Beat Ups And Beatniks: Reviewing ‘Batman: Dark Age’ #1

Batman’s origin has been recounted and recycled more than enough times over the years with yet another new version of the past reinterpreted in Batman: Dark Age #1 from writer Mark Russell and artist Mike Allred. An alternative universe Batman whose formative years came in the latter half of the twentieth century and like Superman: Space Age before it, has ties to the Pariah some way. And while this is not the Batman of the aforementioned title, I am assuming the Pariah in this debt issue is the same. This makes me wonder what grand plan writer Mark Russell has in mind for this series and a potential third miniseries. But, that’s a question for another day. The more pertinent question is whether or not Batman: Dark Age #1 is good. Or, does it add anything new to Batman? And on both counts, I would say, yes. 

Russell is in no rush to bring us the fully-formed Batman, spending much of this issue building up the Beatnik backdrop to which the young Bruce Wayne is drawn into. And an era Mike Allred was born to illustrate. His cool, hip smooth art style so evocative of the Silver Age era and that alternative scene sprouting up in America at that time. Jack Kerouac, Lenny Bruce and the rise of the revolutionary spoken word poetry of the era are all inspirations for the aesthetics of Gotham City. Still a gothic wasteland but one with a poetic soul. A far cry from the futuristic world Bruce’s father dreamt of, but will no never come to pass thanks to the machinations of a faceless criminal underworld known as the False Face Society. Think The Court of Owls and you’re not too far off the mark. Another powerful cabal pulling the strings to prevent a young Bruce Wayne from ever getting to his fortune. And a child who’s protected fiercely by Alfred. How he is prevent from doing this come his eighteenth birthday is the injection of originality I have come to expect from writer of Russell’s calibre. There is a creeping menace at work deep in the shadows that pervades the young Bruce’s life, something he is oblivious about for most of this issue.

Along the way, we meet several familiar faces, including Selina Kyle; a beret-wearing, turtle-neck-wearing hip cat with plenty of street smarts. And more than a match for an untrained Bruce Wayne. A far cry from becoming the Dark Knight any time soon, based on the trials and tribulations of a spoilt brat of a billionaire. 

In establishing this particular corner of the DCU we get an intriguing new take one one of the most memorable origins stories in comics, and the set-up for a series that will see Bruce soar across the dark skyline of Gotham City as Batman. A very promising start for this new series. 

Batman: Dark Age #1 is out now from DC Comics/DC Black Label