BATMAN: THE WORLD
Wayne’s World
The Dark Knight goes global in this new graphic novel.
RELEASED 14 SEPTEMBER Publisher DC Comics
Writers/artists Various
Even Batman needs to spread his wings sometimes. Written and drawn by a host of writers and artists from across Europe, Asia and Latin America, this intriguingly eclectic book is composed of 14 selfcontained stories, all taking their own distinctive approach to the Dark Knight with, on the whole, positive results.
The slightest tale here is surely DC veterans Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo’s Gotham-set opener “Global City”, which simply provides a primer on the Bat and his rogue’s gallery, albeit with some spectacularly detailed artwork, which is mostly made up of intricately designed single and double-page spreads.
Batman: The World works best when the individual creators take the Caped Crusader out of his Gotham comfort zone and immerse him in their own culture. Featuring some sleek cartooning, Spanish writer/artist Paco Roca’s wry “Closed For The Holidays” finds a restless Bruce unable to leave his alter-ego behind after taking a much-needed holiday in Benidorm, before eventually giving into the inevitable.
Centring on an artist who’s inspired to take up his career after being gifted a “Bat-man” pen as a child, “My Bat-man”, by Russia’s Kirill Kutuzov, Egor Prutov and Natalia Zaidova, is a poignant slice of meta-fiction, which demonstrates that sometimes it’s okay to meet your idols.
Many of the stories make excellent use of local folklore and history. Germans Benjamin Eckartsberg and Thomas von Kummant pit the Bat against some spooky alpine demons in “A Better Tomorrow”, while Ertan Ergil and Ethem Onur Bilgic’s “The Cradle” challenges the World’s Greatest Detective with a perplexing mystery rooted in Turkey’s ancient architecture.
Others don’t pull any punches when it comes to the dire social conditions in their homeland; Brazilians Carlos Estefan and Pedro Mauro’s “Where Are The Heroes?” finds both Batman and Bruce Wayne fighting a valiant but losing battle against institutionalised corruption.
Some, like Mathieu Gabella and Thierry Martin’s “Paris” – in which Catwoman leads Batman a merry dance across the Louvre – and Italians Alessandro Bilotta and Nicola Mari’s “Ianus”, are a little too conventional in their superhero-esque set-ups. The most visually striking entries, meanwhile, are the affectionate “Batman and Panda Girl” by China’s Xu Xiaodong, Lu Xiaotong and Qiu Kun, and “Batman Unchained” by Japanese writer/ illustrator Okadaya Yuichi, both of which boast some impressive manga-style art.
It’s refreshing to see so many varied interpretations of such an iconic character. Let’s hope Bats doesn’t leave it too long before he next goes on his travels.
Stephen Jewell
TV show-inspired stories ran in Japan’s Shonen King magazine from 1966-1967. 2008 book Bat-manga! collects them.
An intriguingly eclectic book composed of 14 self-contained stories