[World of Bats] Detective Comics 598-600 "Blind Justice"

Hello everyone, and welcome to the latest installment of the World of Bats, the Batman Book Club!

This week we’re going to continue the celebration of our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY holy crap I never thought we’d make it this far – ahem, anyway. We’re continuing with some more anniversary stories with Detective Comics #598-600, “Blind Justice,” written by Sam Hamm (writer of such little indie films like Batman '89) and drawn by Denys Cowan.

What starts as a strange mystery of a brutish foe who somehow comes back to life after each deadly heist turns into a true test of Bruce Wayne’s morality as his past is investigated. How far is Bruce willing to go to protect his secrets?

You can find the links to the three issues down below:

Blind Justice

Detective Comics #598
Detective Comics #599
Detective Comics #600

And while we’ve been kind of going away from the discussion questions, probably mostly to give us a little less work, I thought of something a little different.

Within each of the three issues there are several “In Homage” writings from writers, directors, critics, everyone who’s life has been touched by the character of Batman and his world. Some of it is funny. Some of it is profound. Some are a little of both.

So my question is this: If you were asked to write a homage or dedication about Batman, what would you write?

This and any other thoughts, questions, and dubious admissions of painful truths can be said down below!

If you want to know more about the World of Bats Book Club, as well as see what we’ve previously discussed, click HERE!

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If you have any questions, you can contact @Jay_Kay or @PekapekaLongtailedBatJamags.

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Ah, it’s a shame that I never came up with an excuse for doing this story myself. :stuck_out_tongue:

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“My guy is mentioned once so it’s MINE! Mine, my precious! GOLLUM! GOLLUM!”

That’s you. That’s what you sound like. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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A stray thought after reading the first book: it is interesting that some of the dedications mention Bill Finger as a co-creater of Batman back in 1988, long before DC officially recognized it. Also, if you haven’t seen the documentary Batman and Bill it is fascinating and well worth the watch. Given who I’m talking to, everyone here has probably already seen it.

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Definitely – I think by then people who were more in the know about the business of comics were starting to get an idea of what happened with Bill Finger and were trying to find cheeky ways to get his acknowledgment somewhere.

And yes, Batman & Bill was a very good documentary. I believe it’s still on Hulu.

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So I was researching this book and I was trying to figure out if there was a reason given as to why this story is paced like it is, with two giant-sized issues packed between a thin, regular sized issue (a cookie sandwich of comics, if you will), and I found this interesting article about the story and how it is a spiritual prequel to a much more popular Batman event:

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It is definitely still on Hulu. I just double checked; it’s actually a Hulu original.

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I checked too – watching it again, in fact!

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I think it was a very underrated story when it came out. I liked that it did introduce Henri Ducard to the Batman universe. When Knightfall came out, I was definitely reminded of this story. It was just a very different kind of Batman story for me.

In terms of my homage to Batman, I have always believed that Batman is one of the most perfect concepts in the superhero genre. His origin story and training are real-life experiences that ground you to his story. He fights for what he believes will stop what happened to him from happening to anyone else. Now, I am not saying that he saves everyone (just look at the many epic Batman stories), but he at least goes out every night trying to do what he can. There have been many places that Batman has had adventures, but for me, a story in Gotham City with the Batman doing his thing will always be my favorite. Sorry if that might sound dumb, but it is what I think.

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Definitely – while it’s debatable if he was really in the movie, the character of Ducard has become more important in more recent stories, such as Tomasi’s run on Batman & Robin.

And that homage wasn’t dumb at all! Thanks for your thoughts. :smiley:

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Batman has been a force in popular culture for so long; I can’t recall a time when I didn’t know who Batman was. My first exposure to my character was probably re-runs of the Adam West tv show, but it could just as easily have been B:TAS, or reruns of Superfriends; it doesn’t much matter. I think the character has been so enduring because he can fit into any type of story: he can do mystery or noir in Gotham, sci-fi with the Justice League, and his dealings with Raas al Ghul opened the door for more mystical stories. He represents a very best of humanity with his intelligence, will, and physical prowess but he still remains human. He has flaws, he has past trauma, he makes mistakes but he doesn’t stop fighting for justice. That versatility and humanity (along with quite possibly the coolest costume) make Batman one of the most enduring characters of all time.

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Yes, 100% agreed. Thank you for your thoughts! :smiley:

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i think you should be meeting in gotham

On one hand, it would work aesthetically.

On the other…man, I love reading stories about Gotham, but I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live there. :laughing:

l know man gotham is a dangerous city