The brown boundary's an odd choice.
The Cover
"I'm not negative! You're negative!"
Oh, sorry. That was just the right side of my brain yelling over the corpus callosum at the left side of brain because the left side keeps trying to stop the right side of my brain from writing a long fucking rant about how much it's begun to hate Brian Stelfreeze's painted covers. If only I hadn't gone out and purchased more issues of this comic book I could have lived the rest of my life thinking I kind of liked them. Except maybe that one that had Calendar Man sniffing Killer Moth's farts. I guess the left side of my brain, the side that apparently suffers from delusion and guilt, has convinced itself that it still likes them but only theoretically. The problem is that it refuses to come to terms with all the non-theoretically problems with the cover that the right side of my brain keeps listing, quite loudly. "Why is one-quarter of the cover just some weird fucker's face?" my brain bellows inside my skull. "And why does he have ink smudged all over it? Is it because he's actually a dictionary transforming into a man? The definition 'cadaver' turning into Mortimer Kadaver?!" It won't fucking let up. Meanwhile the left side of my brain is all, "Oh, come on. It's no worse than a knock-off Choose Your Own Adventure book. Remember the Which Way books? Those were a lot of stupid fun, right?"
"Fuck you! Fuck you and your stupid fucking electrified pink meat, you sad half a sack! The art on Which Way books was way better than Choose Your Own Adventure books! And also, stop changing the fucking subject because Brian Stelfreeze is a fucking hack! Why does Batman have long, sharp fingers?! And no thumbs? And we've seen that arched back look with that grimace on the face of the meat puppet we pilot too many times to think Batman's not getting a broom handle up the ass!"
"But the shadow hands grasping at him are fun, right? And his muscles are so shiny! What about the brown border? We like that effect, right?"
"Suck my fucking neurons, you dope! This cover is clunky, crowded, and makes no fucking sense. Also, where's the Flea? Don't call this issue 'The Human Flea' and not give me some sweet flea action."
My head was beginning to hurt at this point so I choked myself until I passed out. When I came to, I figured I'd discussed the cover enough and moved on to the story.
The Story So Far
Some kid donned a flea costume to rob convenience stores and bars so he can save his grandfather's flea circus which nobody fucking cares about because it's 2026. I mean, it was 1992 when this story came out but that's still closer to people not giving a shit about flea circuses than people caring about flea circuses. Batman began sniffing around so his grandfather told him to knock that shit off and he said he would. But there's a second issue (this one!) so I'm guessing he won't quite quit yet. Also, a man named Kadaver has escaped from prison because he's about to die. But before he dies, he wants to kill everybody else in Gotham so nobody will sing a song about how great it is that he's dead. I mean, you just can't risk it, you know? His plan is to kill everybody by unleashing a plague. And you know how plagues are spread, right? Pubic lice! I mean fleas! So the stories will probably merge sometime during this issue.
The Story
The issue begins with Kadaver heading over to the flea circus because he apparently knows how plagues are spread too!
"I'm not negative! You're negative!"
Oh, sorry. That was just the right side of my brain yelling over the corpus callosum at the left side of brain because the left side keeps trying to stop the right side of my brain from writing a long fucking rant about how much it's begun to hate Brian Stelfreeze's painted covers. If only I hadn't gone out and purchased more issues of this comic book I could have lived the rest of my life thinking I kind of liked them. Except maybe that one that had Calendar Man sniffing Killer Moth's farts. I guess the left side of my brain, the side that apparently suffers from delusion and guilt, has convinced itself that it still likes them but only theoretically. The problem is that it refuses to come to terms with all the non-theoretically problems with the cover that the right side of my brain keeps listing, quite loudly. "Why is one-quarter of the cover just some weird fucker's face?" my brain bellows inside my skull. "And why does he have ink smudged all over it? Is it because he's actually a dictionary transforming into a man? The definition 'cadaver' turning into Mortimer Kadaver?!" It won't fucking let up. Meanwhile the left side of my brain is all, "Oh, come on. It's no worse than a knock-off Choose Your Own Adventure book. Remember the Which Way books? Those were a lot of stupid fun, right?"
"Fuck you! Fuck you and your stupid fucking electrified pink meat, you sad half a sack! The art on Which Way books was way better than Choose Your Own Adventure books! And also, stop changing the fucking subject because Brian Stelfreeze is a fucking hack! Why does Batman have long, sharp fingers?! And no thumbs? And we've seen that arched back look with that grimace on the face of the meat puppet we pilot too many times to think Batman's not getting a broom handle up the ass!"
"But the shadow hands grasping at him are fun, right? And his muscles are so shiny! What about the brown border? We like that effect, right?"
"Suck my fucking neurons, you dope! This cover is clunky, crowded, and makes no fucking sense. Also, where's the Flea? Don't call this issue 'The Human Flea' and not give me some sweet flea action."
My head was beginning to hurt at this point so I choked myself until I passed out. When I came to, I figured I'd discussed the cover enough and moved on to the story.
The Story So Far
Some kid donned a flea costume to rob convenience stores and bars so he can save his grandfather's flea circus which nobody fucking cares about because it's 2026. I mean, it was 1992 when this story came out but that's still closer to people not giving a shit about flea circuses than people caring about flea circuses. Batman began sniffing around so his grandfather told him to knock that shit off and he said he would. But there's a second issue (this one!) so I'm guessing he won't quite quit yet. Also, a man named Kadaver has escaped from prison because he's about to die. But before he dies, he wants to kill everybody else in Gotham so nobody will sing a song about how great it is that he's dead. I mean, you just can't risk it, you know? His plan is to kill everybody by unleashing a plague. And you know how plagues are spread, right? Pubic lice! I mean fleas! So the stories will probably merge sometime during this issue.
The Story
The issue begins with Kadaver heading over to the flea circus because he apparently knows how plagues are spread too!
"Closed." Yeah, no shit.
The idea that a flea circus might play a significant role in a story in 1992 is the first thing in this series that made me think, "I wonder how old Alan Grant was when he wrote this?" I figured he must have been like 80 to think this was a good plot point. He was 43. He died in 2022 at 73. I am now sad. Partly because I love a lot of Alan Grant's work but more partly because that's only 19 years away for me. And I've been doing this blog for 15 years. So, um, I'm like so close to death! Eep! Stupid mortality!
In an effort to forget whatever I was just writing about, I kept reading the story.
Kadaver robs Kemp, the owner of the flea circus. Not that Kemp has any money. But he does have thousands and thousands of fleas! I guess that means Batman will have to work with The Flea to stop the spread of the plague because The Flea is such a fucking expert on, you know, fleas. I probably speculated that during my last review, right?
Kadaver kills the old man Kemp before he and Bodie steal his fleas and flee over the rooftops for some reason.
In an effort to forget whatever I was just writing about, I kept reading the story.
Kadaver robs Kemp, the owner of the flea circus. Not that Kemp has any money. But he does have thousands and thousands of fleas! I guess that means Batman will have to work with The Flea to stop the spread of the plague because The Flea is such a fucking expert on, you know, fleas. I probably speculated that during my last review, right?
Kadaver kills the old man Kemp before he and Bodie steal his fleas and flee over the rooftops for some reason.
They drove up in a car. What the fuck are they doing dancing across the roofs?!
Oh wait. Sorry, that's obviously Batman. He just came back to spy on Kemp because he suspected the old man wasn't telling him the whole truth. Kadaver and Bodie are leaving by car down below.
It's a good thing Batman has nothing better to do than to torment an old man whom Batman decided was lying to him. It's not like Gotham is rife with violent crime that he could be putting a stop to. Fucking dick.
Batman thinks exactly what I thought but a little more forgiving of himself.
It's a good thing Batman has nothing better to do than to torment an old man whom Batman decided was lying to him. It's not like Gotham is rife with violent crime that he could be putting a stop to. Fucking dick.
Batman thinks exactly what I thought but a little more forgiving of himself.
Fortunate for who? Kemp's dead!
Batman just thinks he's fortunate because he spies Kadaver leaving Kemp's place. He just assumes Kadaver's working with The Human Flea because he doesn't check in with the old man. Why should he? He knew the guy was lying about something, right? He must be complicit!
Before Batman can hurl a batarang at Bodie's head giving him a life-altering concussion, The Flea attacks Batman. He saw Batman on the roof out of the window as he cradled his dead grandfather and assumed Batman killed him even though everybody knows the main thing about Batman is that he doesn't kill. Does everybody know that? Is that a secret Batman keeps tight to his chest? I don't think it is. I think he's constantly telling anybody who'll listen that he doesn't kill. And a young guy like The Flea? He really should know that. Although he does live with an old man who runs a flea circus. Maybe he's not up on all the current Batman lore that the cool kids know.
Kadaver and Bodie get away while Batman deals with The Flea.
Before Batman can hurl a batarang at Bodie's head giving him a life-altering concussion, The Flea attacks Batman. He saw Batman on the roof out of the window as he cradled his dead grandfather and assumed Batman killed him even though everybody knows the main thing about Batman is that he doesn't kill. Does everybody know that? Is that a secret Batman keeps tight to his chest? I don't think it is. I think he's constantly telling anybody who'll listen that he doesn't kill. And a young guy like The Flea? He really should know that. Although he does live with an old man who runs a flea circus. Maybe he's not up on all the current Batman lore that the cool kids know.
Kadaver and Bodie get away while Batman deals with The Flea.
It's rare for Batman to ask questions before breaking many, many bones.
Anyway Batman realizes that The Flea wants to help catch his grandfather's murderer and Batman eventually accepts his help but with the caveat that he's still going to jail later for, I don't know, daring to kick Batman in the face, I suspect. Luckily Batman read Kadaver's lips before Batman was kicked in the face by The Human Pubic Louse which, if anybody else had seen happen, would ensure that Catwoman would never kiss him again. He learned that Kadaver was headed to that huge lab in Gotham where they experiment on all of the animals. I think it's called Wayne Industries Labs. Or something. Don't listen to me. I'm a liar.
Breaking News!
Listen: Scott Dilbert has died and while he'd probably like to be remembered for his comic strip, he made the decision to be remembered for making racist comments and embracing a terrible ideology. He got more attention for being an asshole so he embraced being an asshole. Now that he's dead, people only remember that he was an asshole. Even the people mourning him don't care about his life's work. They just care that he was on their side.
Don't be a Scott Dilbert.
That's a warning for all the likeable people. I'm still going to be an asshole because somebody needs to look like an angry piece of shit to shame these MAGA assholes (which, often enough, are simply Conservatives at this point) as often as possible and I don't mind taking that bullet. If the people I despise think of me as an asshole when I die but the people I love remember me for the joy and whimsy and absolutely fucking amazing book and comic book reviews I've done, I'm good with that. I am a light in the dark, full of happiness and joy and overwhelming positivity and hope, but only for those I love. I will burn and bite and rip and tear anybody who embraces hate, anybody gatekeeping the pursuit of happiness for those they deem too different. Suck it, haters!
Hmm. Um. How do you return from breaking news? I guess the opposite?
Fixing Olds!
Kadaver, Bodie, and the two punk guys who seem to be more into nihilism than animal rights break into that lab I mentioned. The punk guys free all of the animals while Bodie and Kadaver head into the wing where they keep all of the deadly pathogens that would decimate the population if they ever got out. I'm sure they're storing them for positive and uplifting research reasons and not because they're planning on selling them to the military. I'm sure there's a great and logical reason that they need all of those deadly pathogens stored away for the future. I mean, no big deal killing off every Passenger Pigeon or Dodo Bird but you don't want to make the Bubonic Plague or Small Pox completely extinct, right? I bet the reason has to do with glaciers and how they're just gigantic storage units for deadly viruses and bacteria so we might someday need these ones we know about to make a vaccine or something. I'm not a scientist so I don't know all the smart reasons scientists do stupid things. I generally just assume the reason for those stupid things is because they're in bed with the American military, shrug, and go play video games.
Breaking News!
Listen: Scott Dilbert has died and while he'd probably like to be remembered for his comic strip, he made the decision to be remembered for making racist comments and embracing a terrible ideology. He got more attention for being an asshole so he embraced being an asshole. Now that he's dead, people only remember that he was an asshole. Even the people mourning him don't care about his life's work. They just care that he was on their side.
Don't be a Scott Dilbert.
That's a warning for all the likeable people. I'm still going to be an asshole because somebody needs to look like an angry piece of shit to shame these MAGA assholes (which, often enough, are simply Conservatives at this point) as often as possible and I don't mind taking that bullet. If the people I despise think of me as an asshole when I die but the people I love remember me for the joy and whimsy and absolutely fucking amazing book and comic book reviews I've done, I'm good with that. I am a light in the dark, full of happiness and joy and overwhelming positivity and hope, but only for those I love. I will burn and bite and rip and tear anybody who embraces hate, anybody gatekeeping the pursuit of happiness for those they deem too different. Suck it, haters!
Hmm. Um. How do you return from breaking news? I guess the opposite?
Fixing Olds!
Kadaver, Bodie, and the two punk guys who seem to be more into nihilism than animal rights break into that lab I mentioned. The punk guys free all of the animals while Bodie and Kadaver head into the wing where they keep all of the deadly pathogens that would decimate the population if they ever got out. I'm sure they're storing them for positive and uplifting research reasons and not because they're planning on selling them to the military. I'm sure there's a great and logical reason that they need all of those deadly pathogens stored away for the future. I mean, no big deal killing off every Passenger Pigeon or Dodo Bird but you don't want to make the Bubonic Plague or Small Pox completely extinct, right? I bet the reason has to do with glaciers and how they're just gigantic storage units for deadly viruses and bacteria so we might someday need these ones we know about to make a vaccine or something. I'm not a scientist so I don't know all the smart reasons scientists do stupid things. I generally just assume the reason for those stupid things is because they're in bed with the American military, shrug, and go play video games.
I wish Hush's identity had been Tommy Azzman.
Bodie only now realizes that Kadaver's plan is to infect the fleas and send them out into Gotham to infect everybody. Bodie isn't into mass murder so he stands up to Kadaver and gets shot. Kadaver escapes with some Bubonic plague while The Flea captures the punk guys and Batman beats the shit out of Bodie. I mean questions Bodie as he dies in Batman's arms. To be fair to Batman (which I absolutely don't need to be because, you know, ACAB), he tells Bodie to shut up while he gets an ambulance but Bodie is all, "No, no. I accept that my time is over. And for my last noble act, I will tell you all of Kadaver's plans and the location of his cemetery lair. Cough, cough. Die."
Batman figures out where the best place in Gotham to release the fleas for the maximum spread of the plague by doing detective work and he manages to get there in time, killing all the fleas in the process. So Batman does kill! After that, he finds Kadaver about to kill himself and prevents the suicide. Not for good or compassionate reasons, of course.
Batman figures out where the best place in Gotham to release the fleas for the maximum spread of the plague by doing detective work and he manages to get there in time, killing all the fleas in the process. So Batman does kill! After that, he finds Kadaver about to kill himself and prevents the suicide. Not for good or compassionate reasons, of course.
Holy Christ. What a dick.
Kadaver's about to die painfully from a brain tumor, probably suffering for weeks, all while in the non-comfort of a prison cell. So Batman saves his life just so he's forced to endure that as punishment? Come on, dude. Let the guy kill himself! This is just absolute sadism on Batman's part.
The final panel of the comic book has Batman mocking Kadaver because not only is he going to jail but he's about to be hounded by animal rights groups for being "complicit in the murder of 50,000 fleas." Hopefully Batman was also hounded by these animal rights groups for the rest of the run of Shadow of the Bat. If there wasn't at least one panel in every issue after this where somebody's throwing red paint on Batman or mocking him while wearing a flea costume, I'll just assume that reality hates me.
The Ranking!
Batman played a minor role in this story. He stumbled onto The Flea while going to investigate the prison break out. Then he stumbles on the escapees when he goes to check on his suspicions about The Flea. His presence at the time the grandfather dies causes The Flea to miss the actual killers (thinking Batman killed the grandfather when he probably would have heard or seen the car in a few moments), stalling The Flea's potential ability to stop Kadaver himself. Batman was entirely unnecessary in this whole business and probably just made thinks worse overall. Plus he tortures a dying man for the pure and simple pleasure he gets out of punishing people. As if not existing anymore is less of a punishment than the process of dying from a brain tumor. Hmm, you know, it probably is, really. There's a reason people want to end their own life when they've got a terminal and painful illness. That was directed at Batman because I think he needs to hear it. Wasn't one of the whole points of Robin to help Batman learn compassion? Or, maybe, Batman just adopted Robin so he could have a kid he could punish for not obeying him. Batman really gets off on punishing people.
The final panel of the comic book has Batman mocking Kadaver because not only is he going to jail but he's about to be hounded by animal rights groups for being "complicit in the murder of 50,000 fleas." Hopefully Batman was also hounded by these animal rights groups for the rest of the run of Shadow of the Bat. If there wasn't at least one panel in every issue after this where somebody's throwing red paint on Batman or mocking him while wearing a flea costume, I'll just assume that reality hates me.
The Ranking!
Batman played a minor role in this story. He stumbled onto The Flea while going to investigate the prison break out. Then he stumbles on the escapees when he goes to check on his suspicions about The Flea. His presence at the time the grandfather dies causes The Flea to miss the actual killers (thinking Batman killed the grandfather when he probably would have heard or seen the car in a few moments), stalling The Flea's potential ability to stop Kadaver himself. Batman was entirely unnecessary in this whole business and probably just made thinks worse overall. Plus he tortures a dying man for the pure and simple pleasure he gets out of punishing people. As if not existing anymore is less of a punishment than the process of dying from a brain tumor. Hmm, you know, it probably is, really. There's a reason people want to end their own life when they've got a terminal and painful illness. That was directed at Batman because I think he needs to hear it. Wasn't one of the whole points of Robin to help Batman learn compassion? Or, maybe, Batman just adopted Robin so he could have a kid he could punish for not obeying him. Batman really gets off on punishing people.
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