Batman: Prey Review
We pick up The Ultimate Batman Chronology this week with Batman: Prey. Written by Doug Moench and illustrated by Paul Gulacy in 1990, this trade includes Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11–15 and Batman: Terror (but we will cover the latter in a separate review as it’s chronological appearance is much later).
The artwork in Batman: Prey is not going to be for everybody. Being released in the early 90’s it still has the old school art style of 80’s comics and the colours are generally vey bright. We have the grey and blue batsuit, extremely red clay bricks, and the bright blue sky backgrounds. This is not to say that the art is bad… but those who prefer newer artwork in comics won’t be particularly impressed by what you find in the ‘Prey’ portion of this trade. Personally, I found it to be mediocre and no particular panels stood out as particularly well done. This may be my tendency to favour the modern art style showing through, or it may say something about the work here more generally.
Additionally, I hate that thought bubble text is done in cursive writing with constant underlines to highlight key words. The underlines are tacky and the cursive does not translate well to print, since inking to paper isn’t perfect… it makes certain text difficult to read.
This story could be read as a sequel to Batman & the Monster Men. It deals with Hugo Strange, and if read after Monster Men, can be viewed as his inevitable return to the Batman mythos. However, I will state that there is not significant agreement in favour of ‘Prey’ even being canon.
The story takes place in Gotham City sometime during the early years of Batman’s time in Gotham. Some of the major characters involved are: Batman, Alfred, Captain Gordon, Catwoman, Hugo Strange, Sgt. Max Cort, and (a new villain) Night Scourge.
While Batman continues his war against drugs in Gotham he has a run-in with ambitious cop Sgt. Max Cort. Soon after, Captain Gordon, the Mayor, and Hugo Strange are interviewed on TV and the Mayor makes a startling announcement. Jim Gordon will head a task force with the help of Hugo Strange to identify and catch the masked vigilante, Batman, once and for all. Gordon, although reluctant to head the task force at all, must consider his family and recruits Cort to help him follow through with the task. Batman struggles more than ever in his fight against crime when even the police are hunting him. When a formidable foe known as Night Scourge enters the fray, matters become even more complicated.
In this trade we get to see why the relationship between Gordon and Batman is so important. Batman can’t save the city without Gordon and Gordon can’t help the people of Gotham without Batman. We see that the task they have both set out for themselves is far too hard if they are forced to work alone.
Conclusion
For me, the artwork was particularly weak which kept me mostly uninterested. The story was mediocre (at best) and didn’t really provide any surprises. The major upside to the story is seeing what happens to Gordon and Batman (and the work they are trying to do) when they are forced to work against each other.
Final Rating: Do Not Touch
This trade is a Do Not Touch. If you want to read the best Batman stories, this doesn’t come close. If you’re particularly interested in Hugo Strange.. you might find some value here but he was much better in Batman and the Monster Men. If you’re only interested in the Batman canon, then you may or may not decide this is worth checking out. Personally, I wouldn’t probably consider it canon and even if you do, nothing significant to the Batman mythos happens. If you’re a Batman completionist, you will probably buy it anyway.
If you’re interested in purchasing this trade, it can be found here.
If you would like to see how I review and rate trades, you can find that here.
Finally, if you’re interested in viewing The Ultimate Batman Chronology (for trades) that I am putting together, click here.
