Batman Legends of the Dark Knight # 46 Heat Part 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

I had this one lying around for a while, but then I bought Prey, Family and Blades and decided to review them in numerical order. There was also the fact that I thought that this was a 3 part story, but it turned out to be a 4-parter, so I had to track it down. Now that I got all 4 parts, let's see what happens in this story. 

The story opens with Gotham enduring a heat wave as the news reports that it's up to 93 degrees. Meanwhile, a man starts putting on his costume, complete with sharp blades attached to his gloves. He tells himself that he won't fear the darkness for he is the darkness, he will not fear evil, for he is the evil. The news says to expect it to be 103 or even 105 degrees the next day.

As the masked man slips out his window and climbs down the fire escape, he hears his neighbors complaining about the heat and not being able to afford an air conditioner. The man feels they deserve being his victims but they are too close to his lair. He needs to find richer prey that lay deeper in the jungle.

Captain Gordon is working the late shift, hoping to sleep through the hot day and work on cooler nights, except it's still just as hot at night. A fellow officer named Byron came in saying they got another costumed person sighting. Gordon asks if it's Batman or the recent Catwoman that had been seen. Byron says the caller did report a guy in a skintight dark costume, but he didn't mention anything about him having a cape or giant wings. Gordon says if it's too hot for them to run around in trench coats, it's most likely too hot for Batman to be out with his cape.

I mean... it makes sense to me

Meanwhile, Batman, still using his cape, swoops down and takes down three burglars. He alerts a nearby cop about them and tells him to say hi to Gordon when he turns them in. 

The news reports about the health risks involved with this heat wave, especially for the elderly and advises they seek air conditioned areas. A man is sitting on his sofa, watching the TV when the masked man with the bladed gloves arrives. He asks where is his safe and the man shows he hides it behind some fake books in his bookcase. He takes out the money and says to take it all. The masked man says he will take it all as he reaches for the light switch. The rich man says he didn't need to turn off the lights since he can't see his face. The masked man says he didn't need to, but he wants to, as he slashes the man to death.

As kids play in the street with an open fire hydrant, Selina Kyle is exercising while watching the news. The TV reports on the man that was killed in his study. There was a lot of money taken but the way he was brutally murdered with slash marks shown it was done for violence's sake. Witnesses report a humanoid cat leaving the scene so they think he might be related to Catwoman. Selina angrily throws one of her weights at the TV. 

Elsewhere a woman is changing out of her clothes and heads towards her closet. The masked man was hiding in there and he starts to slash her with his claws. 

Gordon and his men check the crime scene, the most they can say before they get more information is that the man was tall and right-handed. Byron shows Gordon the newspaper and is concerned this might cause problems for the black community since the media is trying to tie this to the panthers. Gordon says whether the cat-man is black or white, they'll deal with him as a killer. While Gordon can't control the media, he will try to balance their slant on this during the press conference he will attend. Byron says it's good working with him, and Gordon tells Byron to remember that when he becomes commissioner. Byron is surprised by this. Gordon says the way the mayor's been mad at him lately, Byron has a better shot at making it than he does.

Bruce Wayne is reading up on the current situation and determines this isn't the work of some cult, but by some obsessed psychopath. Bruce says these killings are about blood with looting on the side. 

Catwoman suits up in her apartment and heads out, as does Batman, driving off in the Batmobile. They both comment on how hot it still is outside. Batman and Catwoman spend several hours searching through the city and find no sign of this masked murderer. Elsewhere a man is reading the same book relating to cults and he angrily tosses it away.

At the press conference, Gordon tells the reporters he doesn't see any signs of the cat-man being tied to any cults or groups. Someone comments the man even dresses like a black panther. Gordon comments on the city's experience with people in dark costumes, like Batman and Catwoman, one fighting for justice and the other avoiding it, and as far as they can tell both of them are white. As for this man being possibly tied to Catwoman, Gordon says it seems this person robs people as an excuse to commit murders, while Catwoman seems to only be a burglar avoiding violence. Someone says that the people think this murderer could very well be Batman in a different costume. Gordon reminds them that not long ago people also claimed Batman was some sort of supernatural demon. 

One of the reporters tells Gordon he appreciates his efforts to downplay the racial angle but asks what he feels about the mayor's comments. Gordon asks what comments are those. Apparently the Mayor said 'if these people are feeling such murderous rage they should get off the municipal welfare rolls and better their lot in life'. Gordon is caught off guard and says he has already given his opinion and he can't speak for Mayor Klass. The reporter says he realizes he will have to print the Mayor's comments and Gordon says he realizes the reporter will do what he thinks he has to do and ends the conference.

Byron tells Gordon he almost had them. Gordon says things would have been better if not for the mayor's comments. 

The female reporter on TV from earlier tells the public that the Mayor's words aren't the only things heating up Gotham as they predict more heat, haze and humidity for the 9th day in a row. The man watches the TV angrily as he puts on his costume, saying she deserves this. 

The weathergirl is relaxing in her penthouse with a rooftop garden as Catwoman is watching her with binoculars. Suddenly the man appears hiding in the bushes. The man gets ready to attack her, saying that she uses the heat as an excuse to show as much skin as possible. The weathergirl says she's not like that and that's how they want to play it on TV. The man reels his hand back saying this is how he wants to play it. Just then Batman smashes through the window and kicks him back. 

Catwoman sees both Batman and the masked man fighting, but she is too far away. The man quickly gets back up and lunges at Batman. Batman rolls and throws him back. Batman determines this man is trained, possibly marine corps. The man grabs one of the small garden shovels and lunges it at Batman. Batman is able to smack it out of his hand and tries to go for the other hand that has the claws. He dodges an attempted slash but gets kneed across the chin. Batman goes for a kick but the man quickly raises his arm to block it. 

As Batman dodges another claw strike, he's surprised the weathergirl is still there and tells her to run away. Batman elbows the man in the midsection, giving her time to get away. The man head-butts Batman, possibly breaking his nose. Batman's vision is blurry and he needs to avoid his claws. As the weathergirl tries to get away, Batman kicks the guy through the greenhouse window. 

Batman regains his vision in time to see the man holding the woman over the edge of the rooftop. Batman tells him to let her go and he drops her. The woman grabs onto the ledge as the masked man gets away. Batman doesn't know what to do; go left to save the weathergirl or right to catch the killer. As the woman loses her grip off the ledge, Batman chooses left and rescues her in time. As she passes out in his arms, he wonders why he even hesitated.

Just then Catwoman shows up. She tells Batman that she got there too late this time, but she thinks he needs help, a partner. 

My thoughts-

Man, this book is packing the heat alright. This one is a solid reminder that Legends of the Dark Knight deals with deeper and darker themes than we'd ever see in a cartoon show, or even the mainline comics. I knew the comic dealt with a heat wave, and Batman and Catwoman dealing with the ominous looking guy on the cover, but the last thing I was expecting was racial tension. I mean, it does look like something the media would have done back in the pre-90's era (the comic was made in the 90's but the event takes place during Batman's earlier days and Gordon was still just a captain), I just wasn't expecting to see that in a Batman comic. The irony of it all is despite all the finger pointing, Catman is white and he's killing people at random without any hint of racially related motives.

Then we have the Mayor's comments, which are not only terrible, but also not something you'd want the Mayor of your city to say. I wonder if they could have gotten away with this in today's comics, even if it is in-character dialogue and it's used to portray the Mayor as a racist jerk and not something to glorify.

It seems to be the common theme with this series, not just going through Batman's early days but tackling darker themes. There was a poll a few issues back about whether or not to feature Dick Grayson Robin in the stories and a lot of people said no. Their most common reason was 'leave the sillier stuff for the mainline comics (Batman and Detective) and let Legends of the Dark Knight continue being the deeper and more serious comic. 

Also due to the heat wave, there's quite a bit of skin in this book. The weathergirl reports the weather in a bikini, we see a woman get attacked while in her underwear and we see Catwoman getting dressed. I guess this comic proves Catwoman goes commando on her missions. 

The editors call this masked man Catman, so I guess we'll go with that. I thought he had those blades on both hands, but it seems he only has them on his right hand like Freddy. It's hard to understand what his deal is, he randomly goes after people he feels deserve to die for one reason or the other. He talks the most with the weathergirl, so he at least explains his warped reason of going after her just because she shows off her body on TV (he even called her a video 'slut', which is a word I didn't know they could use in comics back then, or heck, even nowadays). But did he really go after the rich guy in the beginning just because he can afford air conditioning?

Batman and Catman had a good fight. We rarely see drawn out one on ones. Most of these comics deal with solving mysteries and whatnot and when Batman finally confronts the big bad guy at the end, a flying kick or tackling to the ground is usually all it takes. We get to see a bit of hand to hand combat here as the Catman seems military trained and a step above the usual thug Batman takes down. Catman isn't afraid of Batman in the slightest and has no problem bringing the fight to him.

It seemed weird for Batman to freeze when he had to choose between saving the girl or chasing Catman. This is still his earlier days and he probably hasn't run into this type of situation too often. 

Catwoman doesn't do too much except get involved to clear her name. She might be a burglar but she doesn't want to be associated with a murderer. Of course her role will be expanded as the story unfolds. This might be the first time Batman and Catwoman actually work together, which will be interesting since they barely know each other at this time. 

We'll see what happens next issue. In the meantime, gotta love those classic ads. The Atari Lynx didn't last too long, despite it being the second handheld in color to compete with the still black and white (or grey and green) Game Boy. Ironically, considering this is a review on a Batman comic, the Lynx was the first console to have a game based on Batman Returns before the Genesis and SNES made their takes on the movie.