The State of Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman in Barcelona

Spotlight
The State of Batman: The Dark Knight and Batman in Barcelona
By Andy Frisk
August 9, 2009 - 00:35

DC Comics

Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight, by Mark Waid and Diego Olmos, is one of the few Batman comics produced recently that has the look and feel of the last two movies based on the same character. This feel is a combination of the art, the specific Bat-gadgets, and vehicles that are reminiscent of the type of gadgets and vehicles used in the films, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and the overall theme and atmosphere of the book.

Batman in Barcelona begins with Bruce Wayne, as The Batman, interrogating Dr. Stephen Crane, The Scarecrow, in Arkham Asylum about his and The Mad Hatter’s involvement in Killer Croc’s recent break out. It appears that Crane and The Hatter, with the help of some of Crane’s psychotropics, convince Croc that even though Croc is a “little sideshow freak,” and that “he’s not like the rest of us. Joker, me…we are legends,” Croc does have a destiny. It seems they suggest that Croc is the modern reincarnation of the dragon of “St. George and The Dragon” fame. St. George, being the patron saint of Barcelona, and the fact that the city is “currently dealing with a lizard-like serial killer,” suggests to Batman that Crane and The Hatter’s little plan worked, and Croc is off in Spain attempting to fulfill his “destiny.” His destiny is to defeat “his (Croc’s) avowed Knight-Enemy,” which, of course, is The Batman. So, a trip to Barcelona, Spain is in order for Mr. Wayne.

Putting aside the fact that Batman in Barcelona utilizes one of The Batman’s more colorful, albeit minor villains, the work overall feels like it would fit in with the continuity of the movies, since it has much in common with the look and feel of the films. Many Batman titles right now really don’t have that look and feel, to the detriment to fans of the film and Batman in general. Several aspects of the art in Batman in Barcelona help to create an atmosphere similar to the films. The buildings of Barcelona are realistically recreated, including Casa Battlo, Barcelona’s “House of Bones,” which is an architectural reproduction of an aspect of the St. George myth. As Bruce’s private tour guide, and longtime friend, Cristina Llanero, “an executive with the City Arts Council of Barcelona,” responds to Bruce’s observation that the arch of the Casa Battlo’s roof resembles a dragon, “So the story goes. The torrent and cross are said to represent the sword of St. George—the moment of victory when St. George plunged his weapon into the dragon, slaying it.” Diego Olmos’ drawings of the Casa Battlo accurately reflect the look of the real life building. Later on, when Bruce prepares to venture out as Batman, he makes use of one his secret, bought and paid for, hideouts in Barcelona, housed in the Museu National D’Art De Cataluña, which is also recreated by Diego quite realistically. This book’s realistic representation of real life buildings and use of intelligent Batman store-houses such as the one hidden away in the museum, that one feels that Bruce has many of scattered around the world, create an atmosphere of realism that The Dark Knight captured very well with its on-site filming in Chicago. With The Dark Knight, as with Batman in Barcelona, out are the pseudo-gothic and phony looking Gotham City settings, and in are the real cityscape settings. Yes, in The Dark Knight, Chicago was renamed Gotham, but it was obviously Chicago with its El and underground by passes, and this real outdoor, real city setting is what helped make The Dark Knight so realistic, just as the real world setting of Barcelona during the real world Festival of St. George, adds a strong element of realism to Batman in Barcelona.

Another aspect of Batman in Barcelona that creates a similarity with The Dark Knight is The Batman’s very Bat-Pod like motorized bike that he tears around Barcelona in. It's so similar to the Bat-Pod that it really almost could pass for it. This is not a case of Waid and Olmos ripping off the movie, but instead utilizing some of the most logically realistic looking vehicles from the film to great visual effect in the comic book.

Finally, the characters in Batman in Barcelona are realistically developed visually and dramatically. Killer Croc, while looking like a humanoid crocodile, as he must, is relatively realistic looking. He isn’t massively out of proportion, and while being quite “buff,” is not a hulking figure. His necessary crocodile scales are well drawn and not overdone, giving him a menacing look, but definitely not an over the top caricature look. It is Cristina that is the most realistic character in the book. Although being in a quite different line of work, she is very much concerned for Bruce, as Rachel Dawes was in Batman Begins, before she figured out that he was The Batman. Cristina argues that Bruce is a much better person than the playboy lifestyle he leads. There’s more to Bruce. Cristina remarks that Bruce once “had drive, he had ambition…He spoke with such resolve about making the world a better place.” It’s not hard to imaging Cristina figuring out Bruce’s secret, as The Batman’s appearance in Barcelona coupled with Bruce’s sudden visit cannot be just coincidence. Cristina seems to be the insightful, strong and compassionate woman that Rachel was in the film.

It is this kind of realistic portrayal of The Batman, his environment and adventures that I’m sure many Bat-Fans would like to see more of, myself included. I may be completely wrong, but Batman Begins and The Dark Knight were, perhaps, the greatest two superhero films ever made. They were intelligent, thought provoking, and above all, about as realistic and authentic any film about a guy dresses up as a bat to combat crime can be. The simple fact that The Dark Knight was the 3rd highest grossing film of all time has to speak to the fact that audiences respond to films that they can envision as taking place in the streets just outside the local multi-plex with realistic characters. It’s my guess that the case is the same with comics. There is a definite need for simple, fun, and pure escapist comics and films, but there is a great potential, and need, for a character like Batman to be used in entertaining, but intelligent and engaging storytelling with depth much like The Dark Knight was, and Batman in Barcelona emulates. I for one, will take a closer to real life-like vehicle like the Bat-Pod over an inane flying Batmobile, like we’ve seen in the new camp Batman and Robin series. Current social psychology tells me that as a member of Generation X, I must have, along with a couple of a million or so of my peers, a desire for authenticity in my life when it comes to my choice of music as well as my choice of storytelling, films, and comic books. My generation is entering the prime of our wage earning years, as well as our prime spending years, so the big shots at DC Comics might want to pay attention as I, and as I suspect many of my peers, would rather have more Bat-books like Batman in Barcelona with its realism as opposed to Batman and Robin with its 1960’s TV era Batman campiness with blood and murder mixed in for shock effect. That is, if they want our money.

So what’s the point of this long diatribe, other than Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and Batman in Barcelona are great works that are realistic and engaging? The point is that Batman in Barcelona was pretty much the most engaging Batman comic book that I’ve read in the past year or so, and was so because of its similarities with the look and feel of The Dark Knight, which, again, is most likely the best comic book superhero film ever made. While there have been some other Batman books recently that have been pretty good, none of them seemed to capitalize on the success of The Dark Knight, with the possible exception of the hardback graphic novel, Joker. Joker was another one-off though, much like Batman in Barcelona was, and really doesn’t fit into any sort of DC Universe continuity, and therefore is not a work capable of doing much in the way of paving the way for more stories with the same feel. Current Batman continuity has really turned off a lot of readers, with Bruce Wayne being “dead", and the horrible Batman R.I.P. saga.

Hopefully, things will turn around, and Batman will once again be as much the comic book heavyweight that he is the film heavyweight. This really can only occur when DC Comics produces regular Batman stories that emulate the aspects of the films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight without recapitulating them. Batman in Barcelona is a good example of what many of us are looking for. Let’s see some more…