’t love the more horror-themed Batman stories, I prefer my threats of the classic supervillain variety, but this does okay. There are lots of subplots involving gangsters and such to round it out.
It also leads directly into the next trade, where Batman squares off against the Mad Monk, who is having a grand time sucking blood and living in an abandoned castle. If the first volume leaned to your Frankenstein, you can figure it out for this one (it’s not the Mummy if you need a hint).
The final confrontation here is better than the one versus the Monster Men, yes, although it ends on an incredibly dumb deus ex machina that feels super cheap. The rest of that finale is solid though.
One of the big issues here is that these stories have no interesting female characters. Now, lots of comics are big sausage fests, that’s nothing new. But these two books have women characters it thinks are interesting, but actually aren’t. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it misogynistic, I don’t think the intent is there, but it is definitely thin in that respect.
Julie Madison, who was in the earliest Batman books, seems to exist to show Bruce letting his life slowly change to his focus on Batman as his playboy side encroaches on his crime fighting. Except she’s so boring that you could hardly blame him from choosing to solve crimes. At least she only gets damselled in one book.
The Mad Monk storyline brings in another female, designed to play up the sexy side of vampires, but she’s even more cardboard. And it brings out the unfortunate truth that Matt Wagner cannot draw a woman here to save his life. Julie is supposed to be a bit of a bombshell; she seems more like shrapnel. At one point she looks like her father in drag.
The superheroics fare better, but there’s just something missing here. Maybe it’s trying to drag something classic into a more modern era, I don’t know, but it never quite grabbed me the way I wanted it to. It’s also needlessly bloody - yes I know vampires are involved - with a fair chunk (ahem) of gore.
3 stars - passable, but not especially memorable. It’s not a regret, but more of a ‘sure, okay’. Wagner does literally all of these better in Sandman Mystery Theatre, from art to characters to plotting, and it’s where I’d rather be spending my reading time where he’s concerned.
August 20, 2021
I do enjoy some Matt Wagner art. The stories feel a tad overlong, apart from the Tom King-penned final tale.
June 12, 2023
Matt Wagner is a creator I’ve been wanting to get into for a while and this book did not disappoint! One of my favorite takes on Batman. Wagner’s art and panel layout is perfect, flowing well with stunning images! Any heavy noir inspiration in a Batman book is well appreciated too!
April 11, 2022
Excellent! I love Wagner's art and the stories about Batmans early days are great.
February 22, 2022
What draw me towards this book was the fact that I came across quite a few Batman covers by Matt Wagner that looked fantastic. And since it collected all of Wagner's work oon the character, at worst I'd end up with a nice looking artbook. As it turned out, the majority of these stories ranged from good to very good, and I came away very pleased with my purchase. It collects the following stories written by Matt Wagner:
Faces: Its not awfull, but its too reminscent of the movie "Freaks", and its art is till a bit rough. Its a decent tale, nonetheless. (3/5).
The Ridller Factory: This story was penned, but not drawn by Wagner. I did not car emuch for neither the story or the artwork. It's the book's worst story by far. (2/5)
After a short 8-page story from the Batman-Black and White anthology written and drawn by Wagner (a 3/5), we get to the principal and best pieces of the book.
Batman and The Monster Men -Much like all of Wagner's stories, this is early days Batman. His relationship with Gordon is still very early stages, and he is still mostly a street level vigilante, and the Justice League isn't even formed yet.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this story much. Hugo Strange is one of my least favorite Batman villains. The idea of Batman fighting Monster Men, while very much in keeping with pretty much every itineration of the character, was not something I found very appealing. But this turned out to be a considerably level-headed story, considering its subject matter.
I liked how it married the golden age Batman asthetic and characteristics with a more modern storytelling sensibility. Also enjoyed the heavy focus on detective work, and the insigth into Bruce Wayne at his early days as Batman, via a romantic relationship. (4.5 out of 5).
The following story is Batman and the Mad Monk - It's set within the same time-frame as the previous story, and also marries the more supernatural golden age approach with a modern sensibility. This time is Batman vs a vampire, which one imagines will be kind of ludicrous, butturns out ot be very well handled. It's a direct follow up to the previous story. (4/5).
To close out the book, we have a better good story by Tom King, and artwork by Wagner, which I had already read, and loses some of its power outside of the context of Tom King's run. (4/5).
Finally, we have a cool covers gallery.
A very good book, wholly recommended for people who like year One batman stories, with a touch of the supernatural, and Wagner's fantastic artwork.
Faces: Its not awfull, but its too reminscent of the movie "Freaks", and its art is till a bit rough. Its a decent tale, nonetheless. (3/5).
The Ridller Factory: This story was penned, but not drawn by Wagner. I did not car emuch for neither the story or the artwork. It's the book's worst story by far. (2/5)
After a short 8-page story from the Batman-Black and White anthology written and drawn by Wagner (a 3/5), we get to the principal and best pieces of the book.
Batman and The Monster Men -Much like all of Wagner's stories, this is early days Batman. His relationship with Gordon is still very early stages, and he is still mostly a street level vigilante, and the Justice League isn't even formed yet.
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this story much. Hugo Strange is one of my least favorite Batman villains. The idea of Batman fighting Monster Men, while very much in keeping with pretty much every itineration of the character, was not something I found very appealing. But this turned out to be a considerably level-headed story, considering its subject matter.
I liked how it married the golden age Batman asthetic and characteristics with a more modern storytelling sensibility. Also enjoyed the heavy focus on detective work, and the insigth into Bruce Wayne at his early days as Batman, via a romantic relationship. (4.5 out of 5).
The following story is Batman and the Mad Monk - It's set within the same time-frame as the previous story, and also marries the more supernatural golden age approach with a modern sensibility. This time is Batman vs a vampire, which one imagines will be kind of ludicrous, butturns out ot be very well handled. It's a direct follow up to the previous story. (4/5).
To close out the book, we have a better good story by Tom King, and artwork by Wagner, which I had already read, and loses some of its power outside of the context of Tom King's run. (4/5).
Finally, we have a cool covers gallery.
A very good book, wholly recommended for people who like year One batman stories, with a touch of the supernatural, and Wagner's fantastic artwork.
May 16, 2021
Antes de comentar las historias quiero destacar las ilustraciones. Wagner tiene un estilo que recuerda a Hellboy y cómics más caricaturizados, pero le da una fuerza y movilidad que lo llena de dramatismo. Además el estilo por alguna razón compagina muy bien con el tono noir de todos los relatos. Las historias se sitúan en los primeros años de carrera de Batman, cuando todavía es una especie de rumor dentro de Gotham y apenas está empezando su sociedad con el todavía detective Jim Gordon. Destaca Hugo Strange que tal cual la cronología canónica, se enfrenta a Batman antes que el Joker u otros enemigos más icónicos. Algo interesante es el tratamiento to de Bruce Wayne, quien no es sólo la tapadera de Batman, sino que Wagner le da una vida y hasta cierta injerencia. Me sorprendió gratamente.
March 30, 2024
Awesome!
I've read several of these collected editions and most of them are perfectly acceptable, but forgettable stories. The bulk of these stories are top-tier Batman. I would put this on my short list of required reading. Read this one immediately after Batman: Year One. Optionally, you could read Prey in between The Monster Men and The Mad Monk stories collected in this book. Prey will fill in some time and details in between these stories, but Prey's not as good as this Matt Wagner collection, so it's not really critical reading. After you read this book, follow it up with the Jeff Loeb / Tim Sale Omnibus.
I've read several of these collected editions and most of them are perfectly acceptable, but forgettable stories. The bulk of these stories are top-tier Batman. I would put this on my short list of required reading. Read this one immediately after Batman: Year One. Optionally, you could read Prey in between The Monster Men and The Mad Monk stories collected in this book. Prey will fill in some time and details in between these stories, but Prey's not as good as this Matt Wagner collection, so it's not really critical reading. After you read this book, follow it up with the Jeff Loeb / Tim Sale Omnibus.
February 27, 2022
Faces is bad on every level from the story, to the characters, to the art. It was also confusing and I'm not actually totally clear what happened.
The Riddle Factory is even worse than Faces, with bad jokes rather than clever riddles.
Heist is meh.
The Monster Men and The Mad Monk both weren't very good, though I thought The Mad Monk was a better story and had a more interesting villain. Neither was well written and the art, while not terrible, also wasn't great. The characters were stiff and rough looking, and as someone else pointed out, Batman's love interest (Madison? I couldn't be bothered to remember her name, she was an awful idea) looked like a man.
The Better Man (Batman #54) was sweet but there wasn't much to it. Also the art, which was the part Matt Wagner did, was again pretty weak.
Overall, both the writing and art were weak. Most of the stories weren't terrible, however none of them stood out either, and the best one was one that wasn't even written by Matt Wagner. The art isn't bad art, it's certainly better than anything I can do, but I'm not sure it's professional quality. It all feels unfinished and stiff, and none of the faces look right. I can't recommend this collection, or any of the stories contained in it.
The Riddle Factory is even worse than Faces, with bad jokes rather than clever riddles.
Heist is meh.
The Monster Men and The Mad Monk both weren't very good, though I thought The Mad Monk was a better story and had a more interesting villain. Neither was well written and the art, while not terrible, also wasn't great. The characters were stiff and rough looking, and as someone else pointed out, Batman's love interest (Madison? I couldn't be bothered to remember her name, she was an awful idea) looked like a man.
The Better Man (Batman #54) was sweet but there wasn't much to it. Also the art, which was the part Matt Wagner did, was again pretty weak.
Overall, both the writing and art were weak. Most of the stories weren't terrible, however none of them stood out either, and the best one was one that wasn't even written by Matt Wagner. The art isn't bad art, it's certainly better than anything I can do, but I'm not sure it's professional quality. It all feels unfinished and stiff, and none of the faces look right. I can't recommend this collection, or any of the stories contained in it.
June 20, 2023
Others have put it better than me, but both the Monster Men and the Mad Monk introduce interesting, though not vital, villains. Both stories are so-so otherwise, but the Mad Monk does something interesting for Batman's character development.
September 2, 2022
WOW! The quality of every single issue in this big collection is surprising in a good way. Wagner sure knows how to write and draw comics. I'll have to explore his other work.
March 29, 2023
Matt Wagner’s Batman might be my favorite Batman.
August 8, 2023
This book feels like a Golden Age throwback. This collection gathers Wagner’s Batman stories in one place. Most are underrated and highly enjoyable.
🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇
🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇
February 6, 2024
Bruh WHY is Matt Wagner not mentioned in the same breath as Miller, Loeb, Morrison et al when it comes to Batman-defining motherfuckers?
May 7, 2024
3.5
A decent mix of stories, though my favorite was the last one featuring Nightwing.
A decent mix of stories, though my favorite was the last one featuring Nightwing.
October 28, 2025
Monster Men and Mad Monk are truly exceptional, and my favorite part is how seamlessly it makes early stories fit together in the order Year One -> Monster Men -> Mad Monk -> The Man Who Laughs!
April 11, 2024
A wonderful gem.
A nice collection of stories that I enjoyed quite a bit. The art was great. I liked that last story in particular. Violent to creepy to heartfelt stories that are worth adding to your Batman collection.
A nice collection of stories that I enjoyed quite a bit. The art was great. I liked that last story in particular. Violent to creepy to heartfelt stories that are worth adding to your Batman collection.
November 22, 2021
Good collection, but the stories are of varying quality. I really dislike "Faces", "The Riddle Factory" is okay, "Monster Men" is great, and "Mad Monk" is okay. "Better Man" is sweet, but insubstantial.
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