TITLE: Batman: The Bat and the Beast
AUTHOR: Peter Milligan
PENCILLER: Andy Clarke
COLLECTS: Batman Confidential #31-35
FORMAT: Softcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $12.99
RELEASE DATE: August 25

BO-RING.

That basically sums it up for The Bat and the Beast as far as I’m concerned. Maybe it should have been called The Bat and the BO-RING.

This five-issue story arc has Batman (Bruce Wayne, not the current Dick Grayson version) in Moscow, trying to thwart an attempt by a Russian mobster trying to conquer the Gotham City underworld from afar. In his service is a strange man-beast nicknamed “Bear,” who’s got the whole “I’m ugly on the outside, but beautiful on the inside” thing going on.

I’m a die-hard Batman geek, and I think I can safely say it takes a lot to make me call a Batman story boring. But this one does it. It just did not capture my interest very much at all. It seems that’s often the case for me when writers and editors put Batman in foreign countries just for the heck of it.

“Aw hell Pete, I can’t think of a good story…”

“How about The Dark Knight’s Russian Vacation?”

“Sold!”

Don’t get me wrong. I understand the appeal of taking Batman to foreign soil, and sometimes it works well. Not long ago, DC published an oversized one-shot written by Mark Waid about Batman traveling to Barcelona and fighting Killer Croc. It didn’t blow me away, but it didn’t disgust me either. In the late 90s, Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly did a similar story called Batman: The Scottish Connection. Same thing. Artistic renderings of Batman leaping across foreign skylines can be intriguing, but it’s so rare that we get a story that can match that intrigue.

Batman Confidential #35, page 3. Image from comicvine.com.

Maybe it’s just me, but I just found this story to be completely and utterly boring. I really had to push my way through it. The main villain and the supporting Russian characters failed to spark my interest from the start. The “Bear” aspect of the story line was mildly intriguing at times, but other than that, it just didn’t do it for me. Sorry Peter Milligan.

At least the art is nice to look at. Andy Clarke’s pencils likely saved The Bat and the Beast from sinking even further into the dredges. Clarke recently teamed up with Grant Morrison for a stellar three-issue run on Batman & Robin. That should give you some indication of the quality of art he produces.

But do yourself a favor Andy, and don’t go back to Russia anytime soon. I don’t really want to be reminded of The Bat and the Beast for quite some time, if ever.

RATING: 3/10