Last night I read Batman “Detective Comics, Volume 1,
#591. This comic was released in October 1988. I happened across this copy at a
thrift store in Bardstown Kentucky and paid 75 cents for it. It is in what I
would guess to be “Very Fine” condition. The story is what we call a “one-shot”
where the whole story from start to finish is contained within this single
issue.
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| "Aborigine" |
And what a story it is. It’s titled “Aborigine” and it was
written by Alan Grant and John Wagner. A rich art collector had tasked a group
of individuals, who were of less than honorable character, to go to the
Australian Outback and collect the “Power Bone of Uluru” an ancient Aboriginal
artifact of great power that is highly revered by the Aboriginal people. An Aborigine
named Umbaluru has traveled to Gotham City to retrieve the stolen artifact. The
men sent to obtain it had not only bribed the tribesman guarding the bone but
had also later killed them. It was Umbaluru job to collect the bone and exact
the vengeance and justice of the Earth Mother herself! Umbaluru easily
dispatches said justice on the henchmen, killing one and incapacitating the
others. However not finding the bone, he then heads to studios of the
aforementioned art collector, a Mr. Kerry Rollo. Where his path crosses that of
Gotham’s own night spirit, The Batman. However, Batman is unable to stop
Umbaluru who takes the power bone and crashes through the window of the upper
story skyscraper taking Mr. Rollo with him, apparently to their gory demise.
However, Umbaluru is nowhere to be found. He has vanished along with the bone
and Batman continues his search for the mysterious avenging spirit.
At first blush and especially from reading the above
encapsulation, the story appears fairly cut and dry, pretty bare boned if you
pardon my pun. But it is a deep, richly layered and beautifully presented story
contained in 22 pages of comic book panels. The artwork provided by the great
Norm Breyfogle is masterful and excellently accompanied by the color schemes of
Adrienne Roy and Dan Raspler. The job of providing script to art, a task always
under-rated and undervalued, Mr. Todd Klein accentuates this tale, with the
flair and care of a classic poet.
The story describes to us the history and grandeur of
ancient Aboriginal mythology and blends it into a tale of avenging spirits and
tribal pagan justice. The story adds to that a twist of mystery and intrigue
while also giving us a detail of The Batman himself and a glimpse into not only
his personal life as Bruce Wayne, but also a sense of that burning rage that
drives him to serve as Gotham’s Knight. “1 I don't care who sent you! Nobody starts
dispensing his own justice in this city without getting me involved! “Says
Batman to Umbaluru, one vigilante to another!
In this story we also get a look at a new, previously
unseen “redesigned” Batmobile! All that in a 22 page storyboard! Frankly it is
an impressive Batman story. One that hooked me early and kept me in its grasp
until the very last. But one thing is obviously very clear. We do not get this
level of comic literature in this day and age. I don’t want to come off
sounding like some bitter old man shaking his fist at modernity while lamenting
how great things were in “the day” but it does tend to be true at times. And that’s
kind of sad. I don’t think the writing at any of the publishing houses is as
expertly done and obviously created with pride and good Bards intent in today’s
world. The creative team behind this single story, to me, represents a time
when comics were king and those bringing us these tales of heroic deeds took
great care with the legends and myths they were entrusted with.
I enjoyed this story immensely and I urge all comic fans
to pick up an earlier edition of a volume one set and read it. Appreciate it
and judge for yourself the difference between what is in your hands and what is
available these days. But most of all just enjoy it. I was going to sell this
comic. I’ve changed my mind.
Link: http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Detective_Comics_Vol_1_591
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