“BATMAN VS. THE VAMPIRE, PART 2”

Batman is off the cover but the gothic horror continues unabated. Here he follows The Monk to the “Carlathan” mountains of Hungary, waylaying a stagecoach under the light of a full moon, once again recalling Universal’s 1931 Dracula.

Last issue introduced the “Bat-Gyro” and “Baterang,” giving Bruce’s kit of powers a more definite shape: tools, preparedness, and ingenuity. In addition to his silken cord and gas pellets from prev issues.

Here we are treated to gorgeous aerial views of various gothic locales.

It turns out The Monk wasn’t in the Stagecoach at all! It was a woman named Dala. After Bruce, Julie, and Dala go back to their hotel, Batman awakes to find Dala with blood on her lips. She leads Batman to The Monk in exchange for his promise to kill him.

Also, werewolves again!

Except it’s all a ploy! And as soon as The Monk sees Batman, he hypnotizes him, rendering him powerless to intervene as he uses his ghastly powers to compel Julie to his castle.

Also, apparently and by his own admission, The Monk is not only a vampire, he’s a werewolf too!

AND FINALLY WE GET THE GOODS.

Fox wasn’t gonna front werewolfs and not deliver.

Batman magically snaps out of his trance and escapes. He then melts this object that is totally a statue and not obscene in order to make SILVER BULLETS. DIY MacGuvyer grit & gumption Batman is way more charming than I’m rich and paid millions to have this R&Ded Batman.

Earth-2 Batman is absolutely wild. This is only the sixth issue and he is literally hunting vampires and fighting werewolves.

And for arguably the single character who most famously abhors guns, he uses them or threatens to use them in like every issue. Here he is casually shooting The Monk to death in his coffin.

END OF ISSUE.

Overt gothic seems like an underexplored element of Batman’s potential, despite occasional revisits, as in Grant Morrison’s ‘Batman: Gothic,’ Doug Moench’s ‘Batman & Dracula’ trilogy, or direct callbacks like Matt Wagner’s ‘Batman and the Mad Monk.’

It’s hard to express just how WEIRD these issues are, but I genuinely love gothic Batman and I crave more. I could read him flying over werewolf infested cemeteries, prowling around ancient castles and hunting vampires all day.

I, for one, am pro-Castlevania Batman.

Golden Age Batman already feels like a distinct character already from later versions. He has a real intense don’t-give-a-fuck attitude. He’s brutal as hell. He might actually kinda LIKE hurting people. His bullet making actually really fascinates me…

He has a real ‘do it live’ attitude. He’s prepared with all his gizmos, but he’s also prepared to do whatever the hell he needs to do. He’s a violent vigilante and he seems to WANT you to fuck with him so he has an excuse to fuck with you?

But what tempers Batman’s terrifying brutality and Terminator-like nature is his grumpy kitty energy. Here is a collection (FOR THE FANS) of Batman’s facial expressions in this issue:

I’m bringing you the hard hitting critical analysis you crave, I know. And lastly, for the heads, some good ol’ fashioned ‘Batman flying his little plane’ content:

It is the work of a lifetime to truly encapsulate the unique jouissance of 30s Batman’s many contradictions and I am not yet a Batman sommelier up to the task, but I hope this gives you the taste.

Happy Halloween Batman – 4 months early and 83 years late!

(Interesting to note that Batman’s excursion to a haunted old Europe comes immediately on the heels of Hitler’s invasion of Poland in September. I don’t know what to do with that really, I’m an idiot. Insert something about the old world gothic new world noir collision.)

Originally tweeted by Weird Batman of the Golden Age (@GoldenAgeBats) on June 9, 2022.