This is a review of Batman The Golden Age Volume 2. Not much has changed in the Bat-Verse since my last review, here. New York City has become Gotham City. Bruce Wayne’s fiancée breaks up with him to become a famous Hollywood actress, and Bruce picks up a new love interest to ignore. The Cat (aka Catwoman) is nowhere to be seen. Still no Alfred.
Batman and Robin have a father-son relationship which is emphasized more in this volume. When Robin is almost killed by thugs Batman goes crazy, gets shot three times, and beats a confession out of the offending crime boss (which won’t stand up in court). I believe they reused the image of Batman cradling Robin in his arms in the infamous Death in the Family storyline, where the Joker beats the second Robin to death with a crowbar.
This volume features the first appearance of the Scarecrow, a thin academic dude tough enough to go toe to toe with Batman. The Scarecrow is obsessed with fear. Here he doesn’t use fear gas and makes do with a gun. We also get a fair bit of the Joker, but most of the stories involve Batman & Robin fighting criminals – fifth columnists, modern-day pirates, Mob guys, fake Indian statues, etc.
There are a few outlier stories. In one issue, Batman & Robin go to the land of fairy tales to rescue a young woman. Some of these stories can be downright bizarre, as when Batman arranges it so that a young woman’s parents will think she’s a movie star when they visit her in Gotham. There are also a few morality tales, which you don’t see in comics nowadays.
If you enjoyed the first volume, you will like this.
Abandoned Places 