Trade Tales! - Batman: The Cult

Next up on this small Dark Knight post-binge is the story that started the binge. Batman: The Cult was a four-issue miniseries that was released in 1988. It was released in prestige form, so that meant that the issues themselves could be longer. They could also go places where mainstream comics wouldn’t go. Heck, if you read the first few pages, you’ll see that in detail. I think it was even meant for mature readers when it was released.  It’s akin to stories like The Dark Knight Returns. Judging by the artwork and format, you’d think it came from that universe. It was also loosely adapted into The Dark Knight Rises and that was apparent when I read it.

I heard about this story for years but never really got around to finding it. When I saw it for cheap, I thought it was finally time to see what this thing was about. The story was written by Jim Starlin, a pretty cool writer who was already writing Batman’s main series at this point. The artwork was done by Bernie Wrightson, one of the creators for Swamp Thing. Bill Wray handled the colors. This is also another story that gets thrown on those “Greatest Batman Stories” lists. So, is it truly worth it? Do I even need to answer that question? Find out after this probably brief synopsis!

Batman: The Cult

Writer: Jim Starlin

Artist: Bernie Wrightson

Colors: Bill Wray

Letters: John Costanza

Editors: Dennis O’Neil

SYNOPSIS

We start out with Gotham City in a bit of a panic. Someone has been killing small-time criminals around the city and taking the dead bodies. Batman would still be on the case, but there’s one problem: he’s been captured by the bad guys and is held up underground. To everyone else, he’s been missing for over a week.  Even Robin (Jason Todd, by the way) doesn’t know what happened. We find out that Deacon Joseph Blackfire is behind the killings and he has been using the homeless to brutally clean up crime in Gotham City. There are even stories about Blackfire being seemingly immortal. He does his best to brainwash Batman into fighting for his cause. It takes time and a bunch of drugs, but Batman is swayed by Blackfire into joining the group.

Batman: Man... this is the weirdest rock club I've ever been to.

Blackfire uses the brainwashed Batman in his raids on crime. Meanwhile, Robin does his best to find Batman on his own. The cult even targets innocent folk or people who have maybe one offense. One of Blackfire’s men tries to use Batman for his own means, but that blows up in his face when a cop finds them. Batman escapes and stumbles around the city still reeling from the effects of his torture. He comes to his senses and tries to confront Blackfire’s group, but he’s captured again. Luckily, Robin soon finds him. They also find out what happened to the bodies the group killed.

Two things:

1. Jason Todd is definitely the MVP of this story.

2. I think I've found a new image for those ignorant folk.

Batman and Robin do their best to escape from the sewers. The cult almost gets them, but Batman gives one more push and they escape. Meanwhile, Blackfire comes out in public as the leader of the cult and things in Gotham get worse. It pretty much becomes all-out mayhem and even the GCPD can’t stop it. Eventually, it gets so bad that Gotham City is put under martial law and cut off. Instead of staying in the city, Batman and Robin find Alfred and they head to Wayne Manor to recuperate and prepare.

A week later, Bruce is more or less back to normal. He and Jason have armed themselves with guns (with tranquilizers darts, of course) and have retrofitted the Batmobile into… a monster truck. I mean, that’s what it is! Anyway, they go back into Gotham and take on Blackfire’s cult. They use weapons on the Batmobile and their tranq guns to take the cult down. Batman eventually finds Blackfire himself and they have one final fight for the future of Gotham City.

OPINION

So, how was this uber-dark Batman story? Well, I can see why it gets thrown on those “best ever” lists. This is a pretty good story that takes Batman down a dark path. The story moves at a pretty decent pace. While it is full of action and trippiness, Starlin also explores a few topics here. He tends to do that from in his books with one example being his run on Warlock.  We get topics on stuff like religion, racism, homelessness, and following ideologues. Heck, this story still feels relevant these days.

I’m not sure how this fits in canon, but it’s stated that this is the regular Batman with Jason as his Boy Wonder. I don’t think readers had seen Batman get brought down this low at this time. He really gets put through some torture and it’s interesting to see. We get hallucinations of him killing his villains and seeing all sorts of messed up stuff. It’s even implied that Batman may have killed someone while brainwashed, but it’s not directly said. It’s not the first time Starlin has tried to brainwash a hero and it apparently wasn’t the last. Also, this story also gives Jason Todd a good outing. I don’t care what anyone says, but I thought he was a fine Robin.

The look on Batman's face is hilarious.

Deacon Blackfire is kind of hit or miss for me. He’s not a bad villain per se. He does get Gotham City in a frenzy and for a first-timer, that’s not bad. He’s also good for Starlin to use and work with. Starlin wanted to explore a few things, and Blackfire was a good villain for that. I liked that he didn’t use any of Batman’s regular rogues for this story since it kind of grounds the story a bit. We only see them (Joker, Two-Face) in Batman’s hallucinations. Even though he’s good for Starlin to use, Blackfire himself was okay. I can see why he’s been barely used in stories since then.

The artwork is a treat. Bernie Wrightson’s main thing was horror and he made it work for Batman here. He brought a lived in, gritty look to Gotham. He especially upped the gore in certain areas. Since this was prestige format, the little ones might not have been picking this one up. The action is awesome at times. I also must credit the colorist since he hit the trippy moods in the story. I even think Starlin may have suggested a few things since he’s an artist as well. There’s not much wrong with the art. Yeah, I don’t like gore in general, but it does work here. Robin also looked old for a teenager. Lastly, what was up with the Bat-Monster Truck? It kind of took away the grounded feel.

Trying to find some of the non-gory trippy pages was harder than I thought.

I really don’t have anything bad to say about the story. As I said above, Blackfire was an okay villain. There’s also the “little” oversight of other heroes not coming to help Gotham in the final issue. With Batman missing, you’d think Superman or the Justice League would show up at some point. I get that the story would have been less grounded, but it would have been nice if we just got a little mention of their absence. Other than those things and small nitpicks (Monster Truck?), this was a good story. If you’re curious, are over a certain age, and can handle gory aspects, I’d say check it out.

Well, it’s time to exit the dankness of Batman and finally get to September. If you’ve followed the blog or just look at the posts for every September, you might know what’s coming next. This time, it’s “family and friends” day for the Man of Steel. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and let’s not worry about Batman sporting a gun here… let’s worry about the rocket launchers he’s got attached to his Bat-Monster Truck! Also, throw on the Child-Endangerment alarm again!