Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told: Volume 2

For my money, DC's revamping of the "Greatest Stories" line has still fallen well off the mark set by the 1980s/90s editions. That said, this volume actually stands up fairly well. While I certainly enjoyed some more than others, I won't dwell on the merits of the stories chosen for inclusion versus other candidates (with one exception which I'll get to later). I think that the nature of this kind of compilation combined with the nearly 70 year history of the character makes it almost inevitable that no single volume will be 100% satisfying. That said, I was especially pleased by the inclusion of the 1980s story "All My Enemies Against Me" which was not only historically significant but also a really enjoyable, compelling story. I also enjoyed "Citizen Wayne" for the fun spin it put on Batman's oft-told origin. On a similar note, Roy Thomas re-telling of Batman's early years was more good fun, especially for those of us who remember the pre-Crisis DC universe and never found the Earth-1/Earth-2 business hard to follow. My only reservations about this volume are relatively minor. First, the absence of the capsule biographies of writers and artists struck me as a glaring omission from a company that has always been good about touting their very talented creators in compilations. Secondly, I remain disappointed at the lack of respect shown by DC for the writer/artist team that really solidified my enjoyment of Batman in the 80s and 90s. For me, Alan Grant's and Norm Breyfogle's take on Gotham and its residents ranks up there with the legendary Englehart/Rogers run of the 1970s. I can understand their not making the cut for Volume 1 but surely Volume 2 was their turn (especially since they were basically ignored in the Batman in the Eighties collection). Grant is the writer for one of the included stories, but it was in collaboration with Breyfogle that he did his best Batman work. Those points aside, this is in many ways a much better introduction for any reader looking for an overview of Batman and the many phases of his story in comics. Even the Silver Age stories are endearing, and while not every story struck me as "great," there's not a single one I didn't enjoy.

The second volume is DC Comics' Batman: The Greatest Stories Ever Told, proves to be vastly superior to first, featuring stories culled over a period of sixty-plus years of Dark Knight history. While the stories are usually presented chronologically, this one deviates slightly in order to present the origin of the Golden Age Batman as the first story. This story was originally published in Secret Origins in 1986 and is written by Roy Thomas with art by Marshall Rogers. It's an interesting inclusion, serving to remind modern day readers of the "other" Batman. Sadly, only one Golden Age story is included but it's a gem. From Batman #1,the caped crusader faces off against Professor Hugo Strange who he encountered for the first time in Detective Comics #36 a couple of months earlier. Strange has escaped from prison and also helped free five insane patients from an asylum. He uses a growth hormone to turn them into hulking monsters. Artist Bob Kane was certainly interested by popular films of the era. His monsters look very similar to Universal's Frankenstein monster and later one climbs to the top of a very tall building while Batman attacks him from the Batplane in an ode to King Kong. It's a great story and Kane's art is superb. Now jump ahead a couple of decades to the late 50's and early 60's for the next two stories from Batman #108 (1957) and #153 (1963). These two stories with more simplistic art by Sheldon Moldoff are in complete contrast to Kane's darker style. Also by this time, Batman was in his phase of battling silly alien threats. I've never been a fan of these stories as they just don't fit Batman's persona. In other stories, Batman teams with Helena Wayne, the Huntress of Earth-2 (in a Pre-Crisis story from 1982) and discovers his father may have been involved with the Gotham mob. Batman literally has "All My Enemies Against Me" as he and Robin face-off against The Joker, Clayface, Two-face, Killer Croc, The Riddler, Scarecrow, and several other from Detective Comics #526. One of my favorite stories In the collection is Cave Dwellers where Batman plays second fiddle to Batgirl in one of the first modern day, revisionist encounters between the pair. The noir-ish art by Marcos Martin is outstanding, as is the story by veteran scribe Chuck Dixon. This is a very strong collection of Batman stories. Of course, ask a hundred different people and you'd get a hundred different answers as to what the greatest Batman stories are. Only the two silly Moldoff stories from the Silver Age prevent this from being a five star book. Four out of Five stars. Reviewed by Tim Janson