Batman: Scarecrow Tales

Batman

by Bill Finger, Gardner Francis Fox, Bob Kane (Illustrator)

Professor turned criminal Jonathan Crane specializes in fear. He knows how to take a simple phobia and turn it into a life-threatening syndrome. Since his introduction in 1941, the Scarecrow has been one of the Dark Knights most difficult foes to defeat. And soon, he will be one of the foes featured in the upcoming Batman Begins feature film! In this collection of eight stories spanning more than 60 years, some of the best known Batman writers and artists take their turn at creating chilling escapades.

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

176 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2005

About the author

William "Bill" Finger was an American comic strip and comic book writer best known as the uncredited co-creator, with Bob Kane, of the DC Comics character Batman, as well as the co-architect of the series' development. In later years, Kane acknowledged Finger as "a contributing force" in the character's creation. Comics historian Ron Goulart, in Comic Book Encyclopedia, refers to Batman as the "creation of artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger", and a DC Comics press release in 2007 about colleague Jerry Robinson states that in 1939, "Kane, along with writer Bill Finger, had just created Batman for [DC predecessor] National Comics".

Film and television credits include scripting The Green Slime (1969), Track of the Moon Beast (1976), and three episodes of 77 Sunset Strip.

-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Besides a look at the high points of a tragic villain who basically uses the same weapon of fear as the hero, this is also a sort Batman "through the years" book (minus the '50s). The origin story is a typical pre-censorship Batman tale; pretty simple in and of itself, but it does illustrate how grounded in crime stories the earliest Batman strips were. The story from the late '60s is not entirely bereft of the campiness that Bat-decade is typically known for, but clearly shows signs of steering toward more serious stories with better portrayed danger.
From there we go through the '70 and '80s, with no-nonsense Batman tales set in an over-the-top four-color world.
The late '90s story is an interesting psychological tale that puts the villain himself under the microscope. We get a deeper look at the man whose origins and motivations could just as easily have driven him to become a hero, and see why he still insists on being the bad guy.
The book ends with a tale from the early 2000s, where Bruce Wayne faces a more terrible fear than anything the Scarecrow's gas could induce.
I could not help but wonder at how Scarecrow's methods changed throughout the book. From merely scaring people with a costume and a gun (an M. O. identical to that of the Golden Age Batman) to using chemical agents. The exact function of the "fear gas" was not even always the same. A closer look at social climates of the times, and perhaps the psyches of the creative teams, would be interesting food for thought . . . maybe even a little frightening.

[Jake Watmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun to remit this! Eight stories about my favorite Batman villain from all different eras, done by different artists and writers. Some stories aren't as good as others, but it's still a damn good collection.

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman: Scarecrow tales is a collection of stories from across the years featuring the master of fear himself. The book opens with his first ever appearance in World's Finest Comics, highlighting his origin and presenting him as a glorified extortionist and leg-breaker. The next two segments feature his return in the Batman title almost a quarter-century later, including a revenge scheme against the Dynamic Duo and an amusement park gauntlet designed to uncover hidden treasure. A treat from the titular Joker series sees fright and humor locked in battle with the Joker emerging victorious in his campaign to best the Scarecrow. The Detective Comics additions finally give Crane his due as a chemist. A pheromone dart makes the Dark Knight appear to be a terrorizing figure to everyone, forcing Batgirl and Robin to track down the antidote in the first tale; a concentrated dose of toxins removes the Batman's fears to make him reckless in the second. In the villains' spotlight issue, Scarecrow attempts to terrorize a woman whose testimony sent to him jail, becoming obsessed with frightening her to death. The final selection is from Gotham Knights, as a corporate-sponsored lecture from Professor Crane naturally goes awry and requires the Batman and his bodyguard to deal with the fallout. Released in conjunction with the Christopher Nolan reboot of the Batman film franchise, the book takes a fun trip down memory lane. The real treats come from the classic Bill Finger and Bob Kane era and the innovative 1970s Joker series. Fans of the Scarecrow should turn to the animated series for creepier tales from the master of fear, however, as this book sadly reminds readers how underused the character has been in the comics.

[sixthreezy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The selection contained within is a bit old, so the dialogue and such is a bit dated. I liked the second to last issue in here, as it was a story told from the Scarecrow's perspective. Otherwise this is a pretty OKAY selection of Batman comics, as far as I know...

[Ashley Kempkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5
I loved the last two stories, but the rest of them were anywhere from bad to bearable. I suppose I just like the modern take on Crane becoming the Scarecrow because he wants to conduct experiments (see also: sadism) but the idea that he does it to get money for more books is kinda fun too.

[Adam McPhee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Batman and Robin ingest a wide array of hallucinogens without ever seriously losing their shit in eight Scarecrow stories spanning sixty years.

[JaCoby Shaddix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a good book, that tells some the scarecrows scariest moments. If you are a fan of the master of fear, READ THIS BOOK

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Half good stories, have eh stories.

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this collection as a kid, particularly New Year's Evil, the comic where Scarecrow has a failed gothic romance. Rereading it, I was reminded of his seduction strategy:

Hide out in a small town and tear them apart with paranoia for the fun of it
Get ID’d by a cute law student with disabilities
Get laughed at by the Riddler
Terrorize cute law student with fear gas
Find out her greatest fear is her childhood bullying trauma
Suddenly feel intense connection
Offer to make her Mistress of Fear, complete with a straw corset
Get shot down
Get laughed at by the Riddler

Yes, I still ship them.

[Robyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

there is one bad part - SPOILER - in one of the tales, a dog is killed :(

otherwise, a cool collection of stories that's a throwback to vintage batman, and dialogue that by today's standards, may be a bit cringey lol....

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[allyways · Rating 4 out of 5]

BECKY MOVE OUT OF MY WAY THAT’S MY MAN

[Kaylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say? Scarecrow is my favorite, and I really like these stories.

[Scott Weatherby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only thing that's holding this story short of 5 stars is the writing style of the first 4 stories. The way they wrote batman is not the way I see Batman at all. I'll admit that Batman's writing style gets better as it goes on... but yeah.

Loved how scarecrow was written though; my favourite story was the seventh one.

[Dominique Lamssies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the the selection of most of the stories. This is a good cross section of The Scarecrow through the years. My complaint is the last two stories. In the early and mid 90's there were several choices that were better than "Mistress Of Fear" and "Fear Of Success" ("The God Of Fear" leaps to mind). Get it for the beginning few stories. Ignore the rest.

[Fugo Feedback]

Supongo que habré leído alguna de las historietas que componen este tomo, pero estoy seguro de no haberlas leídas todas. No creo que vaya a conseguir este tomo en castellano a un precio razonable, pero lo dejo como to-read por las mismas razones de siempre.

[Ryan Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun collection of old and newer stories of Batman and Scarecrow.