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Game Corner [Bat-Month]: Batman Forever (Mega Drive)

Dr. K2 Comments

Since his first appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a pop culture icon. September celebrates “Batman Day”, the perfect excuse to celebrate this grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 7 September 1995
Developer: Probe Entertainment
MobyGames Score: 5.8

Also Available For: Game Boy, Game Gear, MS- DOS, R-Zone, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)

Quick Facts:
Though divisive, Batman Forever (Schumacher, 1995) made over $330 million at the box office and was accompanied by both toys and videogames. While Acclaim’s arcade tie-in was met with mixed reviews, it still fared better than the vastly different home console versions. Reviews criticised the clunky, digitised sprites, the obtuse and ugly environments, and unintuitive controls, resulting in what’s been called one of the worst releases for the Mega Drive.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Batman Forever is a 2D, sidescrolling beat-‘em-up that sticks pretty closely to the plot of the film (except Dick Grayson/Robin, looking decidedly more adult here, is already Batman’s partner). The game supports both two-player co-operative play and, bizarrely, competitive play, in which players can attack each other, which seems a terrible idea given how awkward this game is. Unlike its predecessors, which were simple brawlers, Batman Forever opts to lumber the player with fighting game mechanics not unlike the Mortal Kombat games from the time (Midway, 1992 to 1995). The game offers two control schemes, though option two is for those with a six-button controller (honestly, the recommended way to play this nonsense). By choosing this option, up makes Batman (or Robin) jump, up and left performs a somersault, and tapping and holding up when jumping executes a glide. While this helps reach out of the way areas, you’re locking into this animation and at the mercy of the awful level layouts. You perform a roll by double tapping left or right and hitting A, hold B to block, and attack with A, B, X, and Z. These see you firing rapid punches high and low, kicking, sweeping the leg, or performing a roundhouse kick or uppercut depending on your stance. Enemies generally attack one or two at a time, but you perform back attacks with the right button combinations (none of which are displayed onscreen). Button combinations also activate the many gadgets. While some are available from the start, others are only obtained by finding blueprints and Batman and Robin have unique gadgets as well as sharing weapons like the Batarangs and grapnel gun.

Sadly, the crippling fighting game controls are the least of this awful game’s worries.

While you can only pick two additional gadgets per level, you get unlimited ammo and can switch gadgets after clearing levels. Batman can perform his weird-ass cape morph from the film, erect a holographic decoy, and toss smoke and flash pellets to disorientate foes. Robin primarily utilises his bo staff, whacking enemies and using it as a shield, though he can also throw tranquilizer darts. While the jumping is finnicky and the glide is even worse, these aspects aren’t too difficult to get to grips with and can even be fun. However, you’ll run into a literal dead end seconds into starting the game as Batman and Robin must use their grapnel to get about. It’s not always immediately clear where or when you use the grapnel, or even how as even the six-button layout sees you hitting up and X with precision timing in the right spot. Occasionally, you may need to fire it while standing to swing over gaps but you’re more likely to be awkwardly leaping to handholds to fling yourself to higher platforms. Jumping down is even crazier as you must hold C and press down, making even the most basic movements needlessly complicated. Some elements of the environment are destructible, gifting partial or full med kits and extra lives, while riddles interrupt the gameplay when collected. Each enemy has a health bar that must be whittled down in janky-ass combat and all enemies must be defeated to progress as it’s the only way to open previously locked doors. However, this is also pointlessly convoluted as it’s not always clear where the exit is (it often appears as regular parts of the environment!) A counter showing how many enemies are left and an onscreen arrow pointing you to the exit would’ve been nice! While most areas are straightforward, the visuals don’t make exploration easy and areas you need to get to are often hidden behind the many foreground elements, compounding the issue.

Grappling and basic exploration is an uphill battle thanks to the confusing level layouts.

Mostly, you’ll just be wandering about digitised approximations of locations from the movie, beating up thugs to progress and smashing walls for goodies or secret areas. At first, you’re using the grapnel and drop down a lot but these elements fade over time, replaced by awkward jumps, annoying gliding, and obtuse puzzles. While clumsily grappling about the bank, you’ll rescue guards and end up fighting Harvey Dent/Two-Face’s goons on the extracted vault. As if the confusing, largely vertical layout of the circus wasn’t bad enough, you’re also battling a timer as you hop to hanging lights. While you can collect clocks to add additional time, you have around five minutes to search for goons to beat up, which drops rope ladders and opens the roof so you can disarm the bomb (in a cutscene). While exploring Two-Face’s warehouse lair, you must destroy crates to progress or grapple up to hanging crates to bypass water (or maybe it’s acid?) hazards, occasionally using them as platforms to get past larger bodies and struggling with the game’s large hit boxes whenever those crushing presses are onscreen. As confusing and unsightly as Arkham Asylum is, things really take a nosedive in level five, where you must search all over for levers to kick, which open trap doors to new areas. Many loop you back to an underground section, though, forcing you to clamber to background handholds (when the game decides you can grab them) to get back to where you need to be…only for platforms to drop as you’re on them and the whole tedious process to start again! By comparison, battling through and onto a subway train is far easier, even with the electrical hazards, but it’s equally aggravating to fling yourself around Nygma’s Claw Island lair to activate six of Edward Nygma/The Riddler’s pods. Between the awful controls, unintuitive combat, and confusing layouts, everything is overly complicated and tiresome, with even simple shit like fighting enemies on a descending platform being tedious chores.

Presentation:
Sadly, Batman Forever ends up being a product of its time as it opts to use the same technology and techniques as Mortal Kombat to present digitised sprites and pre-rendered backgrounds in an attempt to be innovative and groundbreaking. Unfortunately, it ends up being unsightly and confusing as the game loves to block your view with foreground elements. As impressive as these may be, they don’t equate to enjoyable gameplay as you’re left scrambling about trying to grapple or drop to new areas. Batman and Robin look awful, flailing about in standard fighting poses and jerkily executing the basic moves you’d see in Mortal Kombat. It’s such a shame as the game might’ve been somewhat tolerable if the developers hadn’t used this restrictive format and had used a more traditional beat-‘em-up style of play. Instead, combat is wild and unpredictable, with moves sometimes missing or passing through your target or being cancelled as the computer reads your inputs. While Batman Forever doesn’t include the game’s bombastic score, it does feature some digitised voice samples, though the story is entirely related through boring text rather than digitised recreations of the movie, or even sprite animations. The visual presentation relies heavily on shadow, which is pretty ironic considering how vivid the film was, with colour only coming into play at the circus (and even then, its muddy browns and oranges). While you sometimes see enemies burst from their prison cells or drums and the environment often changes, the level layouts are all over the place and difficult to navigate as it’s never clear where you have to go.

The digitised sprites and ugly visuals make for an unappealing and aggravating gameplay experience.

While the title screen is disappointingly basic and the ending is little more than a still image of Gotham City and some congratulatory text, Batman Forever does a commendable job recreated locations from the movie. The game starts in Arkham Asylum, which is actually a deep cut reference to the film’s original opening, where crazed inmates burst from their cells as players traverse a rusted walkway with the city in the background. Arkham Asylum is very gothic, dark, and claustrophobic, which is fitting but also makes for a confusing opening stage as dead ends are everywhere. Next, you head to the bank that Two-Face robs in the film. This level sees you fighting past desks, large windows, and potted plants, visiting each floor via the cylindrical lift on the outside, where the overly ornate Gotham City stretches to the horizon. As mentioned, the circus brings some colour to the game but also additional anxiety due to the timer and the vertical layout. You must grapple and jump to trapeze platforms, past clown cars and stage equipment and to the rafters and lights in search of baddies to beat to reach the bomb, which explodes in a still image if you fail. Two-Face’s warehouse is a disappointingly bland visual follow-up, comprised mainly of wooden crates and storage containers, until you reach the boss area and see Two-Face’s bizarre décor recreated. Level 5 was equally disappointing, being mainly the Ritz Hotel in the background and various tunnels and rafters, but the subway made up for it by having you fight through the dark tunnels and atop a speeding subway train. Level 7 takes place in Wayne Manor and the Batcave below, where you’ll see the Batcomputer, Batmobile, and Batwing in the background (with the latter two being sadly unusable). Level 8 starts on Claw Island and then shifts to inside the Riddler’s madcap lair, which rises from the background, forces up a narrow cylindrical shaft, and features various elaborate, overly complicated, technologically stuffed rooms full of monitors and question marks.

Enemies and Bosses:
A bunch of disposable goons are littered throughout Batman Forever, all of whom sport their own names and health bars. I don’t recall ever fighting more than two at a time, however, so you’ll be constantly backtracking and searching for any enemies you’ve missed to open the next area or level exit. Enemies largely share the same basic moves as Batman and Robin, and between each other, though there are some variations. This means enemies can punch, kick, and roll at you but they’ll also burst from the background, throw you, and wield various weapons. The Arkham inmates attack with knives (or possibly the rags of their straightjackets), batons, and tasers, pulling off fancier combos than either Batman or Robin, while Two-Face’s suited-up thugs carry pistols or high-powered shotguns. His gimp-masked brutes are more likely to grapple you, tossing you around with wrestling-style moves, or thrust a chainsaw into your crotch! The circus clowns wear comically oversized boxing gloves, performing jumping split kicks, and either vomit or toss paint, it’s not clear which. Level 5 debuts the Riddler’s bizarre minions, who teleport about, fire sticky goop overhead, and erect an energy shield to negate your attacks. Sadly, that’s about it and Batman Forever is very light on bosses. In fact, there are barely four bosses to worry about here. You fight Sugar and Spice before your first encounter with Two-Face (who goes wild with dual knives) and dispatch the Riddler’s holographic doubles before fighting him on Claw Island. The Riddler is surprisingly formidable, whacking you with his cane, stunning you, and using energy waves. He also transforms into a hulking form that stomps, shakes the ground, and cracks you over his knee before reverting to his normal form for the finale. Two-Face also returns in the finale, leaving himself open whenever he flips his coin or mocks you while also boasting an impressive and wholly uncharacteristic bicycle kick!

Additional Features:
There are three difficulty modes available in Batman Forever (“Easy”, “Normal”, and “Hard”), though I didn’t care to find out what’s different about them. The game also gives you the option to turn the music off (probably best given how awful the soundtrack is) and play alongside a friend. You can also enable friendly fire and battle a friend in traditional one-on-one fights in the “Training Mode”, where other characters are also available to play as. Players must collect blueprints to unlock additional gadgets, but I wouldn’t say it was necessary as they’re all pretty similar, and can find hidden areas if they care to experiment. Batman Forever features a handy cheat code to enable a level select and one-hit kills, though this strangely doesn’t apply to the final Two-Face or Big Riddler bosses.

Final Thoughts:
I was honestly dreading playing this game as I’ve played the SNES version before through emulation and am well aware of how frustrating, ugly, and overly complicated it is. I wanted to give it a good go, though, and was surprised to find it quite beatable…if you enable those one-hit kills. While I’m a big fan of Mortal Kombat, translating those fighting game mechanics into a sidescrolling beat-‘em-up never works and Batman Forever is no different. Every fight is a chore and a coin toss regarding whether your moves will hit or miss. There’s a noticeable delay between pressing buttons and performing actions, Batman and Robin are clunky, and the level layouts are all over the place. Batman Forever tries so hard to be ground-breaking and innovative, using digitised sprites and pseudo-3D, pre-rendered environments to appear cutting edge, and in doing so is one of the ugliest games you’ll ever see from this time. The digitised sprites look awful, especially Robin, and the environments are needlessly complicated by obstructive foreground elements, confusing layouts, and the bizarre fixation on having you defeat every enemy. I liked that the game tried to mix things up with the timer gimmick and the looping path and grapple mechanics could’ve been fun, but they (like everything here) were executed so poorly. You’ll need a guide to perform even the most basic functions, the game’s awful at telling you where you need to go and what needs to be done, and the sheer lack of bosses and story elements is laughable. Of all the Mega Drive Batman games, this is clearly the worst and that’s saying a lot as I couldn’t beat the other ones! I would say that things might’ve fared better if the developers had ported or adapted the action-packed arcade game instead, but that was a manic mess of a game as well so it seems a videogame adaptation of Batman Forever was doomed to fail no matter what format it found itself on.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

Are you a maniac and somehow a fan of Batman Forever? Did you also struggle with the fighting mechanics and grapple or did you find them enjoyable? What did you think to the digitised spites and pre-rendered backgrounds? Which of Batman and Robin’s gadgets was your favourite? Did you also struggle to defuse the circus bomb? Were you disappointed by the lack of boss battles or did you find Big Riddler a fun surprise? How are you planning on celebrating Batman Day this year and what is your favourite Batman videogame? Whatever your thoughts on this version of Batman Forever, or Batman in general, please leave a comment below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Batman videogames for me to review.

Mini Game Corner [Bat-Month]: Batman Returns (Mega Drive)

Dr. KLeave a comment

Since his first appearance in the pages of Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a pop culture icon. September celebrates “Batman Day”, the perfect excuse to celebrate this grim and broody vigilante.

Released: October 1992
Developer: Malibu Interactive
MobyGames Score: 6.4

Also Available For: Amiga, Game Gear, Master System, Mega/SEGA-CD, MS-DOS

Quick Facts:
Just as Batman (Burton, 1989) was accompanied by a smorgasbord of merchandise and videogames from Sunsoft, so too was the controversial (but nonetheless profitable) Batman Returns (ibid, 1992). While Konami brought their success with sidescrolling arcade brawlers to the widely praised Super Nintendo version, SEGA got wildly different games released for their consoles. Though echoing Sunsoft’s work on the Mega Drive adaptation of Batman, this version of Batman Returns was regarding as a forgettable brawler at best and a frustrating, unsightly release at worst and is largely seen as inferior to its Super Nintendo counterpart.

First Impressions:
Batman Returns borrows quite a few elements from Sunsoft’s Batman adaptation for the Mega Drive, featuring a nearly identical options menu and some similar gameplay mechanics, while expanding the scope and giving Batman more toys. While you cannot change the game’s difficulty, you can still set how many lives you start with (three, five, or seven) and can now pick between a few control presets. I mapped attack to the A button, jump to B, and Batman’s “Special Weapon” to C. Batman still throws punches but can also execute kicks depending on which direction you press on the directional pad (D-pad). Batman’s feet are so well armoured that they protect him from bullets and attacks so you might want to throw a kick to defend yourself. When jumping, you can tap B to shoot Batman’s grapple and swing from overhead platforms, though you can still fire it upwards while standing still and pressing up and A. If you tap or hold C in mid-air, you either flap or spread Batman’s cape, allowing you to glide across gaps. This is marginally more useful than Batman’s somersault from the last game, but it has an energy meter and, more crucially, level design so cluttered, ugly, and confusing that you never know if you’re going to glide into a bottomless pit! You can replenish Batman’s health by grabbing hearts, collect 1-ups (or earn extra tries by accumulating points), and appear to have unlimited continues. However, this also comes with two major drawbacks that crippled my run. First, if you die when fighting a boss, you respawn at a pre-set checkpoint, meaning the boss’s health is restored. Second, if you exhaust all your lives and continue, you are sent back to the beginning of the stage, which makes Batman Returns needlessly frustrating very quickly.

Ugly graphics, horrendous music, and clunky controls make this a chore to play through.

Batman has a bunch of Special Weapons he can use with C. Each consume ammo, replenished by collecting item-specific power-ups, and is selected from the pause menu. Batman tosses Batarangs, stuns enemies with smoke bombs, fires his grapple gun, disorientates them with a swarm of bats, or throws “super seeking” Batarangs. These last three are the most powerful and cost the most to use so they’re best saved for boss battles, though I also found myself forced to waste a seeker Batarang when a shaft was blocked by enemies above. There are five levels (or “Acts”) with three stages each. Each Act sees Batman pull up in the Batmobile and swoop into the scene but, while Batman is a far bigger sprite than before, he still has no idle animations. He’s also a far bigger target and, though faster, is very slippery and as ungainly as ever. It doesn’t help that the visuals are uncomfortably distorted and pixelated. Batman Returns may retain the Christmas aesthetic of the movie and recreate elements like the gothic architecture and Max Shreck’s cat-themed shops, but it’s painful to look at and listen to. While there are some fun effects, like slanted buildings, and stages are far bigger than in the last Mega Drive game, it’s no fun struggling with the clunky controls, constantly taking damage from enemies or spike pits, or falling down a bottomless pit or to the bottom of the stage because hazards are obscured by foreground objects. Though enemies don’t respawn, everything is too zoomed in and too big, making it difficult to see or know where you’re going, health is sparse, and bosses absorb a bunch of hits before being defeated. While it’s fun seeing the Red Triangle Circus Gang rendered as enemies, it’s weird that stone gargoyles spring to life and attack you and Batman’s again forced to endure some needlessly aggravating platforming challenges.

My Progression:
Although I was immediately put off by the graphics and music of Batman Returns, I found Batman more durable than in the last game and was quite enjoying seeing recognisable landmarks from the movie recreated, however ugly, in each stage. Oswald Cobblepott/The Penguin’s goons and maniacal fowls litter each stage, exploding upon defeat, and stages contain multiple mini bosses. You soon fight Selina Kyle/Catwoman on the rooftops, for example, struggling to avoid her lengthy whip and frustrated to find she’s invulnerable when cartwheeling about. Gotham City itself attacks you as well, with those giant, ostentatious statues flinging gears from the background, and the Penguin battles you in a bell tower, flying about on his comical helicopter umbrella and tossing missiles. At first, this was a bit of a chore, especially as you must grapple up, avoiding gargoyles as you go, if you die against him. But, on my second try, I found the Penguin could easily be cheesed if you stay in one corner and throw punches. Things fell apart in Act 2, however, where one of the Penguin’s brutes stalks about atop one of Shreck’s department stores and tosses giant letters at you. This bastard follows your movements, meaning I couldn’t figure out how to grapple up to him without taking damage and, when I did, he decimated me with his meaty punches and kicks. Technically, this is where my game ended as I was so annoyed by this that I resorted to inputting the stage select code (a chore in itself!) I used this to skip to the inside of the store, where roller-skating punks, knife-tossing temptresses, and bomb-tossing jesters await before giant windows and around escalators. I then got my ass handed to me in a rematch with Catwoman that I had no hope of beating, found the next section started with an insta-kill rolling hazard I couldn’t avoid no matter how hard I tried, and skipped to the Red Triangle Circus stage…where a simple jump over a pit proved too difficult for this heavy-ass Batman!

Unintuitive controls and awful enemy placement make this short game frustrating and tedious.

Honestly, I was glad to be done with the game, which was an assault on my senses and a far cry from the simple, arcade action of the SNES beat-‘em-up. While I couldn’t reliably get the stage select code to work to check out the game’s later stages, a longplay I watched revealed that Batman Returns is only about half an hour long in the right hands. It also turns out that you have to grapple over that pit in Act III and battle through the background cages, but I’m buggered if I’m going to endure this game again any time soon. But, for due diligence, the rest of the game sticks pretty closely to the movie once Batman’s finished swinging about the Red Triangle’s ferris wheel, circus tent, and colourful, hazardous train. Act 4 takes him into the sewers, which feature rushing water slides, gun-toting clowns, and a maze of pipes. This leads to the Penguin’s frozen lair, where Batman slips about on frigid, precarious, often sloped platforms, avoiding icicles and riding ice floats. While there are sadly no vehicle sections here, you do battle the Penguin at the end of each subsequent Act. He flies about in Act 3 tossing buzzsaws, blasts you with toxic sludge from a giant cannon before unloading with his machine gun umbrella in Act 4, and pilots his giant duck vehicle in Act 5, which displays battle damage as you attack. Finally, the dishevelled and maniacal Penguin hops about his lair, blasting with his shotgun-like umbrella while electrical bursts flare overhead. After he’s defeated, Batman battles Catwoman one more time as the credits roll, with her being mysteriously spirited away by cats to end the game.

Continue?
My expectations were low for Batman Returns after how disappointing Sunsoft’s efforts were with Batman and having played the SNES version (through emulation) in my teens. I’ve always known that the Mega Drive version is an entirely different game, which immediately makes it far less appealing, but the reality is so much worse. For everything the developers improved from the last game, there are a bunch of bizarre decisions that make Batman Returns just as bad, if not worse. Visually, the game is dreadful. It’s so muddy and pixelated and almost impossible to see Batman against the drab, overly complicated backgrounds. They’re fantastically faithful to the movie, but that just makes it worse as half the time I couldn’t see enemies or projectiles and most of the time I had no idea if I was gliding into a bottomless pit. I liked Batman’s array of gadgets, but their usefulness is negligible as you’re probably just going to save them for the bosses. Batman’s weird glide doesn’t get much play, thankfully, and the grapple is restricted to just reaching higher ground, but Batman’s still a clunky character with limited moves in his arsenal. As if the visuals weren’t bad enough, the game sounds awful, lacking both Danny Elfman’s timeless score and jaunty tunes to make the janky gameplay more tolerable. I probably could beat this one now that I know how to get around that pit, but I have no desire to come back to it, especially when I could just emulate the SNES version or even try out a Mega Drive conversion of that game. This was ridiculously disappointing, doubly so as there are no vehicle levels despite Batman Returns feature three Bat-vehicles! I’d be surprised if you thought this game was any good but let me know if you did in the comments. While you’re here, why not check out my other Batman-related content or pop over to my Ko-Fi to drop a donation to keep the site going?

Mini Game Corner [Bat-Month]: Batman (Mega Drive)

Dr. K2 Comments

Since his first appearance in Detective Comics, Bruce Wayne/Batman has become a pop culture icon. September celebrates “Batman Day”, the perfect excuse to celebrate this grim and broody vigilante.

Released: 27 June 1990
Developer: Sunsoft
MobyGames Score: 7.4

Other Versions Available For: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Arcade, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, MSX, Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), PC, PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16, ZX Spectrum

Quick Facts:
At the tail-end of the eighties, “Batmania” swept the nation after Tim Burton eschewed his camp reputation in favour of a hugely successful and influential gothic feature film. This blockbuster hit was accompanied by a slew of merchandise, including a fondly remembered (if challenging) NES title and a generally well-regarded arcade title. The Mega Drive adaptation was developed by Sunsoft, who crafted noticeably different games for each console. The Mega Drive Batman was praised for its visuals and soundtrack, but criticised for being far too short to be truly challenging.

First Impressions:
Batman is a 2D, sidescrolling brawler that surprisingly follows the plot of the 1989 classic quite closely. Before starting, you might want to dip into the “Options” menu and tinker with the settings, which allow you to set your maximum number of lives (three, five, or seven) and set the game to “Normal” or “Hard”. From there, you’re given five continues and a limited supply of Batarangs and dropped into it. Batman tosses Batarangs with A, punches goons (or kicks their shins when crouching) with B, and jumps with C. You can double-tap C to perform a somersault but it’s far too unreliable for precision platforming between small, moving platforms. By pressing down and C, Batman jumps down wherever possible but again, watch out as you don’t want to drop into one of the many bottomless pits! Holding B sees Batman block and pressing up and C fires his grapnel, which snags parts of the environment and lets you reach higher ground or scale shafts. You’ll get points for each enemy you defeat (with most going down in one hit) and can refill Batman’s health, ammo, and lives by collecting specific items (usually placed over bottomless pits). Batman also features two autoscrolling vehicle sections, one where you blast through Gotham City in the awesome 1989 Batmobile and another where you cut through the skies in the Batwing. In both cases, you blast enemy vehicles with B and fire a limited supply of missiles with A, which you’ll want to stock up on as they’re seriously overpowered!

Clunky platforming and limited combat handicap Batman even when he’s in his fancy Batmobile.

Things start off okay in Batman. The title screen’s nothing to shout about, the story is a wall of text over digitised images, Danny Elfman’s memorable score is absent, and Batman doesn’t even have idle poses…but he swoops down at the start of each stage and there are occasionally partially animated cutscenes recreating scenes from the film. Batman’s quite clunky and awkward, shambling about and struggling with the finnicky platforming sections. At first, this isn’t a problem as you’re just punching respawning thugs, but things turn frustrating and unfair at the Flugelheim Museum. Pits are strangely all over the place here, with you hopping to moving platforms or grappling up narrow shafts, often as enemies shoot at you or chandeliers drop from above. The Axis Chemicals stage isn’t much better, featuring collapsible pipes, toxic sludge, conveyor belts, and narrow spaces that make manoeuvring Batman’s bulky ass even more aggravating. Being able to crouch-walk or giving Batman a slide or even the wall jump ability from the 8-bit Nintendo game would’ve really helped with this. While Batman respawns on solid ground if he dies, you must restart the stage from the beginning if you exhaust your lives and use a continue, which also resets your score. Respawning or continuing also starts you with the lowest health, meaning you can be easily killed very quickly, especially in the Batmobile stage as the car is surprisingly fragile! There are no combos or throws here and Batman’s gadgets are painfully limited. You’ll want to save your Batarangs and Batmobile missiles for tougher enemies and bosses, but the former are stopped by the environment and the latter are limited. Grappling is equally restrictive at times, primarily being used to get to higher ground to leap over crates and tackle enemies on balconies.

My Progression:
Batman recreates the movie with surprising fidelity, marginally impressing in some areas while also being painfully basic in others. In the first stage, for example, Gotham City stretches off to the horizon and the foreground is occasionally dotted by cars or filled with rain and lightning, but the same shops and buildings loop endlessly. Axis Chemicals is a bit more interesting but also appears cluttered and confusing. It’s never clear which pipes will burst or which jumps lead to bottomless pits, and it’s disappointing that the game doesn’t use digitised stills to show Jack Napier’s transformation into the Joker (even the Game Boy game did that!) The Flugelheim Museum may be a booby-trap filled madhouse, but it eventually resembles the art gallery seen in the film, only to reduce the Joker and Vicky Vale to static sprites as you fight the Joker’s roided-up henchman. I really enjoyed the Batmobile chase, which switches to an isometric perspective and has you racing past the city. Sadly, the Batmobile is as ungainly as Batman and can barely weave between the Joker’s goon cars. When faced with the more formidable tanks, the Batmobile is shredded in seconds unless you either stay back or get under their bombs. Despite how limited the combat is and the respawning enemies, Batman is quite easy to get to grips with…until you’re faced with the ridiculous platforming, then you burn through lives pretty quickly as troublesome enemies await on narrow platforms and pits exhaust your continues. This happened to me in Stage 4, right after clearing the Batmobile section, where a slew of mimes made traversing the power plant too taxing and I finally ran out of chances after being kicked down the pit or roasted alive one time too many.

Undone by the frustrating platforming, I never got to see the Batwing or final Joker fight.

Since there are no cheat codes for Batman and limited continues, I tapped out at the power plant, which was very disappointing as the next stage ends with a boss fight against that overly enthusiastic sword-wielding Joker goon from the movie and is followed by the Batwing section. This autoscrolling shoot-‘em-up mirrors the Batmobile stage but is far more visually impressive, especially in the way the Batwing tilts while flying. In this stage, you gun down the Joker’s attack helicopters and destroy his comical balloons, before battling a more formidable attack helicopter. As in the movie, the game culminates at the Gotham cathedral, which is full of the Joker’s trigger-happy thugs, spiked ceilings, and overhead walkways to grapple to. There are more bullets than ever here, though they’re nearly impossible to see when fired, and Batman must also contend with another sword-swinging brute, more fire-breathing mimes, bazooka-carrying baddies, and endure rematches against reskinned versions of the previous bosses! Surviving this onslaught leads to a gruelling spike-filled tower climb and a final confrontation with the Joker. Whereas Jack Napier simply stood there firing shots and relied on the nearby turret, bazooka goon, and acid pit to do his dirty work, the Joker fires flaming shots from his comically large hand cannon and, bizarrely, summons lightning blasts to fire across the ground. Ironically, it seems he’s incredibly easy to beat if you have enough Batarangs or jump in to land punches over and over, and the ending is simply a digitised rendition of the Joker’s demise with a splash of text and the credit roll.

I remember playing Batman on the Amiga as a kid, and the Game Boy version was one of the first games I owned for the handheld, and I even had this for the Mega Drive during my early twenties. I sold it off but got it back when I started collecting for the system, hoping for a simple little brawler that wouldn’t be too taxing. At first, that seems to be exactly what Batman offers. It’s ludicrously basic, even for an early Mega Drive title, translating only the bare minimum from the movie and next to nothing of the plot. The developers didn’t even use the in-game assets to recreate moments from the film save for a couple of instances, and Batman’s arsenal is as limited as his mobility and combat. This might’ve been tolerable if it wasn’t for the awful platforming sections. Batman either jumps too far with his somersault or falls painfully short with his dodgy basic jump, easily dropping down pits as a consequence only to drop down anyway when he lands due to knockback! The grapple is next to useless except to reach higher ground and the respawning enemies (particularly those aggravating sliding goons!) are a constant headache. The vehicle sections are fun ways to break up the awkward action stages, but the Batmobile wasn’t much easier to control than Batman and I can’t imagine the Batwing was much better. Batman is a game that’s handicapped by lumbering the Dark Knight with cliché videogame gimmicks like pits and platforms, meaning it’s not much fun fighting the bosses as they’re just bigger goons with cheap-ass attack patterns. But what do I know? I couldn’t beat the game and it’s apparently really easy! Maybe you beat it and found it quite enjoyable. Or maybe you prefer a different videogame adaptation of the movie, perhaps the arcade version? Maybe you can think of a better or worst Batman videogame to mention in the comics? And maybe you can donate to my Ko-Fi to help support the site.

Back Issues [National Superhero Day]: Kingdom Come

Dr. K3 Comments

In 1995, Marvel Comics created “National Superhero Day” and, in the process, provided comics and superhero fans the world over with a great excuse to celebrate their favourite characters and publications.

Story Titles: “Strange Visitor”
“Truth and Justice”
“Up in the Sky”
“Never-Ending Battle”

Published: May 1996 to August 1996
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist: Alex Ross

The Background:
While working on Marvels (Ross, et al, 1994), artist Alex Ross pitched a similar “grand opus” to celebrate DC Comics’ long and illustrious history. Inspired by a similar, rejected proposal by Alan Moore, Ross brought his signature photorealistic artwork to this acclaimed, thought provoking miniseries. Kingdom Come was such a hit that it spawned numerous spin-offs and follow-ups and has influenced DC Comics ever since.

The Review:
Perhaps the greatest DC “Elseworlds”, Kingdom Come begins with audience surrogate and main character, pastor Norman McCay, visiting the aged, sickly Wesley Dodds/The Sandman. Wesley has been driven to near mania by nightmares of an apocalyptic future, one akin to the “Book of Revelations” and dismissed as the delusions of a dying old man. Insistent to the end, Wesley begs Norman to read from the Bible to understand the coming crisis but passes before he can fully explain himself. Having met Wesley near the end of his life and shared many dinners with him, Norman is somewhat aggrieved that he took Wesley’s stories of his past heroics for granted, especially as this is a world (since designated Earth-22) where superheroes (or “metahumans”) are a controversial topic. Wandering the streets, Norman reminisces about how Wesley despaired of society, which placed so much faith in a new, more violent and less morally skewed generation of superheroes and wished more than anything for the legends of yesteryear to be remembered rather than reduced to mere pastiches by the likes of the Planet Krypton restaurant chain. Recognising that “hope” has become a precious commodity, Norman tries to take solace in scripture, but his faith is tested as the “mighty” far outweigh the “meek” and seem destined to inherit the Earth. The heroes of today are largely the children and grandchildren of legends, numbering in the thousands and fighting mainly for their own egos, having eliminated most old-school supervillains and caring little for the collateral damage their battles cause. Indeed, it’s up to normal folk like Norman to rescue crying children from these dangerous conflicts, though even he despairs for the fate of the world when Earth’s greatest and most belligerent “hero”, David Sikela/Magog, led the Justice Battalion against the confused and desperate Parasite and caused widespread devastation when he split Nathaniel Adam/Captain Atom open in a panic and decimated Kansas with a nuclear explosion.

The Spectre recruits pastor Norman McCay to observe and judge the world’s new and old metahumans.

Already suffering from the same horrific visions that plagued Wesley and rattled by these events, Norman believes he’s gone mad when Jim Corrigan/The Spectre appears and tasks Norman with assisting him in judging the world in Wesley’s absence. Though initially reluctant, Norman accompanies the Spectre to a seemingly innocuous midwestern farmland (actually an elaborate virtual reality environment tied to the Fortress of Solitude), where the aged, bitter, reclusive Clark Kent/Kal-El-Superman has exiled himself and his livestock after losing faith in humanity. Norman watches, unseen and unheard, as Princess Diana Prince/Wonder Woman visits Clark Kal and expresses concern for him, believing he has lost touch with humanity after all the losses he’s suffered. Annoyed at Kal’s dismissive stubbornness, Wonder Woman demands that he remember what he once stood for (“truth and justice”) and review Magog’s destructive behaviour. Though stoic, Kal’s obviously disturbed by the devastation, yet he urges Wonder Woman to return to Themyscira where she will be safe. The Spectre reveals that Superman’s exile caused many of his contemporaries to also give up their crusade, but not all: Wally West/The Flash (now pure energy) still patrols Keystone City as a lightning fast “guardian angel”, an unknown Hawkman protects the forests of the Pacific Northwest, and Alan Scott/Green Lantern guards the Earth from extraterrestrial threats from an emerald-hued space station. Bruce Wayne/The Batman also still maintains order in Gotham City (despite being confined to an exoskeleton) with a series of Batman-themed robots. Angered that their successors have become even more reckless after Kansas, Norman rages at the Spectre, asking why he or his “higher power” didn’t stop the madness. While the Spectre remains impassive, Norman’s pleas are answered when a noticeably changed version of Superman makes a dramatic return, immediately awing the masses but bringing only dread to Norman as his visions tell him this is a sign of greater conflict.

Although Batman refuses to join the new Justice League, Superman hopes to inspire the new heroes.

Norman finds himself displaced from time and space as the Spectre follows the pastor’s visions, eventually watching with horror as super-patriot (and aggressive fascist) the Americommando and his Minutemen attack immigrants coming to the United States. Luckily, the reformed Justice League (Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, the Flash, Hawkman, Kara Zor-L/Power Woman, and Raymond Terrill/The Ray) quell the danger, with Richard “Dick” Grayson/Red Robin also dispatching two psionics (the Brain Trust) who were escalating the situation. The Justice League then address the world’s press from the United Nations to state their intentions: namely, to inspire hope in people once more and mentor their misguided protectors into more benevolent force, though Superman is noticeably reluctant to discuss Magog given their history. Still puzzling the link between Superman and his prophetic visions, Norman accompanies the Spectre and Superman to the remains of Wayne Manor, obliterated years ago when Bane and Harvey Dent/Two-Face exposed Bruce’s identity. Since then, he’s lived in the Batcave, his crimefighting efforts largely aided by the deaths of many of Gotham’s worst criminals in unsanctioned bombings. Bruce dismisses Superman’s offer to join the new Justice League, persists in calling him “Clark”, and criticises Superman for pretending like the state of the world is anything new. Bruce believes the metahuman situation requires a finesse the Justice League isn’t equipped for and is as unimpressed that Superman recruited Dick (Batman’s former partner and adopted son) to his cause as Superman is that Gotham is now a police state ruled by fear. Bruce has his own allies (Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Dinah Lance/Black Canary, and Ted Kord/Blue Beetle) and his own plans to address the situation. Norman’s stunned at the bickering between Batman and Superman but watches with hesitant optimism as the Justice League, through diplomacy and force alike, turn others to their cause and bring hope to the masses.

Superman’s decision to imprison rebellious metahumans inspires an unlikely alliance for Batman.

Norman and the Spectre then observe a meeting between Lex Luthor and his “Mankind Liberation Front” (including Selina Kyle/Catwoman, immortal tyrant Vandal Savage, and Raʾs al Ġhūl’s heir (and Batman’s illegitimate son) Ibn al Xu’ffasch). Luthor offers medical aid to the Kansas victims while also outfitting survivors of the Belle Reve and Arkham Asylum massacres to arm vigilantes and metahumans to their cause, aiming to heighten tensions between humans and metahumans so humanity can reclaim their world through war. Justice League’s unexpected return sees Luthor’s plan escalate to a ten-day plan that largely depends on Billy Batson/Captain Marvel, who’s been swayed to Luthor’s manservant. Next, Norman observes as the Justice League gate-crash a metahuman bar and chastises the patrons, offering the chance to be better or be dealt with, only for the awestruck metahumans to receive an alternative pitch from Green Arrow. Still, many join Superman and setup their headquarters in Green Lantern’s emerald space station to spread their mission across the globe. When Superman shares his concerns about the resistance they’ve met, Wonder Woman takes him to Atlantis to ask King Arthur Curry/Aquaman to setup an underwater penal colony for rebellious metahumans. Although Diana tries to appeal to Aquaman by reveal that she’s been stripped of her royal heritage and has committed herself to improving the world, he refuses to grant the request as his focus remains on his people. Superman’s similar talks with Orion end in failure as he’s disappointingly become as grim and ruthless a ruler of Apokalips as his father, Darkseid. Although Scott Free/Mister Miracle and Big Barda provide the solution (a labyrinthine gulag built on the ashes of Kansas), this sees Batman and his allies join forces with Luthor in response. Superman’s worries about Wonder Woman’s anger are shelved when Magog resurfaces in the wastelands of Kansas, desperately trying to repair the damage he caused.

The reunion between Superman and Magog is as combustible as the tensions in the gulag.

When Superman chastises him, Magog challenges him to punish him, mocks him, and then blames the Kal for everything that happened ten years prior since he refused to change with the times and the people’s demands for darker, more violent heroes. Magog bitterly recounts how the Joker easily murdered the Daily Planet staff, including Superman’s wife, Lois Lane, because of the heroes’ refusal to kill. Magog had no such compunction and publicly murdered the Joker, only to be arrested by Superman and summarily acquitted for ending the Joker’s threat. Magog was then slighted when Superman refused to acknowledge him as Metropolis’s “number one” and exiled himself in disgust rather than fighting for that title. Interestingly, Magog isn’t some unhinged psychopath. Instead, he’s incensed that he had to become the man, the killer, Superman refused to be and blames him for it, submitting to Superman’s custody after raging at the Man of Steel. Yet, Norman’s cataclysmic visions only increase, especially as the gulag is filled within two weeks, its embittered inmates only incensed by Superman’s hologrammatic lectures. The events catch the attention of God-like beings like the Wizard, Shazam, the Phantom Stranger, and Ganthet, who refuse to intervene since the affairs of man are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. While observing this, Norman is approached by Boston Brand/Deadman, who questions the Spectre’s motivations as he’s lost touch with humanity since becoming God’s avenging spirit. While Superman and Wonder Woman debate metahuman ethics and motivations, Luthor subjects Captain Marvel to further brainwashing using a combination of his silver tongue, doctored videos, and Mister Mind’s psychic powers. Luthor the reconvenes with his allies, sure to keep Batman on side by talking of necessary evil rather than world domination and reveals that Superman’s no longer vulnerable to Kryptonite, though Batman assures him that the youths they’ve recruited are more than willing to fight.

Despite Norman’s pleas, the Justice League war with themselves over their conflicting views.

While listening in to Red Robin’s concerns about the gulag, Norman is stunned when the Flash drags him into the real world. Met with suspicion, Norman tries to warn Superman of the coming apocalypse, only for his fears to first be disregarded and then come to light by reports of a riot at the gulag. Although Superman orders it to be quelled peacefully, Wonder Woman orders the opposite, leading to some conflict between them ahead of their meeting with the United Nations. Despite Superman’s assurances, the representatives are unimpressed with their God-like saviours and their prison and ready to act for themselves, if necessary. When Luthor prepares Billy to capitalise on the gulag riot, Batman punches him out and betrays Luthor, subduing him and his allies and trying to reason with Billy, only for him to panic and explosively become Captain Marvel. Superman’s fears about Wonder Woman’s warrior lust come to a head when she dons her ceremonial battle armour and leads their allies to war when the gulag riot turns violent and fatal, forcing Superman to demand help from the Batman before things escalate further. After learning of Captain Marvel’s threat, Superman speeds to the battlefield, only to be intercepted by the Big Red Cheese and a fist fight to break out between them as the Justice League battles the rioting prisoners in all-out war! Norman is horrified to see his visions coming to life and begs the Spectre to intervene, though he refuses as he’s simply there to judge. While Superman unsuccessfully tries to talk sense into Captain Marvel, the United Nations tasks the Blackhawks with launching three multi-megaton nuclear missiles at the site, reasoning that the collateral damage is acceptable to ensure the survival of the human race. Norman watches as both sides (Wonder Woman, especially) use lethal force, all moral qualms abandoned, and Batman and his allies try and subdue and save whoever they can, leading Bruce and Diana into a moral and physical conflict.

Though many lives are lost, Norman appeals to Superman’s reason and a new age is born.

When they spot the incoming Blackhawks, Wonder Woman finally sees she’s consumed by anger and violence and tries to intercept the planes alongside Batman, toppling two of three. Superman struggles against Captain Marvel’s magic and desperately shuts him up, rendering him powerless, but is horrified to see the third, wayward nuclear missile heading towards them. When it easily shrugs off Superman’s heat vision, he hesitates to intercept it, unsure if he should keep it from destroying them all. Reasoning that Billy, who’s both man and demigod, is the best to make the decision, Superman begs for his help and releases him before racing towards the missile. The Spectre then turns to Norman and demands that he decides what should happen, shouldering the burden of judgement to the unsure priest, who sees “good” and “evil” on both sides. Ultimately, Norman’s unspoken decision impacts Superman and Billy, who transforms into Captain Marvel one last time and takes Superman’s place, unleashing his magic upon the missile and detonating it up high. Norman is as devastated as Superman to see the battlefield littered with charred corpses and few survivors. Overcome with grief and rage, Superman turns his wrath on humanity and, enraged at the Spectre’s impassive nature, Norman demands to talk sense into him. Thankfully, Norman succeeds, appealing to Superman’s better nature and talking him down, with him and the other survivors vowing to exist alongside humans as equals rather than acting as Gods. Thus, Batman follows in his father’s footsteps and becomes a healer, caring for any survivors and building bridges with his family; Wonder Woman reconnects with her sisters; Green Lantern joins the United Nations; and the Spectre thanks Norman for giving him perspective, with the whole experience having reaffirmed Norman’s faith in a higher power. After building a fitting monument to the lives lost, Superman works to restore Kansas and begins a new life with Wonder Woman as lovers, with them naming Bruce godfather to their pending child and the DC Trinity finally committed to making the world a better place together.

Final Thoughts: 
Unquestionably, Kingdom Come is an absolutely gorgeous and glorious piece of work from Alex Ross, with the artist’s signature, painted realism bringing these classic characters to life in ways never seen before. Although it’s similar to Marvels in that we follow a mortal man as he observes these God-like beings, Kingdom Come presents a possible future for the DC Universe with a new generation of violent anti-heroes. Thus, the likes of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman are aged and noticeably changed by time and conflict, meaning the story doesn’t present these characters at their physical peak and renders many in very different guises, yet it beautifully captures the spirit of their morals, conflicts, and very personalities in its morality tale. Superman, especially, is rocking a striking look. While his costume is extremely familiar, his signature S-shield is visibly simplified and tinged with black to show he’s still morning his losses and attempting to be the light against the dark. Wonder Woman is largely unchanged, but more focus is placed on her warrior heritage, especially when she shuns Superman’s more pacifist ways and takes up her Themysciran armour for war. Batman is only briefly seen in his recognisable suit in a flashback and is dramatically presented as physically broken and relying on an exoskeleton, but is no less cunning and capable, employing gigantic robotic bats to curb any crimes in Gotham and eventually donning a mechanised Batsuit for the finale. I especially liked Green Lantern’s emerald armour and the Flash’s disembodied look, and the blend of “Golden Age” and “Silver Age” heroes, such as using Alan Scott and Wally West. While these legendary heroes are changed, they’re still recognisable and inspire the same awe (and fear) from the masses, who embraced more violent heroes some time ago, ones whose designs are purposely exaggerated and “extreme”.

Classic heroes face new challenges in this alternative future in desperate need of hope.

Magog is the figurehead of this new generation. Donning golden, ram-like armour and wielding an energy staff, Magog won over the people when he did what other heroes refused to do and made violent supervillains pay for their crimes with their lives. It’s an interesting ethical quandary as, undoubtably, the Joker is more than deserving of the death penalty but, on principal, Superman cannot sanction wanton execution and is disgusted when the people embrace such violence. Interestingly, Magog isn’t exactly happy about having to be what Superman refused to be, and it’s implied he would’ve preferred to be more virtuous but was forced to fill that void because the “old guard” wouldn’t change. The absence of the legendary heroes and the rise of increasingly violent vigilantes saw conflicts escalate as “heroes” disregard the innocents caught in their crossfire and cause as much damage and death as they prevent, with them only resenting being locked up and judged by the reformed Justice League. While Superman urges his followers to teach and inspire first, he’s forced to imprison those who refuse to conform, which quickly skews his mission as he and the Justice League act autonomously, agitating the United Nations and causing many to question their methods. This is part of the reason why Batman refuses to join the new Justice League as he’s always been a little resentful of metahumans, but he also sees that the situation requires a more strategic approach. He allies with Luthor to influence those on his side away from all-out war and worldwide domination, though largely out of his own sense of self-preservation due to his stubborn nature. Though Wonder Woman urges Superman to reconnect with humanity, she’s ironically as separate from them as he since she takes a far more aggressive approach towards the rebels, believing that violence is often necessary to ensure peace and still clinging to her demigod status despite being ostracised from Themyscira.

Norman’s given an impossible task, one that will decide the fate of the entire world.

Norman is not only our guide through all this, but also the Spectre’s. Norman’s amazed by the events he witnesses, which test his faith in the metahumans of hold and in the almighty, with him astonished to see just how flawed and vulnerable these God-like beings really are. Norman’s understandably enraged at the Spectre, and God, for simply standing back and letting such awful things happen, though the Spectre impassively maintains that it’s not their place to intervene…only to judge. Norman’s journey is a tumultuous one, with him seeing heroes and villains on both sides, meaning his final judgement is clouded by shades of grey and isn’t as simple as saying they all deserve to live or die. This is the same conflict that laces disagreements between Superman and Wonder Woman, as one wants to preserve and improve life, and the other is adamant to protect it. In the end, Norman is faced with an impossible, heart wrenching decision that he seemingly subtly delegates to Superman and Captain Marvel, meaning Norman carries as much of the guilt for all the deaths as Superman. Yet, Norman has seen how inspiring these heroes can be and how they need to use their powers for the greater good by acclimatising with humanity, with both sides understanding that they’re each flawed and must work together for the greater good. I loved seeing Superman so consumed by guilt and rage that he became a wrathful God ready to scorch the Earth, and that Norman managed to appeal to his humanity and core values. It’s not a pretty end, as many lives are lost, much has been destroyed, and there’s a lot of work and healing to be done, but the message is clear: there’s hope for the future. This sees the DC Trinity reunite as equals, committed to improving the world using all their talents, rather than just being seen as God-like figures to be revered, feared, or hated. All this makes Kingdom Come one of the most emotionally engaging and visually stirring tales in all of comics and easily places it as one of the quintessential alternative takes on these beloved characters.

My Rating:

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Fantastic

Ae you a fan of Kingdom Come? Do you also appreciate Alex Ross’s artwork? Were you shocked to see the classic DC superheroes so changed by time? Do you prefer violent anti-heroes or those with a moral compass? Would you have saved or destroyed all the characters if you were in Norman’s shoes? Which DC Comics character is your favourite? How are you celebrating National Superhero Day today? Whatever your thoughts, leave a comment down below, support me on Ko-Fi, and check out my other superhero and comic book content.

Game Corner [Superman Day]: Superman: Shadow of Apokolips (PlayStation 2)

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In 2013, DC Comics declared April 18 “Superman Day” to celebrate Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman, the superpowered icon widely regarded as the first ever costumed superhero.

Released: 24 September 2002
Developer: Infogrames Sheffield House

Also Available For: GameCube
MobyGames Score: 6.2

Quick Facts:
Over his eighty-odd years as a pop culture icon, Superman has featured in numerous videogame adaptations. Following his runaway success with Batman: The Animated Series (1992 to 1999), Bruce Timm spearheaded an equally lauded Superman cartoon that led to the infamous Superman: The New Superman Adventures (Titus Interactive, 1999), widely regarded as one of the worst videogames ever. “Superman 64” was so bad that people often forget about this marginally more positively received action adventure, a continuation of the cartoon that was seen a decent but ultimately lacklustre effort hampered by clunky controls.

Gameplay and Power-Ups:
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips is a third-person, cel-shaded, 3D action-adventure game set within the continuity of Superman: The Animated Series (possibly between the first and second seasons). The game is divided into thirteen chapters, with no difficulty levels and some surprisingly generous checkpoints. Superman has all his usual abilities but is still vulnerable, so you must wait for his health and “Super Power Energy” to automatically replenish when you take damage or use his various superpowers. Players lock on to nearby targets with L1 and R1 (though there’s no way to cycle between targets), execute a surprisingly weak and boring combo with X, and also hold X to grab things. You can lift cars, crates, and explosive barrels to toss at enemies, grab billboards to make bridges, and carry civilians to safety. When enemies are stunned, you can also grab them to send them flying with a “Super Punch”. Square pulls off a “Speed Dodge” to avoid damage, Triangle unleashes your heat vision, and Circle blows enemies away or extinguishes fires with super breath. While on the ground, you can press X and Square together to perform a “Super Spin” to send enemies flying, or press it while hovering or flying to hit a slam attack for crowd control. While the left stick moves Superman, the right controls his flight. You take off by moving the right stick up (or pressing R2), bank and strafe while flying, and land by holding down or double-tapping R2. While in the air, you can press X and Square together to speed up, ramming into enemies, through certain doors, or chasing airborne targets. Finally, you can enter first person mode with L2 to better aim your heat vision or hold Circle to highlight hidden destructible walls with your x-ray vision.

When not awkwardly fighting or saving civilians, Superman struggles to sneak past eagle-eyed scientists.

While these abilities can be fun, they do have drawbacks. Their limited use is the most obvious, but many enemies take a lot of hits to put down. Sure, you can set most on fire with your heat vision and blow them back with your breath, but these don’t do much damage. It’s usually better to toss cars or swing pipes than to use your fists, and Superman is constantly being knocked from the sky or into walls by missiles. Superman is rather clunky to control, both on the ground and in the air. When you get used to the janky controls, the flying mechanics are quite fun but, when asked to dart at enemies or perform precision turns, the gameplay fells apart. The finnicky camera doesn’t help, either. You can centre it with L2, but I constantly lost track of who I was targeting or had my vision obscured by the environment. Superman’s powers are primarily used for busy work, and in very rare,  specific situations. You’re more likely to be getting civilians to safety or retrieving objects than putting out fires with your super breath, for example, with Superman opting to plug lava spills and volcanic eruptions with boulders and coolant tanks later in the game. Heat vision is often used to seal objects, but only after you’ve mashed X like a madman (a frustrating mechanic that often failed for no reason). Amusingly, one level sees you infiltrating LexLabs as Clark Kent, using your heat vision to short out control panels and security cameras and sneaking past Lex Luthor’s scientists. You do this by clumsily walking behind them and hoping they don’t randomly spot you because the game decides they should, making for one of the worst stealth sections I’ve ever played. Clark must also dash past laser traps, mash X to fight past a giant fan, gently blow about explosive mines, and repair leaking gas pipes with cylinders, none of which is particularly fun.

Your objectives are not only repetitive, but needlessly frustrating, especially when you have a time limit.

When he’s not rescuing civilians and smashing Intergang’s robots, Superman is defending scientists or police officers from said robots, escorting guards through Stryker’s Island Penitentiary at one point and helping to apprehend rioting inmates. Often, Superman faces a time trial to resolve some crisis, with your time represented by little red dots that creep around your radar. At the dam, you must find and replace three generators, fly to Lois Lane’s endangered cable car, and then frantically mash A to plug up the dam before it bursts. When LexLabs threatens to self-destruct, an audible fifteen-minute countdown pressures you to wipe out all nearby enemies, activate switches, and then bring a glowing orb to a control panel to stop the sequence. However, you then have a scant few minutes to plug another gas leak and extract the poison from the area. Deep in Intergang’s mountain lair, you must protect three scientists as they activate Luthor’s portal technology and then get about five minutes to cool down the overactive reactor, all of which can be extremely aggravating as Superman moves and fights like a bag of sand. Things are much easier when you’re not being timed and you can freely take out tanks, soldiers, and turret placements to defend shield generators or scientists. In the dam level, you must cool down fuel tanks with your breath and break open doors to find civilians; at one point you must take out waves of enemies to open new areas and short out five control panels; and you’re often asked to destroy a certain number of enemies to clear each area. It all gets quite repetitive and challenging very quickly, with the awkward controls and tight time limits artificially increasing the difficulty of even mundane tasks, and the sheer number of enemies and projectiles is often as daunting as it is frustrating. I admire the attempt at some variety but there’s very little margin for error, button inputs often fail to register, and Superman’s powers aren’t used as much as I’d like (I only used his x-ray vision once, for example, and even then it was confusing!)

Presentation:
Superman: Shadow of Apokolips opts for a cel-shaded look to better represent the cartoon and therefore  looks pretty good, having aged rather gracefully and visually appearing like the animated series. This is aided by Tim Daly and Clancy Brown reprising their famous roles and adding further authenticity to this as a “lost” episode. Consequently, the likes of Lois Lane, Perry White, Jimmy Olson, and even the tyrannical Darkseid pop up in cutscenes as cameos, though sadly Lois and Darkseid play almost no part in the in-game action. On the downside, the game isn’t tailored for newcomers to the series or character, explaining basically nothing about this world and restricting exposition regarding Superman’s powers to tutorial text and unlockable biographies. Superman looks just as he did in the cartoon, being bright, broad-shouldered, and powerful. Even Clark makes an impression in his eggshell-blue suit, even if his stealth skills aren’t anything to write home about! The game performs pretty well, though combat is often sluggish and Superman always feels like he’s moving through jelly. Enemies conveniently teleport in or come crashing through walls so there’s very little pop-up, there’s no distance fog either as every level is constrained to a small area, though I did notice moments of slowdown when a lot was happening and the load times are pretty atrocious.

While the game perfectly mirrors the cartoon, environments are as tedious as the gameplay is clunky.

Things start off promising here as the opening tutorial sees you flying around Metropolis, which appears just as it did in the cartoon, warts and all. This means that while you’ll see skyscrapers, bustling traffic, and the iconic Daily Planet building, buildings are incredibly basic and blocky, with no textures and simple colours bringing them to life. While this mirrors the minimalist style of the cartoon, it does make the game seem very basic, lifeless, and samey. This is exacerbated when you’re stuck in the claustrophobic corridors and rooms of Luthor’s facilities and Intergang’s lair, which assault your eyes with drab greys and browns. To be fair, these environments try to spice things up by basing Intergang’s operation within a volcanic mountain, with lava spilling out, flames bursting from the floor, and volcanic eruptions needing to be plugged. Intergang also use Apokoliptian technology, apparently trying to create a Boom Tube, and their lair does eventually fall apart around you. The dam stage made for a good follow-up to Metropolis as well, featuring different areas with different crises needing to be averted, and I did enjoy escorting the guards around Stryker’s Island, which is damaged by Intergang’s attack and caught in a thunderstorm. Unfortunately, that’s about as crazy as locations get as, despite its title, you don’t visit Apokolips or venture off-world. I did enjoy fighting John Corben/Metallo in Luthor’s office in the penultimate chapter, especially as the walls take battle damage from your fight, and that you confront Metallo in an auto factory, but environments are still disappointingly bland and there’s rarely a chance to fully flex Superman’s muscles or stretch his legs.

Enemies and Bosses:
Things are equally disappointing here as you fight the same, generic enemies over and over. Conveniently, Intergang deploy humanoid androids, meaning Superman can fight them without breaking his “no kill” rule. The Intergang robots are as basic as it gets, often just standing in place and shooting (though they occasionally take cover) or whacking you with their weapons up close. These robots carry machines guns and Apokoliptian plasma rifles, sometimes snipe from above, and later self-destruct upon defeat. Sometimes they use jetpacks, or pour from armoured personally carriers, and their slightly lager variants wield rocket launchers that send you flying. Intergang bolsters its forces with a few military armaments, like turrets and tank-like vehicles. These can be tossed or simply bashed, but sport chainguns, plasma cannons, and missile launchers. Intergang also employ Apokoliptian attack copters that can be tricky to target as they’re quite nimble, but they simply circle around the main areas so you won’t need to chase them or anything, and you’ll sometimes find mines in crates. That’s literally it for the basic enemies as they never get, like, energy swords or tasers or shields and there are no hulking brutes to match wits with. It’s just the same enemies recycled again and again. To be fair, there are a lot onscreen at once, but this isn’t a good thing as Superman’s better in one-on-one fights. Also, while on Stryker’s Island, you come up against the rioting inmates, but these guys are knocked out with a single punch or left dazed to be comically punched into their cells and are hardly a threat.

You wait all game for the bosses to show up and then they’re ridiculously dull affairs.

The bosses are even more of a let-down, with your first test being to chase down and disable a helicopter, a mechanic that never returns. When you finally confront the Intergang Leader, he turns out to just be a more formidable version of the regular enemies. Once you shoot him from the sky, deal with his minions, and whittle down his life bar, you must quickly dash him to drop him into molten metal or the fight repeats until you succeed. Similarly, while I was excited to see the Machiavellian Iluthin/Kanto appear, Darkseid’s weaponeer simply fights in you in a variation of the same tanks you see everywhere. Oddly, the game ends with three consecutive boss battles, starting with a three-phase fight with Leslie Willis/Livewire. As you’ll be electrocuted if you touch her, she teleports about, and her electrical blasts either stun-lock you or send you flying, you must trick her into falling into water. You can do this by side-stepping her attacks and blasting bridge controls with your heat vision, but you can also whittle her down by tapping Triangle to fire concentrated blasts. To short circuit and finish her, you must avoid her attacks and fight the useless camera and destroy seven locks with your heat vision, gaining only a temporary reprieve when you blast her away as her health regenerates. Rudy Jones/Parasite is fought on the city streets, where you toss cars and blast him with heat vision from a distance and extinguish his fires. While he’s constantly flying around, tossing energy bolts, and regenerating health, your best bet is to crash into him and land your slam attack to make short work of him. Finally, you face Metallo in a multi-stage fight across two chapters. Metallo fires a deadly Kryptonite beam, rushes you, grabs you and punches you across the room, and later wields a machine gun and an Apokoliptian plasma rifle. It’s best to toss stuff at him and use your eye beams as your punches don’t do much, but you’ll have to quickly fly up and blast a control panel if you want to best him.

Additional Features:
That’s about it for Superman: Shadow of Apokolips. There are no collectibles to find, no difficulty modes to challenge, and no skins to unlock (which is criminal for a superhero game, if you ask me). As you clear each mission, you can freely replay them from the “Level Attack” menu, though there’s little point as there’s nothing to go back for and no time trials or anything. Clearing the game also unlocks the cutscenes to view in the “Movie Theatre”, character biographies, and loading screens to look at if that’s your thing. Thankfully, you don’t have to unlock these or deal with the onslaught of enemies as there are some super helpful cheat codes to access everything and enable invincibility and such. These cheats won’t help you beat the horrendous timed missions, but they do make the game more bearable.

Final Thoughts:
I was really excited to play Superman: Shadow of Apokolips. Ever since I started collecting for the PlayStation 2, this game had been on my wish list and I purposely scoured a retro videogame market in mid-2025 to find a copy, believing it would be a fun (if mindless brawler) that mirrored the cartoon. Well, the last part was right, at least. Superman: Shadow of Apokolips looks really good, especially for a PlayStation 2 title, thanks largely to its cel-shaded aesthetic that perfectly captures the vibe of the cartoon. Sadly, it’s all downhill from there as this is a clunky, aggravating mess at the worst of times and repetitive nonsense at the best. While Superman looks great and occasionally feels fun to control in the air, his attacks and powers are pitifully weak, with no new combos or abilities being added to your arsenal as you progress. The enemies are painfully tedious, especially considering Superman’s colourful rogues’ gallery, and your objectives rarely challenge you to do more than fetch stuff against a tight time limit. It got to the point where I was almost wishing for a ring-based time trial! It was so monotonous, and even Clark’s stealth section didn’t add much variety as it was so poorly implemented. The worst part was the back-loaded boss battles, which could’ve easily been sprinkled throughout the early and mid-game, and the lack of a confrontation with Darkseid, who basically appears as a cameo, leaving all the heavy lifting to the far less interesting Metallo. I was so disappointed by Superman: Shadow of Apokolips, which is more frustrating than enjoyable as even simple busy work is complicated by the janky controls and clunky camera, sadly resulting in yet another poor videogame outing for the Man of Steel.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

How high do you rate Superman: Shadow of Apokolips? Were you impressed by the cel-shaded look and fidelity to the cartoon? Did you also find that Superman was quite difficult to control and his powers were poorly implemented? Were you disappointed by the repetitive environments and back-loaded boss battles? Would you have liked to see a sequel where Superman actually fights Darkseid? Which Superman videogame is your favourite and how are you celebrating Superman Day today? Whatever your thoughts, share them in the comments below, check out my other Superman content, and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest another Superman game you’d like me to review.

Back Issues [Crossover Crisis]: Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!

Dr. K2 Comments

Cover-dated April 1985, the first issue of Crisis of Infinite Earths (Wolfman, et al) precipitated the destruction of the “Multiverse” and what better way to celebrate than with a “Crossover Crisis” of my own?

Published: September 1994

Writer/Artist: Dan Jurgens

Quick Facts:
After DC established an infinite number of parallel worlds in Showcase #4 (1956), writers like Mark Wolfman became frustrated with this concept and spent two years planning Crisis on Infinite Earths, one of the greatest comic book crossovers. However, while the likes of Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman and Wally West/The Flash benefitted from this reboot, others like Carter Hall/Hawkman did not so writer/artist Dan Jurgens sought to correct this about ten years later with Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! Accompanied by numerous tie-in issues and occurring during the “Dark Age” of the industry, the story is largely regarded as a confusing, poorly executed mess that created more problems than it solved.

The Review:
As if numbering this miniseries in reverse order (so the story starts in issue #4 and concludes in issue #0) wasn’t unique enough, each page and/or panel takes place at different times, both literally and relatively, making this a confusing time-based tale. The story begins at the literal end of time, when destructive, unstoppable entropy has engulfed the cosmos. Here, an unseen force executes the mysterious Time Trapper while berating the cloaked figure and others like him for flaunting their omnipotence and yet allowing injustice to prosper. This powerful, unseen figure then harnesses entropy’s destructive power and vows to end the universe’s suffering. His actions (unseen at this point but probably related in one of the event’s many tie-in comics) are detected by Metron, the scientific advisor to almighty Darkseid, who’s so concerned by the unravelling universe that he defies his master and seeks out allies to halt annihilation. Our first indication that something is very wrong with time occurs in Gotham City, where the Joker’s latest killing spree is unexpectedly ended by Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, apparently back in her prime and perplexing even Bruce Wayne/Batman since she was dramatically paralysed by a gunshot some time ago. The enigmatic Linear Men, who monitor and safeguard time from a pocket dimension, then observe entire timelines being erased, dispatching Matthew Ryder/Waverider and Rip Hunter to investigate. In the 64th century, Wally West/The Flash notices the surreal light engulfing the world and learns from Waverider that entropy is ceaselessly making its way back through time, wiping out everything in its path. Though Waverider’s powerless to stop it, Citizen Abra/Abra Kadabra and the Linear Men suggest that the Flash create a super-speed vortex. However, Waverider realises all-too late that the effort is futile and is unable to keep the Flash from running to his untimely doom just like his mentor in the previous Crisis, resulting in the death of the 64th century and Waverider vowing to honour Wally’s sacrifice.

Waverider desperately gathers the forces of justice to stand against Extant and this time rifts.

Their next stop is 57000 A.D, where a youthful Harold “Hal” Jordan/Green Lantern (plucked from before he became the malicious Parallax) is currently battling entropy. Green Lantern’s efforts only feed the destructive force, however, causing it to obliterate Hal and Rip. Before he dies, Rip tells Waverider to research the previous Crisis. Disregarding an anomaly in the timestream, Waverider returns to Vanishing Point and is horrified to learn of the last Crisis and frantically heads to Earth for help, arriving to find Hawkman fluctuating between his various incarnations, Alan Scott/Green Lantern randomly de-aged, and reminding Jay Garrick/The Flash of Barry Allen’s fate while simultaneously informing him of Wally’s leaving Jay heartbroken at having lost the men he considered sons. When Waverider transports the Justice Society of America (JSA) to Vanishing Point, they’re mysteriously separated and attacked by the malevolent Extant. Metron recruits Batman and Superman, who call an emergency meeting of all costumed heroes (though Metron fails to enlist Jim Corrigan/The Spectre’s help as he’s unconcerned by natural disasters). Already rattled from experiencing his own time anomalies, Superman stops to assist the debuting Bartholomew “Bart” Allen II/Impulse (displaced from the 30th century) and recruits him. Earth’s heroes discuss the time anomalies, which see heroes pop in and out of existence, the various Hawk-beings merged into a single, God-like entity, and timelines to merge as the Crisis worsens. Waverider brings the group up to date (inspiring Guy Gardner/Warrior to attempt to change Hal’s fate) but quickly teleports to Vanishing Point when he senses the JSA are in trouble. When he arrives, Extant has killed Al Pratt/The Atom and Kent Nelson/Doctor Fate and rapidly aged Doctor Charles McNider/Doctor Mid-Nite and Rex Tyler/Hourman (to the point that he dies). Although the grief-stricken Alan’s ring is depleted, Waverider gets his comrades to safety and confronts Extant, horrified to find his future self behind the mask and not Hank Hall/Monarch as he suspected!

Parallax is revealed to be the mastermind behind the Crisis and wishing to reset time in his image.

Extant reveals that he’s the amalgamation of Waverider, Monarch, and others, having assimilated incredible powers, amassed an army, and spread entropy to birth a new world. Extant teleports Waverider and the others away since it’s too soon for them to fight, though the shattered, aged JSA quit from superheroics due to their losses, officially making Kyle Rayner the only Green Lantern. Inspired by their sacrifices, Superman and the others transport to the 30th century with Metron. As they struggle to halt the entropy, Kara Zor-L/Power Girl suddenly goes into a mystical labour, and Warrior suddenly sprouts weapons by mere thought, they’re attacked by Extant’s brainwashed Team Titans before the man himself attacks…as his future self watches on! Waverider desperately teleports the others away right before Extant plunges his hand into his body and absorbs his incredible time-based energy, assuming Waverider’s guise and completing his time loop as an unseen other retrieves Alan’s discarded power ring. Returned to the 30th century, Metron has Superman and Princess Diana Prince/Wonder Woman hurl his “Mobius Chair” into the entropy rift and Captain Nathanial Adam/Captain Atom pour his full power into it, creating a Boom Tube that successfully dispels the rift. Unfortunately, entropy continues to ravage the timelines, shredding John Henry Irons/Steel and leaving Warrior distraught. Still, angered at his plans being disrupted and his armies defeated, Extant’s past and present-selves merge to ponder the rampant entropy rifts, only to be blind-sided by a greater power for attempting to usurp his plans for reality with the rifts, which erase Impulse and Michael Carter/Booster Gold. Luckily, Jay convinces guilt-trips he Spectre into joining the fray right before he also dies and the few survivors flee to Vanishing Point to restore Waverider. Although he arrives too late to save the Batman from being torn apart by a random rift, Waverider leads the assault against Extant (which leaves Doctor Ray Palmer/The Atom de-aged to a teenager!), only for Parallax to finally assert himself as the man behind the destruction of time!

Although Parallax’s mad ambitions are stopped and reality is reset more naturally, the cost is high.

Determined to re-write reality to undo all the injustices they’ve suffered, Parallax wills entropy to engulf all that ever has or will be in the hopes of starting fresh, reshaping reality from a pocket dimension of pure, white space as the handful of shocked survivors watch. Although Guy and the others think he’s mad, Parallax vows to ensure all of them, even the time displaced Batgirl and Extant, get the world they desire, utilising leftover chronal energy and cosmic power from the first Crisis to effectively make himself a God. Having saved a handful of others and spirited them away to Vanishing Point, Waverider proposes piggybacking off Parallax’s efforts and restarting the universe in a more natural way, rather than allowing Parallax to decide who exists and who doesn’t, bringing them into conflict with Batgirl and those who want their worlds back. Lamenting having to fight his old allies and amazed that they would oppose his promise of paradise, Parallax easily fends off Superman and even the wrathful Spectre. While Oliver Queen/Green Arrow tries in vain to reach his friend and laments how far he’s fallen, Waverider has Superman and a few others channel their awesome powers through him, which he then redirects to confused outcast Grant Emerson/Damage, with the remorseful Batgirl sacrificing herself to protect the boy from Parallax’s fury. Heartbroken by how far his friend’s fallen, Green Arrow does the only thing he can and fire an arrow at the weakened Parallax, seemingly killing Hal and leaving the stage clear for the super-charged Damage to spark a new big bang. Thanks to Waverider’s intervention, Superman and the others watch as a new timeline forms, restoring many lost during the Crisis but leaving others, like Batgirl, lost to memory. Although Power Girl rejoices at having birthed new life in this new world, Green Arrow is left devastated and the survivors are both rattled and haunted by the experience, which caused numerous changes to their history (such as Warrior losing his armour and Batman no longer knowing who killed his parents, and the “Modern Age” of superheroes having only started “10 Years Ago” with the debut of Superman).

Final Thoughts: 
As I really started getting into comics during the 1990s, Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! was possibly the first Crisis event I ever read (or, at least, the one I read the most). I’ve only ever read the main five issues and a few of the tie-in and aftermath issues, which mainly dealt with our heroes encountering other versions of themselves or bizarre time anomalies. However, I would probably advise that you seek out the complete event as the main story can be confusing without context. For example, Superman says he encountered his Kryptonian parents and different versions of Batman, Warrior’s left devastated by some unexplained loss, and it’s clear that key events are missing from the main story. This may be the first DC event where the tie-in issues were semi-required to fully grasp what’s going on, which does impact the story as it’s so crammed with characters and events that it’s difficult to keep track of what’s happening and a chore to read at times. Every panel is stuffed with heroes and word bubbles, with many just standing around aimlessly, justifiably confused, or summarily executed by the entropy rifts. This means Raymond “Ray” Terrill/The Ray is left spouting “Cool!” and hovering in the background before randomly helping to kick-start the new big bang, and powerhouses like Matrix/Supergirl are as powerless to stop the destruction as the likes of Richard “Dick” Grayson/Nightwing, who joins Batman in a futile attempt to save lives. However, I did like that the heroes were determined to save as many as they could, and to intervene when the timelines merged, even though it was blindingly obvious they couldn’t stop the entropy, and how devastated they were when they inevitably failed. The stakes are definitely high and the heroes are constantly fleeing, reeling from their losses, or trying new ways to halt the destruction, keeping tensions high as they constantly fail.

This confusing mess of a Crisis is bogged down by copious exposition and cluttered action.

However, the pacing is all over the place. One minute, things are going a mile a minute; the next, things grind to a halt, and the cluttered panels are filled with endless dialogue as Waverider describes what’s going on. This really comes to a head in issue #0, where Waverider plucks the survivors from a microsecond of time and they witness the rebirth of the universe, all while Waverider waffles on about how they have one shot to re-join the timestream and it must be at the exact moment. He then explains, in great and confusing detail, why the likes of Batgirl (and, it’s assumed, Kyle) are dead but Batman and the billions of others are alive. Conveniently, this is because those latter examples died before the timeline reset; but anyone killed afterwards is really, truly dead. This does tie into Green Arrow’s grief and anger as he’s devastated at being forced to kill his best friend, despite having no choice as Hal was clearly mad with power and had appointed himself judge and jury over all lives and timelines. Green Arrow gets into a physical and ethical debate with Batgirl regarding this as Batgirl simply wants to live, just as the other anomalies want their worlds and lives back, and they briefly defend Parallax since he promises to give them everything they want. Though impressed by Batgirl’s spirit, Green Arrow echoes Warrior’s sentiments and believes Parallax isn’t qualified to make these decisions since it defies the natural order, but Oliver is distraught at being forced to take such extreme actions and this informed his characterisation for a while in the aftermath. Sadly, this comes far too late in the main story to be as impactful as it could be. I’m sure it’s fleshed out more in a tie-in comic but it’s noticeably lacking here, just like Warrior’s desire to undo Hal’s corruption and restore the Green Lantern Corps, which ends up being just one of many sidebars that aren’t resolved in the main story.

Extant and Waverider don’t make for compelling characters, making the story more dull than exciting.

As Zero Hour features time travel shenanigans, it makes sense for it to be confusing story and that the likes of Metron and Waverider must rattle off a lot of exposition. It gets frustrating as every issue reiterates a lot of this information, and if you’re not a big fan of Waverider, like me. I liked the twist that Extant was a gestalt entity comprised of different time-based powers and people, reducing him to an energy-based being with no real identity who sowed destruction for this own ends. I quite like Extant and feel he got short-changed here as he was rendered completely impotent once Parallax emerged from the shadows. Consequently, I think Zero Hour would’ve been far better and more coherent if Parallax had been the antagonist from the start, going around time destroying and absorbing power from the likes of Extant, the Time Trapper, and Waverider, just to give the story more focus and really emphasise how shocking it is when the JSA are de-aged and killed and characters are erased. This would’ve been a natural evolution of his original turn when he destroyed the Guardians of the Universe and would’ve made for more drama as his former allies lamented his madness and struggled with fighting him, rather than Extant constantly unmasking to be different people, and could’ve even seen Hal’s past self confronted by his future, corrupted counterpart. While the art is okay, Zero Hour suffers from having far too many characters crammed into every panel, making it difficult to keep track of who’s still around or not. I liked the depiction of entropy erasing characters and timelines, especially as a metaphor for DC literally streamlining their time, but the execution was lacking as it left Hawkman a combined entity rather than simply resetting him and I always come out of this story wondering what the purpose was beyond being a cluttered celebrating of DC’s colourful characters. Sadly, it falls very short and everything that happened in it was rewritten eventually, with even Parallax being redeemed, making the entire story forgettable and pointless.

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

Were you also disappointed by Zero Hour: Crisis in Time!? Were you able to follow all the time-based nonsense and exposition? Are you a fan of Waverider and Extant or did you also find them dull characters? Which of the deaths was most impactful or senseless to you? Were you a fan of Hal’s turn as Parallax and do you agree he should’ve been the sole villain here? Did you like the changes made to DC following Zero Hour? Which Crisis event was your favourite and what are some of your favourite cosmic events? Tell me what you thought about Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Crisis events for me to cover.

Back Issues [Robin Day]: Batman #440-442 / The New Titans #60-61

Dr. K1 Comment

In April 1940, about a year after the debut of Bruce Wayne/Batman, DC Comics introduced “the sensational find of [that year]”, Richard “Dick” Grayson/Robin. Since then, many have assumed the mantle and the Dynamic Duo have become an iconic staple of DC Comics.

Story Title: “A Lonely Place of Dying”

Story Title: “Part 1: Suspects”
Published: 31 August 1989 (cover-dated: October 1989)
Writers: George Pérez and Marv Wolfman
Artist: Jim Aparo

Story Title: “Part 2: Roots”
Published: November 1989 (cover date)
Writers: George Pérez and Marv Wolfman
Artists: George Pérez and Tom Grummett

Story Title: “Part 3: Parallel Lines!”
Published: 28 September 1989 (cover-dated: November 1989)
Writers: Marv Wolfman
Artist: Jim Aparo

Story Title: “Part 4: Going Home!”
Published: December 1989 (cover date)
Writers: George Pérez and Marv Wolfman
Artists: George Pérez and Tom Grummett

Story Title: “Part 5: Rebirth”
Published: 2 November 1989 (cover-dated: December 1989)
Writers: George Pérez and Marv Wolfman
Artist: Jim Aparo

Quick Facts:
Initially created to literally replace Dick Grayson as Robin, readers came to dislike Jason Todd when he was reimagined as a bratty street kid, leading Jim Starlin and Dennis O’Neil to dramatically kill the new Robin off in the iconic “A Death in the Family” (1988). While Jason’s death haunted Batman for years, a new Robin debuted almost exactly one year later in this five-issue crossover story. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick as the opposite of Jason and possessing keen deductive skills to rival Batman, Timothy “Tim” Drake saw a dramatic redesign for the character and was popular enough to not only get his own solo book, but also be widely considered the best incarnation of Robin.

The Review:
Our story opens with the Batman in bad shape and tussling with the Ravager, a sadistic masked psychopath who’s been on a killing spree. Although the Batman’s cut and bruised from the Ravager’s attacks and knives, he turns the killer’s golden chain against him and sends him plummeting off dam. Limping to the Batmobile. Batman stumbles back to Wayne Manor, where his faithful butler and father figure, Alfred Pennyworth, cares for him as he struggles against a fever, exhaustion, and his wounds. In his frazzled state, Batman completely missed that a mysterious individual photographed his fight and has been following his career for some time. An avid fan of Batman and the Dynamic Duo, this individual notes that Batman’s been getting more reckless and violent since Jason’s death and longs for the confident, compassionate Batman of old. These concerns are echoed by Alfred, who candidly expresses worries for Bruce’s mental health, which has severely impeded his judgement and impacted his physical health, though Bruce ignores these concerns and suits up for another night’s patrol. Following the Ravager’s failure, his shadowy employer, baited by a voice from a radio that’s actually his own delusions, arranges a trap for the Dark Knight by manipulating mob boss Gerry Syke. Naturally, the Batman shows up, triggering a firefight. While dispatching Sykes’ mooks, Alfred’s words rattle around Batman’s head (“think with our heads, not with our fists”) and he realises he’s been too distracted to see the obvious clues (everything related to the Ravager and the break-in points to the number two in some way) and that former district attorney turned scarred crime boss Harvey Dent/Two-Face is back in town! Meanwhile, Batman’s mysterious teenage stalker tries to contact Dick Grayson/Nightwing, learning from a concerned Princess Koriand’r/Starfire that Nightwing left the Teen Titans, leading him to discover that Dick returned to Haly Circus.

Concerned for Batman’s welfare, fanboy Tim Drake tries to persuade Dick to return as Robin.

Dick is heartbroken to learn from Harrison “Harry” Haly that the circus has been struggling financially and suffered some bizarre accidents, though he jumps at the chance to be part of their swansong show. Although the teen briefly panics when hot-headed lion tamer Wilhelm is suddenly killed by a lion, he’s amazed when Dick swoops to ensnare the beast, though it’s the final straw for Haly. While pondering the strange “jinx” cursing the circus, Dick spots the teen as he’s chased by some of the staff and is amazed to learn the boy not only knows his true identity but also suspects drunkard Harry the Clown doped the lion. However, Dick masquerades as Harry and tricks little person Pedro and circus strongman Samson/Mister Muscles into revealing they were behind everything as part of a plot to buy the circus for peanuts. After helping Haly out by becoming a co-owner, Dick confronts the teen, who shows him pictures of Batman and begs him to return to his mentor’s side as Robin, concerned that Bruce is on a downward spiral without him. Back in Gotham City, Batman and Two-Face brood over how best to lure each other out, with Two-Face stressing over the best way to concoct a scheme related to the number two that will both kill his foe and net a profit, vetoing every suggestion with a flip of his coin. Simultaneously, Batman mulls over Two-Face’s possible targets, ruling out the obvious and trying to think of an enticing target for the villain. Ironically, Two-Face settles on kidnapped twin child actors Alan and Richard Wright and flips out when he learns that Club Gemini is holding a poker tournament with a $22 million grand prize. Thus, the two are compelled to abandon their plans to address the other situation, unable to deny their obsession towards justice and greed, respectively, resulting in the kids being saved and Two-Face missing out on the cash thanks to a coin toss.

Inspired by Batman and Robin, Tim reluctantly steps up to save Batman from himself.

Meanwhile, Dick brings the boy, Tim Drake, to Wayne Manor, where Alfred is as amazed by the boy’s knowledge as Tim is awestruck by the opulent abode. Encouraged by them, Tim reveals that he first met Dick on the day his parents were killed. Though traumatised by the murder, Tim was fascinated by the Batman, who comforted the grieving Dick, and had recurring nightmares of that night. Thus, when Tim saw Robin performing Dick’s patented quadruple somersault on television, he realised that Bruce and Dick were Batman and Robin and avidly followed their careers, inspired to hone his body and mind. Believing Batman and Robin need to live again, Tim begs Dick to reclaim his mantle but Grayson refuses, having established himself as Nightwing. Indeed, Nightwing is angered at the suggestion and races off to Batman’s aid, believing Robin should stay dead, much to Tim’s dismay. Although Alfred’s rattled by Tim’s probing questions, he can see how much Batman and Robin mean to the boy and shares some insight into Bruce and Dick’s tumultuous relationship, revealing the two are as stubborn as each other. This stubbornness is what drives Batman to lead Nightwing to him through surreptitious means rather than simply asking for help, though he orders Nightwing to hold back when he (as in Batman) scopes out Two-Face’s possible location. Inside, Batman’s disturbed to find the house literally turned upside down. Struggling to figure out what it means, and constantly snapping at Nightwing and almost calling him “Robin”, Batman refuses to rest until he figures out what’s going on, meaning they walk right into Two-Face’s trap and become so distracted by the mystery that they’re caught off-guard by the bombs Dent planted in the house, leaving them trapped beneath the rubble and Two-Face practically giddy with manic glee.

Though reluctant to take on a new partner, Batman’s impressed by Tim and agrees to a trial run.

Although Alfred insists that they must stay in the Batcave and trust that the heroes will overcome the situation, Tim refuses and dons Dick’s old Robin costume, convincing the grieving manservant to help. After overcoming his self-deprecating madness, Two-Face exits the building and blows up another charge only to be attacked by the new Robin. Though amazed to see the Boy Wonder alive, Two-Face spitefully fights back with a brick and a piece of scrap metal, compelling Alfred to intervene. This allows Robin to send Two-Face slinking away with a punch and to shift the wreckage and free Batman and Nightwing, though Batman is unimpressed and chastises the boy. Once outside, however, Alfred and Nightwing praise Tim’s deductive instincts, bravery, and physical skill, though Batman refuses to endanger another youth. When Tim stresses the importance of Robin to keep Batman from being reckless and to send a message to the underworld that the Dynamic Duo are more than just flesh and blood since “Robin” is as much a symbol for justice as Batman or even regular police officers. Tim then further proves his worth by revealing he slipped a tracking device on Two-Face, allowing the three to confront Dent at a scrap yard, where Batman reveals he truly does care as he freaks out when it seems like Robin and Nightwing are killed and seemingly accepts Tim as part of the team after apprehending Two-Face. Back at Wayne Manor, the four discuss the situation further, with a reluctant Bruce begrudgingly admitting that Tim made some good points and agreeing to take it one day at a time since Tim still needs to earn their trust, despite all his enthusiasm. The story ends by revealing that the voices Two-Face was hearing were not only real, but belonged to a bed-bound Joker, who relishes the chance to kill Robin again…

Final Thoughts: 
I’m somewhat biased towards “A Lonely Place of Dying” as the fifth part was the first Batman comic book I ever owned outside of the annuals and collections I picked up here and there. Consequently, while I was aware of Dick’s tenure as Robin, I had little experience with Jason and this was my first, true Robin origin story, meaning Tim has a special place in my heart as perhaps the best to ever don the pixie boots. I was very invested in this era of Batman, meaning Jim Aparo is the artist I most associate with “classic” Batman adventures. While his art is as sublime as ever here, I am disappointed by how rigid everyone, especially Batman, appears at times. When the characters leap into the action, they pop off the panels but, when at rest or pondering Two-Face’s next hit or what’s to do about Tim, they often appear lifeless and stilted. I’m also a little confused about the age gap between Dick and Tim. Tim states he’s thirteen years old and that he met Dick when they were both kids. The art makes it seem like there’s only a couple of years between them in the flashback, yet Dick is a full-grown adult, and Tim is somehow a teenager. Still, “A Lonely Place of Dying” has some fascinating insight into the nature of Batman’s relationship with Robin, with it being explicitly stated that Batman has become more reckless and violent since Jason died and that he needs a partner to keep him from driving himself into an early grave. Batman’s reluctance to take another partner is understandable given what happened to Jason, but his pig-headedness is fuelled by this guilt, blinding him to how close he’s come to death in the time since Jason died and how the legend of the Batman has grown beyond his control to make Batman and Robin a necessity.

Tim might be a little too perfect at times but he’s a far better fit for Robin than Jason.

“A Lonely Place of Dying” is another great example of how Two-Face is often a litmus test for new Robins, being just dangerous enough to be a formidable threat but not as dangerous a challenge as, say, the Joker. I loved how obsessed Two-Face was by his compulsions, how he drove himself to madness figuring out the perfect bait for Batman and couldn’t fight the urge to flip his coin or chase a more enticing target. I liked that he was duped into thinking he’d gone mad and that his scarred side was talking to him and how close he came to ultimate victory thanks to how distracted Batman is by his grief and arguing with Nightwing. Naturally, this story is a showcase for newcomer Tim, who’s depicted as the polar opposite of Jason and even Dick, being a more cerebral and emotionally stable youngster thanks to being inspired by Batman and Robin and coming from a normal (if somewhat wealthy…and crucially alive) family. Tim may have fantasised about being Robin, but never dreamed it would be possible; his goal is simply to reunite Bruce and Dick. However, Tim doesn’t hesitate to take up the mantle when his idols are in danger and argues passionately for the role, easily winning over Alfred and Dick and, eventually, convincing Bruce, too. As much as I like Tim, though, he does come across as a bit too perfect here. It’s impressive that he deduces Batman and Robin’s identities, but he only does this because he has personal experience with both so that gave him an edge. Tim says that he’s kept up with his studies and worked out a bit, but Alfred compares him to Dick in his prime at one point, which seems a bit ridiculous as Tim’s no circus acrobat and only bests Two-Face by sheer luck and determination. Still, he’s shown to be likable, capable, and enthusiastic and greatly impresses Nightwing, making Tim a far better fit than the rebellious Jason. While Tim wouldn’t get his iconic custom costume until he passed Bruce’s trials, this was a great introduction to the new Robin and went a long way to establish Tim as one of the best to serve in the role.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

Did you enjoy “A Lonely Place of Dying”? Were you disappointed to see a new Robin debut just a year after Jason’s death? Did you like Tim at the time or did you think he was a little too perfect? Do you like seeing Two-Face used as a litmus test for Robins? What do you think of the idea that Batman needs Robin to keep him from going off the deep end? Which Robin is your favourite? Whatever your thoughts on “A Lonely Place of Dying”, and Tim Drake, leave a comment below and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Robin stories for me to cover in the future.

Back Issues [Sci-Fanuary]: Detective Comics #225-226

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January celebrates two notable dates in science-fiction history: “National Science Fiction Day” on January 2 to coincide with the birth of world renowned sci-fi writer Isaac Asimov, and 12 January being when Arthur C. Clarke’s HAL 9000 was created. Accordingly, I dedicate January to celebrating sci-fi in all its forms.

Story Title: “The Strange Experiment of Dr. Erdel”
Published: November 1955
Writers: Joseph Samachson and Jack Miller
Artist: Joe Certa

Story Title: “The Case of the Magic Baseball”
Published: December 1955
Writer: Jack Miller
Artist: Joe Certa

Quick Facts:
Largely known as the “soul” of DC’s premier superhero team, the Justice League of America (JLA), the ridiculously overpowered (and yet strangely vulnerable) J’onn J’onzz debuted in Detective Comics courtesy of former research scientist Joseph Samachson. Though typically at the forefront of JLA-centric stories, J’onn is one of DC’s most underappreciated heroes, despite his prominence in various animated and television ventures.

The Review:
Our first introduction to J’onn J’onzz, the shapeshifting “Manhunter from Mars”, begins in the fittingly high-tech (for the time) observatory of “famous scientist” Professor Mark Erdel. Professor Erdel has just completed his greatest creation yet: a “robot brain” he hopes will allow him to explore the mysteries of the cosmos and other dimensions. Professor Erdel eagerly activates the machine and sets off a cacophony of lights and electrical energy, though even he isn’t sure if the machine is reaching into “space—time–or the fourth dimensions!” Presently, the professor’s musings are answered as a strange alien being appears courtesy of his awesome machine: a muscular, green-skinned figure in a blue cape and matching boots. Identifying himself as J’onn J’onzz, the enigmatic figure boasts incredible psychic powers, which he uses to read Professor Erdel’s mind and quickly learn our language. However, J’onn opts to simply ask how he’s been transported from “the fourth planet from the Sun” and is impressed by the professor’s ingenuity. However, J’onn asks to be returned home forthwith, only to learn that it could take Professor Erdel “weeks–months—even years!” to “change the thinking plot of the brain” and return J’onn to Mars. Still, J’onn doesn’t seem too upset and quickly decides to adapt his appearance fit in for his extended stay, warping his flesh and attire with his “chameleon-like powers” to resemble a common Earthman. Professor Erdel’s so amazed by this, and his visitor, that he suddenly suffers a debilitating heart attack. Although J’onn believes Martian “Xymo serum” could cure the professor, he never gets the chance to retrieve it as Professor Erdel is too weak to do anything but apologise for stranding J’onn on Earth before he dies.

Stranded on Earth, Martian J’onn J’onnz decides to play detective to pass the time.

Realising he’s stuck on Earth for the foreseeable future as it will take his people years or centuries to complete their interstellar “Star-Ride” experiments, J’onn throws on a hat and coat and explores his new home. J’onn visits the seashore to use his incredible mental powers to extract gold particles from the sea to fund his travels around the world (since I guess he can’t fly just yet?) in an incorporeal form, marvelling at our skyscrapers, monuments to war, and “ancient-wheeled vehicles”, concepts and technology that Mars has abandoned for a thousand years. Becoming visible, J’onn reflects on humanity’s crime epidemic (another concept Mars made obsolete through “enlightened science”) and decides to help, visiting the local police station as “John Jones” and requesting to become a police detective. This goes ridiculously well as, after a few off-panel meetings, J’onn is immediately hired by the “Chief of Detectives”! It’s not clear what qualifies J’onn to be a detective, and the story doesn’t even show him fabricating documents or using his mental powers to convince the cops to accept him. In fact, J’onn’s more concerned with people smoking cigarettes since fire is his one weakness. J’onn “J’onz’s” first case sees him use his intangibility to pass through a wall and apprehend some gunmen and get the drop on trigger-happy Tom Taylor. J’onn’s lieutenant then tasks him with watching star baseball pitcher “Big” Bob Michaels, fresh out of prison and seemingly a target for mobsters seeking to ruin his chances at a comeback. Hanging around outside Bob’s apartment, J’onn uses his telepathy to listen in as Bob receives a threatening phone call from the Devon mob warning him to purposely lose his upcoming game or have his career ruined before it can properly begin.

J’onn telekinetically aids a star pitcher from being abused by devious mobsters.

To his credit, the defiant Bob refuses to go along with this demand as he’s determined to rebuild his life. Pondering Bob’s fate, J’onn uses his uncanny powers to take a mental peek into the future and predicts victory for Bob and his team, the Flamingos, if the star pitcher goes unmolested. Eager to see this vision become reality, J’onn attends the big game between the Flamingos and the Wonders, where Bob attracts much media attention. Devon and his mobster buddies also attend the game, relishing Bob’s obvious discomfort and confident that he’ll play ball (no pun intended). Watching on, J’onn employs “a little Martian molecular hypnosis” (what we’d now just call telekinesis) to aid Bob, snagging the baseball in mid-air and driving it straight into the catcher’s mitt for a strike. Each time the nervous Bob pitches, J’onn pushes the ball to the catcher, much to the delight of the crowd and the irritation of the mob, who suspect that Bob is double-crossing them by playing to win. When Bob steps up to bat, J’onn again intervenes and ensures he hits a spectacular home run, securing a dramatic victory for the Flamingos. Enraged, the mobsters reach for their guns and prepare to make Bob pay for his insolence with his life, only to be tripped by the invisible Martian Manhunter. Detective John Jones then apprehends the Devon mob, who are summarily charged with attempted bribery and blackmail.

Final Thoughts: 
Like many readers, I’m sure, I haven’t read any of the Martian Manhunter’s solo adventures prior to these issues. There’s a good reason for this as many of J’onn’s solo ventures typically die out as the character is historically unsustainable in his own book and works far better as the heart and soul of the JLA. With the JLA, the Martian Manhunter is a keen mind, a moral compass, and a powerhouse when needed, bringing an outsider’s perspective to the team and carrying a great deal of emotion after losing his home world. Naturally, his debut stories came five years before the first appearance of the JLA so you don’t see any of that here, but that’s not all that’s missing. J’onn’s world is said to be very much alive and so technologically and intellectually advanced that they’ve abolished all war, evolved beyond our “primitive” means of transportation, and have eradicated crime. Oddly, J’onn laments that his people won’t be able to rescue him for years or even centuries as they haven’t mastered space travel yet, which seems to go against how amazingly advanced J’onn makes Mars out to be. Additionally, J’onn is a super nice guy and ridiculously understanding, barely sparing any time mourning his fate or being separated from his world. Indeed, he’s impressed by Professor Erdel and intrigued by his new home and doesn’t seem put out at all by being trapped on Earth.

Although a visually fun character, J’onn’s debut fails to do him justice.

The Martian Manhunter is certainly a powerful character, even in his debut issues, though his abilities are mostly limited to mental powers and intangibility. J’onn can render himself invisible and intangible at will, with no apparent limitation on how long he can stay in this state. Although now known for being a shapeshifter, the Martian Manhunter only uses this ability once to assume a human guise, a form he basically sticks to for the rest of these two stories. If this ability has more possibilities, we don’t see them here, meaning you’d be forgiven for thinking these were bog-standard detective stories at first glance. The Martian Manhunter makes great use of his invisibility and intangibility to surprise goons and helps Bob Michaels out with his telekinesis, but I don’t get why he didn’t just go to the Devon mob directly and proactively stop them. This might’ve given the story a chance to showcase J’onn’s weakness to fire, which he talks about, but we never see. Or, perhaps, showcased his shapeshifting powers to bee effect as he could’ve impersonated someone. There’s also no sense that the Martian Manhunter can fly or has superhuman strength and speed, though personally I don’t mind this so much as I think it’s better when J’onn’s powers are focused on his mental abilities. Still, these are awful stories to read that completely fail to take advantage of their unique premise or the incredible abilities of the Manhunter from Mars.

My Rating:

Rating: 1 out of 5.

Terrible

Did you enjoy the Martian Manhunter’s first appearance? Do you agree that his incredible powers were misrepresented here? Were you surprised to find Mars is still populated at this point? What are some of your favourite J’onn J’onzz moments and sci-fi comics? Agree or disagree with me in the comments and donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other Martian Manhunter stories for me to review.

Back Issues [JLA Day]: JLA #43-46

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To celebrate the release of Justice League (Snyder/Whedon, 2017), DC Comics named November 18 “Justice League Day”. Setting aside all the drama surrounding that movie, this provides a perfect excuse to spotlight DC’s top superhero team, which set the standard for super teams.

Writer: Mark Waid – Artist: Howard Porter

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 1: Survival of the Fittest”
Published: July 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 2: Seven Little Indians”
Published: August 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 3: Protected by the Cold”
Published: September 2000

Story Title: “Tower of Babel, Part 4: Harsh Words”
Published: October 2000

The Background:
In the 1940s, All Star Comics brought together eight superheroes from different publishers for the first time, birthing not just the Justice Society of America (JSA) but also the first ever superhero team in comics, allowing readers to see their favourite characters interacting for the same price in a single issue. The JSA’s ever-changing roster underwent their most significant change at the late-1950s, when then-editor Julius Schwartz had writer Gardner Fox with reintroduce and rebrand the team as the Justice League of America (JLA) to capitalise on the popularity of the American Football League and Major League Baseball’s National League. Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Hal Jordan/Green Lantern, Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Barry Allan/The Flash, and J’onn J’onzz (or “John Jones”)/Martian Manhunter debuted as the JLA in The Brave and the Bold #28. Their origin story became a best-seller and the initial line-up of DC’s heavy-hitters is arguably the most iconic, which is exactly why they were at the forefront of the team’s revamp in the 1990s. Spearheaded by Grant Morrison, the new JLA title also became a best-seller and greatly inspired their celebrated animated adventures. This new team battled the likes of White Martians and the adaptable supervillain Prometheus, whose unexpected victory over the JLA laid the foundation for this widely regarded story. Marking the beginning of Mark Waid’s memorable run on the book, “Tower of Babel” had long-term repercussions, was critically acclaimed, and was even loosely adapted into a pretty decent animated feature.

The Review:
Although I grew up reading odd issues and random annuals from the 1970s and 1980s, this is the Justice League I mostly closely associate with. Superman (fresh off his brief stint as an energy being), Batman, Wonder Woman, Wally West/The Flash, Kyle Rayner/Green Lantern, Aquaman (in his best, most intimidating look), and even Patrick O’Brian/Plastic Man being included for some visual variety and laughs made for an impressive and powerful incarnation of the team. “Tower of Babel” pits this team against Rā’s al Ghūl, the “Demon’s Head” who fronts the League of Assassins and believes humanity is a danger. His anger at an aide accidentally dooming the Javan tiger to extinction only precipitates his latest plan to wipe out humankind, which begins with him playing spiteful mind games with his respected adversary, the Batman (whom he reverentially refers to as “The Detective”), by exhuming his parents. Rā’s then dispatches his daughter, Talia, to strike the Martian Manhunter with an explosive shell of strange nanites. Nearby, the Flash and Wonder Woman desperately fight a mysterious and aggressive forest fire, only to be amazed and horrified when the source turns of to be J’onn, his body engulfed in perpetual flames that the Flash extinguishes with his fantastic speed. Aquaman and Plastic Man are then attacked within the United Nations, Aquaman being gassed by a substance that makes him deathly afraid of water and Plastic Man frozen and shattered into a dozen pieces!

Batman’s horrified when Rā’s targets the JLA using his secret contingency plans!

The injured or affected JLA members are brought to their Watchtower space satellite by their teammates. Superman analyses the nanites infecting the Martian Manhunter and discovers they’ve forced his body to combust in air. Crippled by fear toxin, Aquaman’s condition deteriorates as he rapidly dehydrates and, though the Flash pieces Plastic Man back together, they’re unable to restore him. Realising that the JLA is being targeted, Superman coordinates with John Henry Irons/Steel and Barbara Gordon/Oracle to keep their reserve members are safe but Batman abruptly refuses to help. After switching to Clark Kent to use his sources at the Daily Planet for a possible lead, Superman and the staff are astonished to find that all text has become incomprehensible! Superman races to curb the ensuring madness, learning from Oracle that the aphasia’s caused by ultrasound waves, which he successfully disrupts by retrofitting some Brainiac tech. Finally, Wally and Diana find Kyle woke up suddenly blind, which understandably causes the artist great distress. Although Aquaman figures out that the League of Assassins are tracking their signal devices, his warnings come too late and Diana is trapped within a never-ending battle simulation courtesy of a virtual reality chip. The Flash is also shot with a “vibrational projectile” that induces epileptic seizures at lightspeed and Kyle, directionless and berserk without his eyes, is easily subdued by a begrudging Talia. The world is plunged into chaos as the stock exchange collapses, gang wars break out, planes narrowly avoid collision, military services grind to a halt, and hospitals are rendered useless. The Batman angrily confronts Rā’s in his modern-day Tower of Babel, where Rā’s relishes the chaos and threatens offers to resurrect the Waynes using his rejuvenating Lazarus Pits.

The JLA is left aghast and traumatised by Batman’s betrayal.

Despite clearly being tempted and overwhelmed by the proposition of being reunited with his parents, the Batman attacks in a rage but is horrified when Rā’s brandishes synthetic red kryptonite. Subdued by Rā’s’s troops, Batman fails to warn Superman who is caught completely off-guard when he arrives to help Wally, Diana, and Kyle with Martian Manhunter (wearing a special Atlantean water suit). Although Batman escapes Rā’s and Talia seems displeased at being her father’s lapdog, Superman’s crippled with agony when the rock turns his skin transparent and overloads him with solar energy. Alarmed that Rā’s has stolen his secret contingency files and turned them on his allies, Batman desperately tries to contact Aquaman with a solution, only for Rā’s to further disrupt communications. Luckily, Batman fools his pursuers with a fake death and Plastic Man finally pulls himself back together to teleport the JLA back to the Watchtower. There, Arthur is sustained by a telepathic illusion courtesy of J’onn, Plastic Man removes the chip lodged in Diana’s brain, and Superman focuses long enough to destroy the device tormenting the Flash. Finally, Diana and J’onn work with Kyle to deduce that his ring was slipped on him during sleep and that his blindness was caused by a post-hypnotic suggestion; by focusing, Kyle’s sight returns. The shellshocked JLA discuss Batman’s actions, their faith in their teammate shattered, with Superman feeling especially betrayed. Despite knowing the JLA distrust him, the Batman gathers them in Antarctica to infiltrate Rā’s’s tower, demanding the team work together to end the worldwide disruption. The battle is incredibly brief as Superman simply explodes in a burst of power, bringing the tower down and demanding an explanation from his comrade, only to be stonewalled by Batman’s stubborn nature.

Although Rā’s is stopped, the JLA are fractured by Batman’s questionable actions.

Despite the tower’s destruction, a disgruntled Talia informs the JLA that Rā’s is still a threat, leading Batman to split the fractured team up to handle each crisis. While Green Lantern, Plastic Man, the Flash, and Wonder Woman stop a chemical attack in Rhapastan, Batman explains to Superman that he created fail-safes after the alien tyrant Agameno swapped their consciousnesses with a gang of criminals. Finding little comfort in that explanation, Superman echoes Plastic Man’s uncharacteristically stoic and enraged demeanour by leading Batman through Rā’s’s stronghold. Though Rā’s prepares to retreat in frustration and Superman’s held off by the red Kryptonite, he covers his escape by dropping the Waynes’ coffins! Luckily, the restored Aquaman and Martian Manhunter pull both Superman and Batman’s parents from danger, leaving Batman free to pursue his adversary. While Rā’s escapes, his assistant, Doctor Kant, isn’t so lucky and takes the brunt of Batman and Aquaman’s retaliation, while Wonder Woman convinces Rā’s’s agent out of unleashing his chemical agent. With the danger over and the JLA back to full strength, the team debate what to do about Batman. While the Dark Knight awaits their decision, Superman questions whether they should have safeguards against their powers being manipulated. Aquaman believes the team should be based on trust, the Flash reluctantly thinks Batman has a point, and J’onn somewhat echoes this sentiment. When Arthur challenges J’onn’s loyalty to the Batman, pointing out that he once had similar dossiers, a fight almost breaks out between them, though J’onn ultimately votes in favour of Batman. While Kyle’s also not happy about what happened, he recognises that their powers are potentially dangerous and also votes to keep Batman on the team. However, while Wonder Woman agrees in principle, she refuses to fight alongside someone she can’t trust and Plastic Man coldly agrees. Although the deciding vote comes down to Superman, Batman makes the decision for them and quits the team without a word while they’re debating.

The Summary:
Like I said, this was a great time to be a JLA fan. The artwork was always really good in these comics and the team gelled really well together visually and with their contrasting personalities. It’s a very nineties period for the JLA, of course, with guys like Aquaman and newcomer Kyle Rayner offering very different interpretations of classic characters. I’ve always loved this version of Aquaman, though, with the harpoon hand and dishevelled appearance. Kyle is and will always by my favourite Green Lantern and I enjoyed the dichotomy he brought to the team as he obviously felt a little out of his depth and often deferred to his superiors as a result. These are characteristics reminiscent of Wally’s early days as the Flash, which led them to eventually form a tight friendship, but much of Kyle’s characterisation at this time was proving (or at least realising) that he’s worthy to hang with the big boys. Plastic Man was something of a wild card, for sure, especially due to his goofy nature and bizarre abilities. “Tower of Babel” showed that there was more to him than just being a wise-ass, though, as he’s so traumatised by being frozen and shattered (and by the Batman’s actions) that he drops the jokes and dismissively votes against Batman. Indeed, this story shakes the foundations of the JLA as, up until this point, they’ve all fought together on the understanding that they can trust each other. I’m pretty certain they all know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and secret identities, for example, and feel they’re more than just colleagues. Thus, when they discover that Rā’s al Ghūl’s plot is due to Batman’s secret contingency plans, the team rightfully feels betrayed and angry, with Superman noticeably upset since he knows Batman the best and has worked with him the longest.

The JLA is divided and rattled by Batman’s betrayal and questions his trustworthiness.

Thus, the main enemy in “Tower of Babel” is essentially Batman, while technically also being the group’s insecurities, and more accurately being the devious Rā’s, who disrupts them to facilitate his latest scheme. The JLA is caught completely off-guard when Talia and her troops ambush them, wielding weapons designed specifically to neutralise their powers or otherwise subdue them. While I believe Batman’s plan was always to non-fatally pacify his teammates if they go rogue or were manipulated, some of his contingencies are very questionable. J’onn, for example, bursts into flame when exposed to air, something that would be both physically and emotionally traumatic for him considering his fear and weakness to fire. Aquaman is almost killed by dehydration when fear toxin variant made him deathly afraid of water, forcing J’onn to put him at ease with a telepathic vision so he could be safely placed in water. The Flash had it pretty bad, too, forced to endure what felt like days of torturous seizures in less than half an hour, while Superman’s powers raged thanks to red kryptonite. Similarly, it seems Wonder Woman would’ve eventually been so lost in her endless combat that she would’ve perished and Kyle was extremely distressed when he was duped into making himself blind. Seems to me that Batman could’ve just as easily used virtual reality environments for all his allies for a similar end, so it’s likely Rā’s al Ghūl perverted his countermeasures. Either way, the JLA are outraged at both the experience and the betrayal, believing Batman misled them and cannot be trusted. Even if he was right, since the JLA are mind controlled every other week and have extremely dangerous powers, the characters are angry at the deception. I doubt their reaction would’ve been much better had they known about Batman’s fail-safes, but it certainly would’ve lessened the sting since they put a lot of trust in him as their strategist and smartest mind.

A classic story that deconstructs the JLA and had far-reaching consequences.

This ethical quandary hangs over “Tower of Babel”, creating tension and animosity within the group for the finale, where they can barely function as a cohesive unit and are extremely reluctant to listen to Batman. Though he’s horrified by what Rā’s al Ghūl has done, Batman offers no apology and little explanation. He believes he was right to create contingencies and won’t be swayed from the belief, kick-starting a long-tunning theme of Batman being a stubborn, paranoid, and somewhat unethical character whose efforts to prepare for every scenario alienated his nearest and dearest. Interestingly, “Tower of Babel” doesn’t suggest what Batman’s back-up plan was if he went rogue (though it’s implied to be the remaining JLA) and barely gives him a chance to counteract Rā’s al Ghūl’s actions since the Demon’s Head keeps messing with their communications. I would’ve liked to see more of the world being plunged into chaos but I think “Tower of Babel” wisely focuses on the JLA and how they’re affected by Batman’s actions. The entire point is to fracture DC’s greatest superhero team, which literally happens by the end when the Batman walks away without hearing a verdict, but has knock-on ramifications as tensions are high amongst the others. I enjoyed seeing the team struggle to decide Batman’s future since they were personally disgusted and angered by the betrayal but recognised the need for fail-safes, and also how black-and-white the decision was for Aquaman and Wonder Woman, who felt the betrayal outweighed the risk. “Tower of Babel” easily ranks as one of the top JLA stories for a reason and it’s a great deconstruction of the team and exploration of their powers, weaknesses, and the fragile ethics that hold them together. It had far-reaching consequences for all involved and is well worth a read, especially for fans of this era of DC Comics.

My Rating:

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Pretty Good

What did you think of “Tower of Babel”? Do you consider it a classic JLA story or do you think it’s over-rated? Which of Batman’s contingencies do you think was the worst to suffer through? Did you enjoy this incarnation of the JLA or do you prefer a different line-up? Do you think Batman was right to have contingency plans or do you agree that he crossed a line? How are you celebrating Justice League Day this year? Whatever your thoughts on the JLA, feel free to share them below, check out my other Justice League reviews, and go donate to my Ko-Fi to suggest other JLA stories for me to cover.

Back Issues [Brightest Day]: Green Lantern Vol 2 #7

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Although February 2014 was dubbed “Green Lantern Day” (because, by the American calendar, the date matched the sector of space assigned to Earth in DC Comics “2814”), the significance of this date has passed as the years have changed. Instead, I celebrate the October 1959 debut of perhaps the most popular Green Lantern, Hal Jordan, who first appeared.

Story Title: “The Day 100,000 People Vanished!”
Published: August 1961
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Gil Kane

The Background:
In July 1940, Martin Nodell and Bill Finger debuted Alan Scott, the first Green Lantern, a magically empowered railroad engineer who became a founding member of the Justice Society of America (JSA). However, following the successful reinvention of the Flash in 1956, fighter pilot Harold “Hal” Jordan became the first of a whole corps of Green Lanterns. Widely regarded as the greatest Green Lantern, Hal soon amassed a colourful domestic and intergalactic rogues’ gallery, though none are more prominent than Thaal Sinestro, Created by John Broome and Gil Kane and modelled after British actor David Niven, Sinestro was formally the most celebrated of the corps before it was revealed that he enforced peace through a dictatorship, disgracing him and positioning him as Hal’s mortal enemy since Hal exposed Sinestro’s true nature. A Machiavellian foe, Sinestro joined the villainous Legion of Doom and Injustice League, led his own yellow-hued counterpart to the Green Lantern Corps, and has regularly waged war against not just Hal, but both the Earth and the entire universe! As Hal’s greatest  villain, it should be no surprise that Sinestro has regularly appeared in cartoons and videogames, and was even brought to life by Mark Strong (with scenery-chewing relish) in the much maligned live-action adaptation. 

The Review:
Hal’s first encounter with the devilishly alluring villain who became his most recurring and dangerous foe begins on the West Coast of the United States, specifically the town of Valdale, where Green Lantern is scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the new boys’ settlement house. Luckily for him, Hal’s too busy tying up another case so he’s unexpectedly delayed, meaning he’s absent when the bustling metropolis is suddenly enveloped in an ethereal light (not unlike an aurora borealis) and a strange thunderclap sound, which causes all 100,000 residents to disappear! After learning of this phenomenon, Green Lantern investigated and confirmed to his friend, mechanic, and confidant, Tom Kalmaku/Pieface, that Valdale’s inhabitants have vanished. Green Lantern’s doubly concerned as the incident occurred at nine o’clock, exactly when he was scheduled to be in Valdale but, before he can ponder further, Hal’s suddenly sent a bit queasy by a mind blank. It turns out this wasn’t just a bout of nausea and that Hal’s “astral self” was summoned across the galaxy to Oa, the home of the Green Lantern Corps and their enigmatic alien masters, the Guardians of the Universe. Brought before his masters, Green Lantern was told of Thaal Sinestro, the Green Lantern of sector 1417, a fearless native of Korugar who used the awesome, nigh-unlimited power of his power ring to satisfy his vanity with a throne. Sinestro had people line up and plead for his aid, quickly bored by their petty squabbles and requests and desiring more. When one of his people questioned him, chastising his arrogance and accusing Sinestro of being mad with power, Sinestro flew into a rage and shot down the complainant (non-fatally, it turns out).

Hal is dispatched to thwart a renegade Green Lantern’s plot to attack the Guardians.

Sinestro then decided to depose the ruling council of Korugar and establish himself as the planet’s dictator who forced his people to live peaceful lives or be mysteriously removed from society. Upon discovering Sinestro’s totalitarian ways, the Guardians admonished him and stripped him of his status as a Green Lantern before banishing him to the antimatter universe of Qward. However, the Guardians later learned that Sinestro rallied the malevolent “Weaponers” of Qward to strike back against his former masters and destroy Green Lantern. Thus, Sinestro developed a “viso-teleporter” to transport Green Lantern to Qward, and the Guardians instruct Hal to journey to the antimatter universe to confront the renegade Green Lantern and save those he’s captured. Since his usual route to the antimatter universe is blocked, Hal reasons that Sinestro will attempt to target him again so he uses himself as bait, turning the residents of Coast City invisible, and is soon forcibly transported to Qward. Although Green Lantern easily shields himself from the Weaponers’ attacks, Sinestro forces him to surrender in exchange for returning his captives home. Sinestro encases Hal in a yellow bubble, rendering him powerless, planning to destroy him once his power ring runs out of charge. Despite his ring being ineffective against yellow, Hal’…somehow…manipulates a clock to trick Sinestro into thinking time has passed faster than it actually has. Once he’s freed from his bubble, Green Lantern zaps Sinestro, washes away his allies, and pins Sinestro to a wall with green needles. Sinestro mocks Hal’s morals and lack of killer instinct and arrogantly reveals that he cannot be punished for his crimes since he’s been banished to Qward. However, Hal gets the last laugh by imprisoning Sinestro in an impenetrable bubble of green willpower before returning home to inspire Valdale’s youngsters with a speech about how good will always triumph over evil.

The Summary:
I’ve always liked Sinestro. I grew up in the 1990s, so I have a bit of a thing for dark doppelgängers of righteous heroes and Sinestro’s one of comic’s most memorable and visually interesting corrupt counterparts to a beloved hero. However, I haven’t read many stories that feature the character and many Green Lantern stories I’ve read either don’t feature him or take place during one of his many real or faked deaths. However, I definitely feel I’ve been spoilt by the likes of Emerald Dawn II (Giffen, et al, 1991), which went into far greater detail about Sinestro’s complex character and his unique relationship with Hal Jordan. Emerald Dawn II set a new standard for their dynamic, casting Sinestro as Hal’s mentor and the greatest of the Green Lantern Corps, only for it to be revealed that he wasn’t just a pompous, arrogant taskmaster with high standards but also a totalitarian dictator who enforced order with an iron fist. You can imagine my surprise, then, to find Sinestro’s first appearance was a twenty-page story based around a bizarre plot to teleport Hal into the antimatter universe. Now, I’m no expert on Qward or the Weaponers; it’s entirely possible Green Lantern had run-ins with them in the past, hence why they’d relish Sinestro’s aid. However, they are the most useless and ineffective people I’ve ever seen. Sinestro doesn’t even utilise their tech, instead creating his own devices, and they blindly follow the charismatic devil as he conjures a clock and boasts about how he’s going to destroy their enemy rather than just doing it. I’d be questioning Sinestro’s effectiveness the moment his viso-teleporter transported a bunch of randomers to my home world, to say nothing of asking why Sinestro doesn’t just pluck the power ring from Hal’s finger or suffocate him to death inside his yellow bubble.

Though visually and thematically interesting, Sinestro is little more than an inconvenience here.

On the plus side, a sizeable portion of the story is spent exploring Sinestro’s backstory, even if it is just the highlights. The idea of a celebrated and formidable Green Lantern falling from grace and abusing his power is a powerful one and perfectly places Sinestro as Hal’s polar opposite, especial as Hal is such a bland do-gooder during these days. He’s the unscrupulous bastion of “right” and “good”, eagerly obeying his masters and opposing Sinestro simply based on the Guardians’ warnings. Sinestro shows a glimpse of how dangerous a Green Lantern can be if they become obsessed with power, first constructing a “sumptuous headquarters”, then forcing people to beg for his help, and finally deposing the ruling government to become absolute authority on Korugar. It’s not stated how long Sinestro ruled his people, but he presumably would’ve continued enslaving his people had the Guardians not stopped by to check on him. His punishment is severe, but strangely humane, with the Guardians simply banishing Sinestro rather than executing him despite it being implied that he executed anyone who spoke out against his rule on Korugar. The Guardians also shoot themselves in the foot since, although they can teleport individuals to Qward and observe the antimatter universe, they “have no power there” and thus cannot intervene when Sinestro plots his revenge. Thanks to a one-way cosmic “back door” of sorts, Hal does return home but cannot truly punish Sinestro because Hal’s too righteous to take a life and Sinestro cannot leave Qward. Thus, Hal leaves Sinestro in what sounds like a fate worse than death but, to me, seems like a prison he’ll easily escape from, making for a pretty lacklustre ending. Everyone starts somewhere, that’s for sure, but Sinestro’s first appearance is an unfortunately forgettable, villain-of-the-month story that really should’ve been given the entire book to be told. Sinestro has a great look, with his devil-red skin, pencil-thin moustache, and striking black-and-blue colour scheme, and his backstory is certainly intriguing. However, it’s undercooked and basically a throwaway story that’s memorable only for introducing one of DC Comic’s best villains, whose future plots definitely extended further than clock-watching!

My Rating:

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Could Be Better

What did you think to Sinestro’s debut story? Do you think the Weaponers of Qward should’ve been portrayed as a greater threat? What did you think to Sinestro, his backstory and characterisation? Were you disappointed by how pedestrian Sinestro’s first appearance was? What are some of your favourite Sinestro stories and moments? Which Green Lanterns your favourite and why? How are you celebrating this pseudo-Green Lantern day today? Whatever you think about Sinestro, or Green Lantern in general, leave your thoughts below, drop me some change on Ko-Fi, and go check out my other Green Lantern content.