This review first appeared at Green Man Review.
Batman: Inferno is Alex Irvine’s foray into the DC Universe, an adventure set in a seamy, crime-and-corruption ridden Gotham City, as Batman faces two adversaries, one old, one new.
There is a pyromaniac loose in Gotham, calling himself Enfer. He likes fire and he’s quite schooled in the works of the French poet Blaise Cendrar (and, aside from the dual-language pun of the poet’s first name, be advised that his last name is a variation of the French for “cinder”). His recreational outbursts have two aims: one is revenge against the Gotham City Fire Department, for booting him out; the other is a directive from his mentor, Dr. Jonathan Crane, to get Batman. Enfer, however, is chafing under Crane’s control, and one of his first accomplishments is to burn the Arkham Asylum, run by Crane, to the ground. One added gratification: during the fire, the Joker, an inmate at the asylum, escapes and, being the Joker, is soon up to his old tricks.
The story line in this one is certainly twisty enough to keep the reader’s interest. Not only do both Enfer and the Joker come up with devilishly evil plans for chaos and mayhem, but the Joker, by a fluke, finds himself in the Batcave as the penultimate result of his escape, where he makes free with a number of Batman’s devices, including the Batsuit and the Batcar. Needless to say, once the Joker gets his feet under him, Batman’s reputation goes down the toilet.
Chronologically this story is early Batman — he’s still working on the cave, and Jim Gordon is still a police captain, while Robin has not yet made his appearance. This is the “dark” Batman, the shadowed hero who, in addition to all the Bat-paraphernalia, carries around a lot of emotional baggage, which we are privileged to peruse — whether we want to or not. In fact, that seems to be true of all the main characters. We’re given first-hand accounts of both the Joker’s and Enfer’s motivations, and some glimpses into Enfer’s past life that account, to a certain extent, for why he is what he is. It’s actually the references to Enfer’s past that are the most interesting in this area, simply because they are episodes, not dissertations, leaving us a little more room to fill in the blanks. (It’s not all beating us over the head: the idea of Bruce Wayne and Batman as two separate personalities vying for ascendancy within one body is an intriguing one, and Irvine handles it pretty well.)
I’m beginning to suspect that the best place for comic-book superheroes is comic books. While Irvine deserves credit for putting together a good story — and it is good, there’s no reservation in that statement — it’s subject to the same qualms I had about The Ultimates. There seems to be a certain blatant quality that’s taken as a requirement in depicting these characters and their adventures, which works fine in graphic treatments, where the drawing can carry part of the load and add a little finesse to portrayals. But in novels — well, let’s just say I would like to see this one as a graphic novel. I bet it would be fantastic. As it is, it’s merely very good.
(Del Rey, 2006)
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