#RetroReview: Batman Special #1 (1984)

Mike Golden’s Splash pages really do the story justice!

We already know the history of Batman’s origin story. There is no need to hash it out about how on an eerie night on June 26th, an 8 year old heir apparent of Wayne Enterprise who later became the vigilante of the night – the Caped Crusader!

What if in a parallel a new vigilante of the night was born from a different cloth? In a near identical context of how Batman was born. This is where The Wrath is introduced; as an 8 year old boy, his life was changed forever on June 26th as he was also orphaned. Wrath’s family were from a different part of Gotham, the disadvantaged slums where crime were a means of making a living. The trio were in the midst of a break and enter, they were caught mid-way by a police officer. Startled, the father fired at the officer and as a result the young boy was left an orphan.

A fantastic First splash page of The Wrath.

Just like Batman’s hellbent cause to be the Dark Knight, to eradicate crime in Gotham. Wrath’s longtime agenda was to seek revenge on those who killed his parents – police officers, in particular James Gordon. Now it’s Batman using all his detective powers to protect the Commissioner!

This is a book well before its time, as DC released darker titles such as The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen in 1986 and Batman Year One a year later in 1987. This Batman Special felt like a subtle test for DC fans to experience darkness, with Mike W. Barr carried the story-telling duties flawlessly although to deliver a story like this with introducing a brand new protagonist in 40 pages is challenging, I wish this were a four part miniseries. The art team did a solid job in delivering this darker title. There are moments of gore and violence with Michael Golden’s sharp, classic comic clean art style (like Dave Gibbons delivered in Watchmen), and legendary Teen Titan’s inker Mike DeCarlo and colorist Adrienne Roy delivers.

This is a fun, quick and fulfilling read, I’d love for this to be a longer run rather than a one and done special. Also I’d wish for this title to have a different name! With The Wrath, did anyone get a Mark Millar ‘Nemesis’ feel?

The verdict: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writer: Mike W. Barr
Art: Michael Golden
Inks: Mike DeCarlo
Colors: Adrienne Roy
Editors: Dick Giordano, Len Wein

Author Profile

Shane Tydeman

The Wonder from Down Under,
Dodgy is a senior contributor to Comic Crusaders. Co-Host of The Yeah-Nah Wepa Show! An advocate of indie comics and is creator of Indie Comics podcasts Flipside Focus, Sunderkatz and Think Indie Podcast!

An unapologetic movie fan, NBA fan, action figure, trading card fan! Also an advocate for Depression awareness!