Batman Week Continues: the 90s until 2005..

There is simply too much to write in 3 posts; therefore, I have decided to extend Batman Week to 4 posts. Keep reading!!!

During the late 1990s, the “Batman” franchise was in dire straits. The comic book speculation market that had driven the popularity of comics to insane heights imploded, and comic shops across the country started to shutter their doors. The creativity of comics was also stifled, as publishers self-destructed in their neverending quest for huge EVENT stories that crossed over multiple titles and forced the comic buyer to purchase numerous issues just to follow the story. At the same time, the price of comic books started to skyrocket. When I first started collecting comics, the price was 65 cents. The introduction of the Prestige Format from DC comics (also known as “bookshelf format”) was a then-hefty $1.95. In fact, Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” was the first limited series to be published in the Prestige Format.

Amid all of these problems in the comics, Batman was struggling as well. One of the major stories (occurring shortly after the infamous “Death of Superman” event) was the breaking of Batman at the hands of the villain Bane. This storyling, called “Knightfall”, resulted in Bruce Wayne giving up the mantle of the bat while taking some time to heal. He handed over the reigns of Batman to Jean-Paul Valley, a member of a sacred order of knights known for their harsh treatment of law breakers. The result of all of these storylines was that, in the comics, Bruce Wayne was not Batman for many long stretches of time. This signaled the loss of connection between the writers of the “Batman” books and their audience, a connection that would be tenuous until the arrival of Greg Rucka.

So the comics world of Batman was in shambles. The motion picture world was not much better. As I mentioned yesterday, Joel Schumacher’s “Batman and Robin” signaled the death knell for the character in the movies for the rest of the 90s and the first half of the 00s. The one success story for the character was the Warner Brother’s animated series. “Batman: The Animated Series” was a revolutionary work from the minds of Bruce Timm, Paul Dini, and Alan Burnett. With a throwback look reminiscent of the classic Fleischer Superman cartoons of the 1940s, “B:TAS” captured the imagination of young and old alike. With its action and colorful array of villains, children of all ages were enthralled with the show. Adults in particular gravitated to the more mature themes and complex character storylines. For the first time, many of the villains in Batman’s rogue’s gallery were given the proper treatment. Richard Moll, more famously known as Bull Shannon from the 1980s situation comedy “Night Court” gave an amazingly nuanced performance as Harvey Dent, the DA who would become the villainous Two-Face. Mark Hamill returned the menace to the Joker’s reputation, and Michael Ansara portrayed the tragic character of Victor Fries with a heartrending honesty; the episode “Heart of Ice” remains my favorite among all of the episodes from the series. The gothic nourish look to the series was also a great success. To highlight the darkness of Gotham City, Timm decided to have all of the backgrounds painted onto black paper instead of white paper. The result was a truly unique look that served to highlight the shadowy world for Gotham City. “B:TAS” was such a success that Timm and Co. were tapped to created “Superman: TAS” and then “Batman Beyond.” Originally a show beyond the comics continuity of Batman, “Batman Beyond” was the story of Terry McGuinness, a young high schooler and street tough who becomes the mentee for an elderly, decrepit and bitter Bruce Wayne. The show was nothing short of amazing, and it remains a personal favorite of mine.

The success of the animated adventures of Batman did not go unnoticed at either DC Comics or by its parent company, Warner Communications (AOL Time Warner at the time). Rather than dismissing Batman out of hand, like so many critics had, as a character whose time had come and gone, the powers that be commissioned numerous scripts and invited numerous filmmakers to pitch their visions for Batman films. The WB brain trust realized that they needed to get back to basics, and the scripts that they commissioned reflected this fact. Frank Miller adapted his comic series “Batman: Year One,” with Darren Aronofsky attached to direct, but WB, rightfully, rejected the idea as being too dark for the movie going masses. Trust me, I have read the script. When you introduce Selina Kyle, the woman who would be Catwoman, as a madam and prostitute, you are getting into VERY dark territory. The second script commissioned by Warner Brothers was an adaptation of “Batman Beyond”, written by Paul Dini (one of the creators of the T show) to be directed by Boaz Yachin. Warners shelved the project, and while I personally was disappointed by that development, I felt heartened knowing that they were trying to find the right script. Warners had learned from their experience with “Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin,” Warners was not going to proceed until they had the right script.

Enter David Goyer. Goyer had long toiled in obscurity in Hollywood, but his script for the film that would eventually become “Batman Begins” captivated the WB braintrust. Goyer went back to the basics of the origin, picking and choosing key elements from the varied sources and utilizing sequences from stories as diverse as Bob Kane’s original “Batman” origin story, Len Wein’s 1980s-era “The Untold Legend of Batman”, Denny O’Neill’s “The Man Who Falls” and, most importantly, Frank Miller’s “Batman: Year One”. After Goyer’s script started to make the rounds, comic fans maintained a tenuous state of excitement. After all, the script made use of 2 obscure villains from the Batman rogues gallery, Ra’s Al G’hul and Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow. Also included was the villainous Carmine Falcone from “Batman: Year One” and Joe Chill, the murderer of Dr. Thomas and Martha Wayne from Bob Kane’s original “Batman” origin story. Who would they get to direct it? Who would be Batman? Who would play the villains? Would Warner’s drop the ball again and get a director who had NO IDEA how to make a character-driven story of the tortured existence of a man haunted by an unimaginable childhood trauma? Would the director embrace the duality of Batman/Bruce Wayne by doing justice to the wonderful script or would he inject “songs by Prince”? Would they ask Val Kilmer or George Clooney back (OH NO! THE HORROR!!!). Comics fans everywhere waited on pins and needles. With the announcement that was to come (as well as the FILM that was to come), we were about to be rewarded for our perseverance.