Summer reading entry 2: Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul (2021) by Neal Adams (writer/artist/colorist).
Originally released in single comic book issues as Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul #1-6 (November 2019-June 2021). Version read: First hardcover reprint collection (copyright date and printing date, December 2021, actually released in January 2022, I believe.)
Famed comic book artist, publisher, and advocate, Neal Adams, passed away on April 28, 2022. So recently that I'm sure that it's still sinking in with a lot of his fans and admirers.
I started reading comics in the late 1970s/early 1980s, after the bulk of work that Adams did for DC Comics and Marvel Comics had already been produced and was prime "back issue" fodder. It was also among the most reprinted material. I was introduced to his work via his and Dennis O'Neil's Batman and Green Lantern/Green Arrow, his "Deadman", and his brief runs on the X-Men and Avengers ("Kree-Skrull War"), all via deluxe reprint mini-series released in the 1980s (prior to the coming of the bookshelf quality hardcovers and trade paperbacks). Adams was also DC's frequent cover artist in the 1970s, drawing lots of really exciting covers (especially of Superman, even though the only real full length Superman story he ever drew--barring a few team-ups with Batman--was the now classic (and one of my personal favorite Superman comics of all time), Superman vs. Muhammad Ali (1978)).
Adams did very little work for either of the "big two" (DC and Marvel) from the 1980s to mid 2000s, instead focusing most of this attention to his own company/studio, Continuity Associates, which did a lot of work outside of the comic book field, in cooperate advertising.
Adams did a little work for Marvel in 2005, then started doing several high-profile mini-series for DC and Marvel starting in 2010: Batman: Odyssey (2010-2012), The First X-Men (2012), Superman: The Coming of the Supermen (2016), a new Deadman mini-series (2017-2018), Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul (2019-2021), and Fantastic Four: Antithesis (with writer Mark Waid, 2020; Adams' final professional comics work [produced and released prior to this death). He also did various short stories and covers for both companies over this time period.
All of that is preamble for this little review of Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul, which, as I said, is Adams' final Batman (and DC Comics) story he did. It picks up threads from both Batman: Odyssey and his 2017-2018 Deadman mini-series. Now, it should be noted that starting with Batman: Odyssey, Adams not only drew his stories but also wrote them (the exception being Fantastic Four: Antithesis, which was written by Mark Waid; I still have not read this story at this time of my writing this review).
As much as I love Neal Adams' artwork (even the more heavily rendered style that he preferred in his later years), his stories (the ones that he wrote) tended to be, well, all over the place. At times difficult to follow. (I've heard fascinating interviews with Adams where he spoke of how a lot of readers complained of this when Batman: Odyssey was coming out in the individual issues, and that the confusion was because he wrote it to be one big "novel", and that they weren't being patient, that it would all become clear in the end. Except, to a lot of readers, myself included, it really didn't. (I read Odyssey as I did this Ra's al Ghul one, via the later all-in-one reprint collection.)
Adams' later works had a tendency to jump from place to place with little in the way of transitions. And to have characters just appear out of nowhere with no more than a, "Oh, look, it's so-and-so!" bit of dialogue. And, oh, my, Adams' dialogue. Quite frankly, it is the words Adams has his character's speaking (the established characters like Batman, Ra's al Ghul, Commissioner Gordon, Nightwing, Robin, Deadman, etc.) that is the most jarring aspect of his later works. Every page is full of loud declarations, as if they characters are constantly shouting at each other, many times things seemingly very out of character for these well known, well, characters.
Having heard Adams speak in those interviews about his work on Batman: Odyssey, I can kind of understand at least some of the continuing back story in Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul (which, as I said, not only picks up on plot threads from Odyssey but from Adams' recent Deadman mini-series as well). But then Adams again tosses in nearly incomprehensible plot elements like Batman in a prehistoric other dimension, brought there by a multi-dimensional traveler named Chiaroscuro, who is a servant of Ra's al Ghul, but who then is revealed (SPOILERS!) to be... Deadman's long-lost sister. (Another character is revealed to be his brother, Aaron.)
Adams tosses in other existing characters here and there. Some, like "young Robin", Damien Wayne, are from the more recent Batman comics DC has been publishing (although he has his origins in another notable Batman/Ra's al Ghul graphic novel from 1987, Batman: Son of the Demon, written by Mike W. Barr and drawn by Jerry Bingham). Damien just shows up out of the blue near the end of the first chapter (first issue) alongside Nightwing (Dick Grayson, the first Robin), and another Robin (Tim Drake). I have no idea how all three of them would be working together at the same time but I presume it somehow reflects current DC stories, ones I'm unfamiliar with.
Adams also tosses in quick references to other notable Batman stories that occurred between his times working on the Batman character, "Cataclysm" (1998), "No Man's Land" (1999), and "The Court of Owls" (2011). But these don't really add much to the story (the references to part of the city still being wrecked from "Cataclysm" and "No Man's Land" make one wonder if Adams is imagining those stories not to have happened as long ago as one would expect or if they simply never repaired those parts of the city) and a bit gratuitous (especially the out of nowhere appearance of the Court of Owls in one scene).
But enough of all of that. Yes, the story is crazy and makes little sense. However, it is important to note that most people don't pick up a Neal Adams comic book for his writing. No, it's for his gorgeous artwork. If one can look past the strange portrayals of the characters and the wild plot skips, Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul is just the latest (and, sadly, the next to last) of Adams' artistic wonders. Now, some argue that he "ruined" his style in his later years, making them heavily rendered (overly detailed inkwork). That his best work was his classic DC and Marvel work of the late 1960s and 1970s. I would probably agree with them. However, I can appreciate Adams' desire to always "move forward" with his style and not just keep drawing as he used to. And most of Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul is visually exciting work (never mind the story).
The biggest disappointment here has to be that, despite the title, we don't really ever get a big confrontation between Batman and Ra's al Ghul. Given the title, one naturally expects that. (Yes, Batman is working to thwart Ra's al Ghul's plans, therefore it is a story of him "versus" Ra's al Ghul, but that alone isn't nearly as satisfying as, say, the classic shirtless sword battle O'Neil and Adams created between the two characters back in the 1970s Batman comics.
All in all, I had to give Batman vs. Ra's al Ghul a two out of five stars on GoodReads. Pretty to look at but dragged down by the plotting and dialogue. Sadly, not the final Batman story by Adams that I'd hoped it would be (not that anyone knew it would be his final Batman story at the time, although perhaps Adams was indeed planning it to be his last for a while because he does wrap up those Batman: Odyssey and "Deadman" dangling plot threads).
If I were to recommend any of Adams more recent works, I would actually recommend Superman: The Coming of the Supermen over any of his Batman or Deadman minis. Yes, Coming of the Supermen also suffers from some of the same thing (namely, Adams' at times out-of-character portrayals and his not-at-all-natural-sounding dialogue), but it's still a very fun story, regardless. I also enjoyed his The First X-Men mini-series (which was written by Adams but had dialogue by Christos Gage). And, perhaps, his and Mark Waid's Fantastic Four: Antithesis (although, as I said earlier, I still need to read that one).
—David Young
