Review: Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 5 trade paperback (DC Comics)

Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 5 is the volume of the series I’ve most enjoyed since the second one. All the standard disclaimers still apply that Urban Legends seems to have lost its way from its original premise, farther outside the mainstream Bat-narrative than in. Though, of the four stories in Urban Legends Vol. 5, at least two arguably take place in the “now,” so that’s half and half, and that’s generally better than what we’ve been seeing previously.

Writer Brandon Thomas continues to have a great take on this modern-classic incarnation of the Outsiders, particularly offering some positivity and health when Bat-characters aren’t always known for their good work-life balance. New Talent Showcase alum Joey Esposito pens a good Batman murder mystery with a sci-fi Silver Age twist. Of them all, I was least looking forward to the Alfred Pennyworth story, but perhaps not surprisingly, Chris Burnham writes and draws compelling work. And Dennis Culver’s “Arkham Academy” has lots of potential, and hopefully this is just the start.

Four stories; Batman: Urban Legends is still too much a “just because” anthology for me, but each of these was a pleasant surprise.

[Review contains spoilers]

I believe Brandon Thomas' Outsiders is soon to be superseded, but I’ve enjoyed each outing and this is another good one. Let’s start simply with the premise, that the Outsiders are Signal, Metamorpho, Black Lighting, and Katana, plus a rotating fifth member who might join up whenever a superhero needs added assistance. Among splash pages, we see Robin Tim Drake battling King Snake with help of the Outsiders, so Thomas already has me in the bag, plus “Green Arrow and the Outsiders” and “Mister Miracle and the Outsiders.” All of those are stories I’d happily read, and they’re only throwaway gags and we’re only five pages in, so clearly we’re off to a strong start.

[See the latest DC trade solicitations.]

Signal Duke Thomas' (no relation) inciting Bat-incident was his parents being Joker-ized and then coming under Batman’s wardship. This has gone through a few comic book-y twists, including that Duke’s mother Elaine is possibly also a metahuman immortal (I’ve lost track of what happened to Duke’s stepfather Doug), culminating most recently with Elaine having been kidnapped. Perhaps because this is the end of Brandon Thomas' Outsiders tenure, Thomas brings the story to a neat and welcome ending; lest he leave Duke in crisis, Elaine is returned and also healed of her Joker possession, almost 10 years later.

The Bat-family, particularly at the highest levels, isn’t known for their tendency to relax and prioritize mental health. Thomas, by way of Black Lightning et al., offers a refreshingly more reasonable approach. Batman, hearing that Signal is struggling with his mother’s kidnapping, suggests benching him or letting him handle it on his own; Lightning, instead, conducts an intervention, ending with the Outsiders taking on Duke’s personal mission as their own. I’ve no expectation this kind of approach might stick among the more central Bat-titles, but again, it’s refreshing to see a Bat-team taking care of one another.

I’ve noted before there’s a kind of “anything goes” approach to the stories in DC’s New Talent Showcase books, continuity be damned and tell the story that’s always been in the back of your head, not that there’s anything wrong with that. Esposito’s “Murder Club” feels like that, starting off as a tawdry murder mystery among Gotham’s rich, but breaking wide open the moment a resurrected Thomas and Martha Wayne make the scene.

We’ve been here before, of course, which Esposito’s story doesn’t acknowledge any more than other stories will acknowledge his, and with some similar beats, like Thomas wishing Bruce hadn’t devoted his whole life just to avenging their deaths. There are aspects of the conclusion that are nigh incomprehensible, and some moments — like Bruce grounding Damian from the mission — seem more de rigueur than logical. But Esposito’s use of the Time Commander is clever, the whole thing being a time-traveling murder plot which, again, feels nicely Silver Age-y. And I was wholly taken by the inevitable heartbreaking ending, as well as the themes of legacy and family and general Bat-family mushiness.

Of them all, the Alfred story was bound to be the least connected to the here and now, and also there’s often a cozy mystery vibe to Alfred’s solo outings that is, no pun intended, not my cup of tea. But Chris Burnham’s conception of the story is exceptional, with no small amount of blood and also Alfred’s got his own cadre of Batman’s wonderful toys. I appreciated particularly that a story that seemed to be heading for the supernatural did not in the end, and again, I was far more gripped by this one than I expected.

Culver’s been doing a nice job over on Future State: Gotham, and indeed I’d happily read an “Arkham Academy” series. Comparisons to Gotham Academy are inevitable, but really this book is closer to Suicide Squad, though I appreciate the omnipresent Amanda Waller isn’t actually behind this one (yet). Culver plays well with continuity, building on characters from the ye olde New 52 Detective Comics Vol. 4: The Wrath (and is that a callout to Superman’s former horned blue sidekick, too?). The story is impressively contained, maybe an hour’s timespan and a couple settings, and if it takes two chapters to get there, this one breaks wide open too once the blood starts flowing. Artist Hayden Sherman’s small panels and detailed figures and backgrounds make the whole thing fittingly claustrophobic.

2.25

Rating

Batman: Urban Legends Vol. 5 is in essence what I’d hoped would have followed the second volume. And now even this series is almost at its end, with one more volume left. The new Batman: Brave and the Bold seems essentially Urban Legends by a different, more cinema-friendly name; it’ll be interesting to see to what extent Brave and the Bold forges its own identity or hews to Urban Legends, whether that series has this one’s pitfalls or manages to avoid them.

[Includes relevant original and variant covers]