Legends of the Dark Knight

Legends of the Dark Knight (2021) #1-8

by Darick Robertson

The revolutionary Batman anthology is back for a new era! Legends of the Dark Knight returns with comics' biggest creators putting their own spin on Gotham City, in unconventional stories you won't see anywhere else.

In 1989, riding the crest of Batmania fueled by the live-action film, DC launched Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, an anthology series where comics creators from across all genres presented their unique interpretation of the Batman mythos, in multi-part stories separate from the pop culture icon's more mainstream ongoing adventures.

In 2021, Legends of the Dark Knight returned--bringing its creative spirit into a new era, buoyed by writers and artists including Darick Robertson, Stephanie Phillips, Max Dunbar, Brandon Thomas, Giannis Milonogiannis, Becky Cloonan, Dike Ruan, Matthew Rosenberg, Cian Tormey, Brandon Easton, Karl Mostert, and more.

The new Legends of the Dark Knight starts with "Bad Night, Good Knight," a story written and illustrated by The Boys and Transmetropolitan co-creator Darick Robertson, featuring some of Batman's most iconic villains, including The Joker, the Riddler, Penguin, and Mr. Freeze, as Batman races against time to stop a deadly chemical from being unleashed in Gotham.

This volume collects Legends of the Dark Knight #1-8.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Superheroes

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2021

About the author

Darick Robertson is an American artist best known for his work as a comic book illustrator. Highly prolific, Robertson has illustrated hundreds of comics in his twenty plus years in the industry. His body of work ranges from science fiction characters of his own creation to headlining on renowned classic characters from Marvel and DC Comics. Robertson is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the biting satires TRANSMETROPOLITAN and THE BOYS.

In January of 2010 he wrote and illustrated CONAN: THE WEIGHT OF THE CROWN for Dark Horse Comics.

Darick currently lives in California with his wife and two children. When he's not drawing comics, which is almost all the time, he creates custom action figures, writes music, sings and plays guitar.

Original art for sale can be found at tinyurl.com/DarickR

Reviews

[A.J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a real mixed bag of stories. It’s lame it’s priced at $20 too, which is just overpriced as fuck for a collection of this size and quality. I thankfully didn’t buy it and just borrowed from my roommate who did, but I would recommend waiting for a sale, DCI, or for your local library to get it before jumping in. This isn’t worth buying at cover price, even if you are a fan of Batman and these creators.

I will say I did like “Bad Night, Good Night” quite a bit, even if it was too self-serious at times, fell apart by the end, and was just Darick Robertson’s excuse to draw a bunch of Batman rogues. “The Consultant” was the best story in here by far though, with Martian Manhunter teaming up with Batman to stop Calendar Man from using Martian holidays to commit crimes. “Healing” was also a solid character study for Bruce.

Sadly, the rest of the stories range from complete shit to middling at best, hence why I recommend skipping. If you really want to read this, just track down the singles with “Bad Night, Good Knight”, “Healing”, and “The Consultant”. Individual reviews down below:

Bad Night, Good Knight by Darick Robertson, Richard P. Clark, Diego Rodriguez, and Simon Bowland ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

Haunted by Stephanie Phillips, Max Dunbar, Tamra Bonvillain, and Troy Peteri ☆ ☆

The Consultant by Brandon Thomas, Giannis Milonogiannis, Jordie Bellaire, and Deron Bennett ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2

The Curse of Slaughter Swamp by Becky Cloonan, Dike Ruan, Dave McCaig, and Ariana Maher ☆

A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall by Matthew Rosenberg, Cian Tormey, Matt Hollingsworth, and Aditya Bidikar ☆

Catechism by Brandon Easton, Kark Mostert, David Baron and Becca Carey ☆ 1/2

The Ghost and the Knight by Che Grayson, Belén Ortega, Alejandro Sánchez, and Aditya Bidikar ☆ ☆ ☆

Healing by Yedoye Travis, Nina Yakueva, Ivan Plascencia, and Ariana Maher ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

[David Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty neat collection of stories.

[cloverina · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Batman Week 2023 read #4!)

This is a 2021 collection of unrelated issues inspired by the original Legends of the Dark Knight run. Like is typical with anthologies like this, it's just a very mixed bag of stories ranging from bad to good, but usually just mediocre. It includes 'Bad Night, Good Knight', Haunted, The Consultant, The Curse of Slaughter Swamp, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, Catechism, The Ghost and the Knight, and Healing.

Bad Night, Good Knight is probably the strongest story here. It has the most time to develop and tells a simple Batman story of him trying to find a man attempting to sell a highly dangerous gas. A solid 3.5 story that I enjoyed. Was all the puking necessary, though? It happened, like, 5 times. Really disgusting and had me speed reading the page so I could flip away from it.

Haunted is also an interesting story that I'd probably also give a 3.5. I enjoyed it, but I was kiiind of hoping it would be a real supernatural threat lol. Definitley not bad.

The Consultant is a VERY interesting concept that could've been something great with more time. Another 3.5 just because it feels kind of rushed and some things need to be more elaborated on. I love the use of Martian Manhunter, Calendar Man, and dark magic though. Three things bound to make me enjoy a comic. Martian Manhunter is severely underused, too.

Why was Curse of Slaughter Swamp even made? 1 star. The concept starts out interesting and the use of Grundy is great, and then in the middle of the plot, Batman just UP AND LEAVES! Why?? There was a whole mystery to be unraveled and the plot was shot down before anything worthwhile could happen. Completely useless story that I was excited about.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall is just fine. 3 stars, probably. Also pretty pointless but has SOME story at the very least. Short and simple but not bad.

Catechism is boring. That's it. It's hard to finish.

The Ghost and the Knight is cute! I LOVE the art, the main Ghost Cat in the story has such an amazing design.

I appreciate Healing for its use of Scarecrow, but it goes by a little quick.

Overall I definitely don't reccomend reading it, but it's not bad.

[Gbolahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of disconnected stories, apparently LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT is a long running anthology from the 2012 to 2015, with a revival in 2021.

Anyways, 8 stories here. And I must say people that write Batman saving Joker TWICE in one story simply HATE Batman. There are no other explanations for writing stipid stuff like that. This is NOT Batman's fault, it is the fault of some silly DC writers.

Rant over.

Otherwise, fair book. Showed Bruce relating with some criminals and showing a compassionate side (it is still stupid though that he is written to save Joker) and empathizing with some crimes committed by victims. We are all or have been victims at one time or the other. This is no excuse for crime...but all (or most) of us have been there.

8 stories in all, and the general overview of the art was fair, except that the issue with Valley (Azrael) had clunkily drawn fights, had no smooth progression of panel to panel. Meh.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

These types of books are usually a mixed bag when it comes to quality and I feel like that's true here. Darrick Robertson tells a really good tale involving a handful of rogues and I'd love to see him get a chance with a Batman book in the future. Otherwise, nothing is a stand out. I liked the Killer Croc tale and really could have done without the "ghost story", Grundy, and Azrael tales. Overall, a decent look at Batman from a handful of creators but nothing necessary.

[Michael Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series of quick, one shot stories involving Batman. Most of them work as perfectly solid Dark Knight stories and while some work decidedly more than the others, artwork is solid throughout and the stories are likable (if not necessarily anything different from what fans of the characters are used to).

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

1-3, Bad Night, Good Knight, ☆☆☆
4, Haunted, ☆☆☆☆
5, The Consultant, ☆☆☆
6, The Curse of Slaughter Swamp, ☆☆☆
6, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall, ☆☆☆
7, Catechism, ☆☆
8, The Ghost and the Knight, ☆☆☆
8, Healing, ☆☆☆

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Batman shorts that are...fine.

[evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came here for the Joker bits at first but I enjoyed the book overall. Stories are short and sweet, nothing to rave about but I’m glad to have it in my collection.

[☆shriya☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐

[hiroo · Rating 4 out of 5]

the art😏😏😏😏😋😋😋

[Piotr · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's one story here - Haunted by Stephanie Phillips and Max Dunbar - worth reading. Half detective fiction, half feminist parable, it's slick and retro-flavored, making both a throwback to the original Legends of the Dark Knight and a rare plea for Gotham's forgotten and unpriviliged. The rest is your usual mixed bag of Batman short stories - some of them okay, but forgettable at best; most of them cut short and/or disappointing in one way or the other.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
In the 90's, the original "Legends of the Dark Knight" was a very popular comic. Containing short stories (same as here), readers can get Batman without needing to know canon or read tons of issues. Nice to see this format every once in a while.

1) Bad Night, Good Knight - Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Joker, Riddler (and new partner Quiz), and Scarecrow are all involved in a deal with a man in a gas mask. Batman must stay awake and constant for several days to follow the trail and save the city.

2) Haunted - A box full of items goes up for auction and Bruce Wayne wins out on it over Oswald Cobblepot. It turns out to be related to Oswald's ancestors and a mysterious killer called the West End Wraith. Batman mut solve the old mystery.

3) The Consultant - Martian Manhunter teams with Batman to help stop a martian calendar obsessed Calendar Man.

4) The Curse of Slaugher Swamp - Solomon Grundy is stirring up trouble. When Batman combats him, "Cyrus Gold" (an alternate personality and the original being who turned into Grundy) makes himself known and Batman helps him get control of himself.

5) A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - Crooks try to take over some of the financial market, but their crime, occuring during a hard rain, is increased by the destruction of some flood walls. Killer Croc lends a hand.

6) Catechism - Originally set on a path against him, Batman teams up with Azrael to face the real threat: Ra's Al Ghul

7) The Ghost and the Knight - A young girl takes vigilante justice in her own hands by stealing jewels. Batman stops her (calling herself Ghost), but uses his resources as Bruce Wayne to help the girl get real justice.

8) Healing - Scarecrow gives Batman a toxin that will erase his worse memory, that of his parent's murder. Knowing how important that is to him, Bruce has to relive every painful moment to hold on to his motivation.

Overall, it was nice to read something like this again. Hope they do it again soon.
Recommend.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anthology of stories if mixed quality and variety.