BOOK REVIEW – GREG RUCKA AND KLAUS JANSON – BATMAN – DEATH AND THE
MAIDENS 2003 DC COMICS.
An ambitious and very dark
tale of the Dark Knight. One of his greatest enemies, Ra’s A Ghul is dying. The longevity he has enjoyed for centuries is almost at an end, because Batman has found and destroyed all but one of his Lazarus Pits, the furnaces in which he is able to rejuvenate his flesh in searing agony, dying and being reborn.
R’as has aged, and looks worn down as he boldly invades Wayne manor, to tell Batman directly that he needs him to spare the one last Lazarus Pit, and that if he does so, he will allow Batman to see and commune with his dead
parents through a powerful alchemist’s drug.
Haunted by a need for their approval, Batman takes the mysterious drug and makes the bargain, only to find that his parents (real or illusion) disapprove of his vigilante stance, but he is so dedicated to the cause that he chooses to make his own path anyway – he is after all, an adult now.
R’as, almost dead, has an agenda, but to Batman’s amazement, it is not a plan to cheat death once more. R’as has manipulated his daughter, Nyssa, herself now in possession of the last Lazarus Pit, to make her share his contempt for humanity. Nyssa uses the pit to save her sister (with who her relationship seems to border on incest), and together, they destroy R’as. The sister even makes an abortive attempt, through a male assassin, to kill Superman with kryptonite stolen from Batman.
A stark, intelligent revisionist Batman story – one of the best of the modern adventures. Beautifully drawn and coloured, with a good role for Alfred, and the emotional impact of the meeting between Wayne & his mother is very well handled.
Arthur Chappell