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Dark Knight Detective?
by Dave Ziegler and Louise Freeman Davis Nightwing pic by Jerry Loomis all other pics by Marla F. Fair Batman has always been considered one of the greatest sleuths of the comic book world. After all, the character made his 1939 debut in Detective Comics, which most naturally specialized in the telling of assorted detective tales. But the character has changed drastically from Bon Kane's original lone vigilante; over the years he's acquired kid sidekicks, worked with teams like the JLA, led the Outsiders and even been Superman's best friend, frequently joining him for space voyages and time-travelling jaunts in the 1950's. Yet through it all he has kept the title of "detective" and today, Detective Comics means Batman, no one else. How did Batman get this reputation as "The World's Greatest Detective"? Today's Batman owes it largely to Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams. When O'Neil and Adams took over the reins of the character, they inherited a character in desperate need of a direction. They decided that not only would they return to the roots of the character that Bob Kane created, but they would get right down to what makes Batman arguably the most feared man in comics (Cotta Vaz, 107). The 1960's Batman television show, while playing a large part in the escalation of the character's popularity, had a detrimental effect on the comics. In an effort to "give the people what they wanted," the editorial mandate was that the books would imitate the television show. However, as is often the case in these matters, when the TV show went off the air, the comics suffered a tremendous sales drop. Editor Julius Schwartz asked Denny O'Neil to take Batman and work his magic with the character. O'Neil, having just come off a highly acclaimed run on Green Lantern, took this character and, with Neal Adams, simultaneously returned the character to its roots and extrapolated Bob Kane's original vision to encompass not only physical perfection, but mental perfection as well. Many of Batman's greatest mysteries were solved during this era. In "To Kill A Legend," the Phantom Stranger gives Batman the opportunity to solve his parents' murder on an alternate Earth, provided Batman and Robin can solve the mystery of this other Earth. In "Swamp Sinister," Ra's al Ghul seeks Batman's aid in finding a plague carrier before he infects all of Gotham City. It is interesting to note that not only does Ra's come asking Batman's help, but that he also refers to our hero as "the world's greatest detective." These are merely two examples out of dozens of stories published in the late 70's and early 80's that illustrate the almost Holmesian degree to which Batman's deductive skills had been raised by Batman's writers. Batman even met the famed Victorian sleuth in "The Doomsday Book," in Detective Comics #572. But the times, they are a'changin', and our heroes tend to change with them. Is Batman still the best of the best? While there have been a number of excellent tales within the last several years, including "Janus,"(recently adapted for The New Adventures of Batman and Robin as the episode "Judgement Day,") the "KnightQuest: the Search," arc, and the "New World Order" storyline in JLA by Grant Morrison, there have been many other attempts at spotlighting Batman's detective skills that have been less than stellar. While Batman: The Long Halloween, for example, was a beautifully done story, Batman completely failed not only to stop the villain, but also to figure out the identity of the killer. Ironically, the man who first staked Batman's claim to the title of "World's Greatest Detective" is the one who stripped him of that title. (SPOILER WARNING!) During 1994's Zero Hour storyline, Batman found himself in a parallel timeline where young Bruce Wayne had been murdered. Tracking Joe Chill to his apartment, Batman found, instead of the steely-eyed murderer he had known from his own timeline, a worthless drug addict who could barely move. This tied in with a post-Zero Hour proclamation that the Waynes' murder went unsolved. This editorial decision by Denny O'Neil tainted Batman's career by robbing him of the one victory that made him the best of the best: the solving of his parents' murder some twenty years after it occurred. Of course, the current storylines don't really lend themselves to much in the way of detective work. It's not too hard to figure out that an earthquake has decimated your city. Batman has been essentially reduced (at least in his own titles) to just another guy in a costume. So, what now? If Batman's not the champ, then who is? Who could possibly be a better detective than Batman? Who better to beat the master, than the student? Since it simply would not do for the Sidekick to regularly show up the Hero in his own comic, Dick Grayson's detective skills had to wait a while to be showcased. This opportunity arose in Teen Titans, when the Boy Wonder became the leader of a superteam composed of the young sidekicks of the DCU. As the only un-superpowered member of the team (at least when Speedy wasn't around), Robin made up for it with brain power, frequently using his deductive reasoning skills to solve the case. For instance, in Teen Titans #46, he figured out that two feuding musical groups (Peter McCarthy and the Flyers and the Woodworkers) were in fact, one and the same. In Teen Titans #52, he deduced that the Titans' newest villain, Captain Calamity was actually his old Bat-foe, Mr. Esper. But perhaps his finest moment as a detective came shortly before he gave up the Robin identity, in New Teen Titans (vol. 1) #38, when he uncovered his good friend Donna Troy's true past. (For a detailed review of this issue, see the Titans article in Classics Revisited, in the Fanzing Archives, or Tracy Mallon's excellent review at http://rover.wiesbaden.netsurf.de/~nightwing/reviews2.html). Dick Grayson's detective talents continued to shine after he became Nightwing. In the New Teen Titans (vol. 2) #12, he took the lead in solving a 50-year-old murder, bringing the spirit of a young girl that was haunting his apartment peace at long last. In Teen Titans Spotlight #14, he draws on those skills to locate an abducted Batman, who had managed to leave a series of clues only Dick Grayson could have deciphered. (Again, see Tracy Mallon's review for details: http://rover.wiesbaden.netsurf.de/~nightwing/reviews5.html) In NTT #32 , Nightwing exposed an apparent murder at a mountain resort as a publicity stunt by a overzealous cadaver-swiping medical student. And in NTT #36-37 he clears his teammate and lady-love Starfire from a murder frame-up by the Wildebeest. If the Batman of this era was the World's Greatest Detective, it was easy to guess who might come in second. Like his mentor, however, it's unclear whether today's Dick Grayson is still deserving of this title. In the Nightwing mini-series, he traveled to Europe to investigate an apparent conspiracy in the murder of his parents, and makes a series of embarrassing mistakes (including being unable to identify the mysterious substance known as honey when he's literally dumped in it)… And the mystery turns out to be one big wild goose chase anyway. In his first annual, he took the rather unorthodox and non-too-gentlemanly step of marrying his chief suspect in order to solve a series of murders… And guess what? She turns out to be innocent, too, and at the end, all Dick can offer her is an apology for manipulating her into loving him. Nightwing's role as Blüdhaven's resident detective probably got the most emphasis in Nightwing #24, where he solves a 15-year old murder to ease the mind of a retiring cop. However, even that issue had its disturbing side. Acting on the clue of "a boy with no hair" Nightwing pays a not-so -friendly call on a group of skinheads (who by all appearances would have been grade school age at the most when the actual murder occurred) and predictably winds up beating them soundly, with the rationale that even if they have nothing to do with the killing (which they don't… Turns out the "hair" is a "hare") they deserve beating and besides, Nightwing needs the exercise. Contrast this with the Nightwing of Spotlight #14, who couldn't bring himself to brutally beat the truth out of a common street thug, even when Batman's life was at stake. The Nightwing of today's Bat-Universe is far from the Nightwing of the Titans, and has become a character where neither detective skills or honor get the emphasis they once did. So, what then for the youngest member of the Bat-team? Does today's Tim Drake live up to his detective heritage? Certainly he started off with a bang, in A Lonely Place of Dying, deducing Batman' and Robin's secret identities (which, as the current powers that be would have us believe, not even the Titans were able to do after years of friendship with Dick Grayson) at the tender age of nine from a circus performance he had witnessed when much younger, and a stray bit of news footage. Then, before he took up the Robin mantle permanently, Batman sent him to New York for advanced sidekick training with Nightwing (New Titans #65) which stressed astute observation and deduction above all (a 7-hour session in a park, watching and remembering all the visitors to a carousel, for starters). Certainly, when Tim was helping out behind the scenes, his research skills were valued, and he earned the right to hit the streets as Robin by deducing that the Scarecrow was about to ambush Batman. Since donning the Robin suit, however, Tim has actually functioned less as a detective. His principal instructor, apart from Batman, became Lady Shiva, a skilled assasin but one who is hardly the most distinguished of sleuths. Even Nightwing has a different idea about what constitutes a proper training exercise for young crimefighters these days: as we saw in Nightwing #25, he takes the term much more literally; you climb atop a speeding train, blindfolded, and try not to get killed. As if this superhero business wasn't dangerous enough already… 
Although Batman and his protegees have their roots in detective stories, that aspect of their character seems currently to be de-emphasized in favor of tales that call on physical skills more than mental. Some have even argued that Oracle is the true "detective" of the Bat-family these days, as they depend on her more and more not only to find the information they need for crimefighting, but to fit it together. With the rumored "relaunch" of the Bat-books in 1999, it will be interesting to see if Denny O'Neil allows the pendulum to swing back in the "detective" direction and if Batman will reclaim the title of "World's Greatest" yet again.
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This column is © 1998 by . All artwork is © 1998 by their respective artists. |
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