From: akhale@pollux.usc.edu (Abhijit Khale)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc
Subject: Re: Legends of the Dark Knight #39 (no spoilers)
Date: 12 Oct 1992 15:14:54 -0700
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: pollux.usc.edu



morrow@fnalo.fnal.gov (Albert Elmostein) writes:

>	This is "Cages", right, by Talbot?
Actually, its Mask. 
>	Basically, it sucked.  Nice coloring on top of reasonably tolerable
>Talbot art.

I thought the art was pretty good, especially the use of the nine panel 
format.

>	But the story, oy!  Trite is the word of the day, as someone tries to
>convince Batman that Batman is a fantasy figure and Wayne is an alcoholic bum.
>YAWN YAWN YAWN.  We've only seen that plot done a thousand times, and Talbot
>doesn't ring any new changes in on it.

I agree that the plot isnt new. Nevertheless, I cant remember it being used
in a batman story before, although there has been a story or two that is
somewhat similar. There has been a Flash storyline and a Superman storyline
with the same plot, but I wouldnt say that its been overused. Nor can I 
remember the story being done with the same feeling of authenticity before. 
Consider the part where the "psychiatrist" describes the "Mask" idea, or
where the catwoman figure says ' I dont exist. I'm merely your sexual fantasy"

Heck, if I didnt know better, I'd swear Bruce was living a fantasy. (which is
why this story should have been done as a possible  Elseworld story, so the
reader would have been more in doubt as to the outcome. )

>	Not to mention Talbot obviously and directly swipes Frank Miller's
>scripting style from Dark Knight and Year One, particularly apparent in the
>captions.

There were a few swipes in the first few pages, but I thought 
many of the scenes in the hospital were pretty original.

Obviously, the story didnt work for you. It did work for me though.
Final evaluation depends on the conclusion, but I would still rate
this story very highly.

So what is going on here ?

One possible solution is that Bruce is in a parallel world. But since the
Crisis, writers dont use parallel worlds, and there are some strong hints that
this is not the case.

The second solution is that some villain has captured Bruce and is trying
to brainwash him. The location is either near enough to Gotham Hospital
to make the skyline seem authentic or its a private ward or floor hired
by the villain. There arent as many people around as may seem : at a
minimum only 2 people (1 male and 1 female) could be pulling the scam
in a bunch of disguises. Its also possible that holograms or something
similar  are being used to  create the illusion of the gotham skyline or
of more people in the background than are actually present. The ones who
have appeared : the doctors, the nurses, the orderlies are all part of the
scam and may indeed be the same people disguised. The TV and radio
broadcasts  are edited carefully to remove references to the Batman and are 
being replayed.

The villain has considerable knowledge of Bruce Wayne's background and is using
that to torture Bruce psychologically. Drugs are being used all the time to
keep Bruce weak, off balance and make him hallucinate. That also accounts for
his face. If he discovers something real, he's promptly injected. The Catwoman
image was really the blond "nurse" in disguise.

As for who it is : it cant be any of the Batman's regular foes since they dont
know his secret ID. The Scarecrow seems like a good choice (besides having
the medical knowledge), but I dont think he knows batman's id either. The Spook
could set up the rest of the scam well (he once tried to convince the Batman
that he (the batman) was dead), but doesnt have much medical knowledge and
doesnt know Batman's id.

Two possibilities which jump out are Hugo Strange and Ras Al ghul. Ghul could
certainly hire a gang, and he knows Batman's  secret id. [ heck, the nurse could
be Talia in disguise !!!]. But this story is probably set before Ra's first appearance
(which happens after Robin leaves for Hudson U) and it doesnt really suit his modus
operandi either.

Hugo Strange has the medical skill and disguise skill to do this, certainly. But
(at least in the pre-Crisis universe) he doesnt learn Batman's id till later.

So, I'm at a loss to guess who the villain might be.

Abhijit


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