Just as Kilgore Trout heartily recommends Supreme: The Story Of The Year as the best Superman story in years, I find myself making a similarly hearty recommendation for a book I bought just today.
I would like to know just who at DC told Kia Asamiya he could do a Batman story, because that guy deserves a hefty raise (or at least a generous Christmas bonus). Asamiya’s Batman: Child of Dreams is easily the best Batman story in a long time. I’ve personally found the overall quality of the Batman books to be wildly uneven since 1986, especially since I intensely disliked Frank Miller’s Bat-tales. Some Batman writers have done the character justice, others have made him an overly belligerent jerk. Asamiya fits the former category to a T, because his story presents us with a Batman who’s at once steely and determined but also human and likable, a very Finger/Englehart/Wein/Conway sort of Batman. But that’s not the sole reason I like this book so much. No, Child of Dreams takes this likable, human Batman and plunges him into an intense, absorbing story that, quite frankly, I still can’t put down.
From the two-page spread of Batman and the shadowy bat imagery on pages 4-5, this 338-page tome is absolutely spellbinding. I’d read the advance solicitations for the book, which would lead one to believe this was a simple drug-trafficking tale. But my God, I wasn’t expecting a complex conspiracy story where Batman himself would be the ultimate victim! I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t yet read it, but as I went along, I expected the story’s heavy to try to blackmail Batman (I won’t say why—that’s a surprise) so he could continue peddling his wares…but man, was I wrong. Asamiya wrote a climax that was absolutely mind-blowing and unexpected. The mystery behind the drug and its ultimate purpose is a real corker; just when you think you’ve got it figured out, Asamiya throws you a curve ball and sends all your preconceptions into a tailspin. And I have to admit, the Fanatic drug (which allows the users to shapeshift into whatever superbeing they choose) certainly puts Venom and Tar to shame, especially in a couple of the big battle scenes. Again, I don’t want to spoil the story, but Batman almost gets killed in mano-a-mano combat TWICE by Fanatic-powered Batman-doppelgangers. And I tell you, those battle scenes are truly exciting. I was mesmerized, wondering just how the hell Batman was going to come out of those encounters alive. I never once got that feeling when Batman squared off against Bane; those showdowns were telegraphed from miles away. This book is a totally different can of worms. You’re constantly kept in suspense as whether or not Batman’s going to make it out in one piece, a quality that too many Batman stories lack these days. Of course, credit must be given to the superb English translation of Asamiya’s script by Max Allan Collins, himself no stranger to a good Batman story ("The Sound of One Hand Clapping" remains one of my favorite Batman yarns). These guys work really well together, and I hope they do so again if Asamiya decides to do more Batman stuff.
As for the art…why, oh, why couldn’t the Batman: Black & White anthologies look this atmospheric? Compared to the rich shadows and spectacular gray-tones of Child of Dreams, the Batman: B&W books look cheap and chintzy. This book looks dark, menacing, and foreboding, just as Batman should. In fact, I think the rich black and white palette of this book looks infinitely better than the full-color Batman books. (NOTE TO DC: Adopt this look for all the Batman titles! Go for a really foreboding and stylish film noir visual!) Check out the two-page spread on pages 144-145 to see what I mean; that spread wouldn’t look a tenth as good as it does were it in full color. And I much appreciate Asamiya’s way of sneaking around the "black bat vs. yellow halo" emblem debate—he just has Batman alternating between the two costumes! Personally, as one who prefers the yellow halo emblem, I think this was a wonderful compromise, one that I think the regular comics should adopt as well (in addition to the lush black and white look of this book). I also appreciated Asamiya’s sketches of the Batman villains at the end of the book, particularly Poison Ivy. It was a huge treat to see her depicted as the sexy redhead in green tights she should be instead of that anemic She-Hulk look-alike currently traipsing about the DCU (I think Ivy was a much sexier character before she got turned into the female version of the Jolly Green Giant; I really don’t like that makeover at all). And the cover is great, too. It looks like a painting of Val Kilmer in full Batman armor, a terrific nod to the movies (which Asamiya is a big fan). As for the manga art style, I will only say this…if Asamiya ever wants to do Batman full-time in the future, he’s got a standing invitation as far as I’m concerned. This guy’s good, ranking right up there with some of the all-time greats like Neal Adams, Marshall Rogers, Don Newton, Jim Aparo, and Norm Breyfogle.
If I have any complaints about Child of Dreams, it’s that it shows how little effort DC puts into its monthlies these days. Why isn’t Jeph Loeb even trying to write a Batman story half as good as this in the regular Batman title? Asamiya, with one simple hardcover, trounced the dreary and boring year-long "Hush" into the ground. His book bristles with effort and intensity; Loeb’s Batman is a half-hearted slog. And it also shows how DC blatantly refuses to take chances with a certain Man of Steel. Hell, the Superman fanbase practically slits the throats of anybody who even DARES to draw Superman differently than the Curt Swan model. Poor Ed McGuinness, Doug Mahnke, Mike Wieringo, and Scott McDaniel have all been savaged for having styles that don’t conform to the Swan/Byrne/Jurgens look, not on the basis of their talent and skill. All the them have been egotistically tarred and feathered as "manga," even though their art contains very little to none of it. And God forbid a writer want to tell a Superman story that DOESN’T rigidly conform to the Byrne-Jurgens mode/continuity. Could you imagine what would happen if DC did to Superman what they allowed Asamiya to do with Batman? The Superman fans would be screeching and bleating so savagely that DC wouldn’t know what to do with itself. And yet Asamiya was allowed to write and draw Batman his way without having to shoehorn it into continuity, fashioning a top-quality stand-alone story that anyone can come along and read without having to know or read anything else at all about Batman. Seriously, if the only Batman story a person ever read was Child of Dreams, they’d come away knowing everything they need to know about Batman and get a helluva good read out of it. You never see that with Superman. It amazes me how much creative freedom is allowed on Batman, while Superman is paralyzed for the sake of serving an increasingly selfish, egotistical, and ridiculously static fanbase that wants everything to stay exactly the same even if it means killing the character outright. Why can’t there be a Superman story as good as Child of Dreams? Why can’t Superman be allowed the same level of top-flight talent and creative freedom as Batman? Why are the fans so selfish and self-absorbed as to discourage such creative freedom and reject top talent in favor of the same-old same-old? It’s a good thing that Batman’s fans are open-minded enough to allow for different art styles and different storytelling approaches (perhaps because Batman’s changed so wildly over the past 64 years), otherwise Child of Dreams might never have been. As a reader, I think that would have been a horrible loss, because you don’t have be American or Japanese to love this story. It’s just good stuff all around.
If you haven’t yet picked up Child of Dreams…what are you waiting for? Go out and buy it already! You won’t find a better Batman story out there at the moment. (I apologize for not putting any spoilers in this post…but why should I spoil a great book for you? Why not yet you be as surprised by it as I was?) Heck, I’ve read it twice already and I still can’t put it down. This book would make a fantastic Batman movie!
Mr. Asamiya and Mr. Collins, take a bow. You’ve earned it.
