Batman: Creature of the Night by Bubble

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BD Earlier this year, Kurt Busiek's afficionados breathed a sigh of relief. After two years of waiting since the start of its publication, the fourth and final VO issue of Batman: Creature of the Night was coming out. A mini-series that reaches us this month of September at Urban Comics, in DC Black Label, and that we couldn't miss to review today on the occasion of Batman Day. A work as strong in what it tells as by the experience of its authors at the time of its conception. Already responsible for the excellent Superman: Secret Identity, Kurt Busiek wanted with Creature of the Night to take his concept and apply it to the Dark Knight. So we imagine a young boy, Bruce Wainwright, who on a land where Batman is only, as in our reality, a comic book hero, is amused by the similarities he has with this hero he adores. Except one day, like his idol, his parents are murdered before his eyes... Survivor of this double villainous murder, the traumatized young Bruce lets a deaf rage explode in the face of this injustice.

If only Batman really existed, he would have prevented this! He wishes it with all his anger. Months pass, and strange things happen in the city of Boston... Bruce has visions of a bat-like creature that terrorizes criminals, tracks down his parents' killers, and makes sure he stays "safe and sound" all his life. Has Batman gone out of his desire to manifest himself in the real world? Or is it all just a figment of his imagination? Kurt Busiek won't give you the answer until the very end, but it's not so much the conclusion that matters as the whole journey Bruce has to make in his lifetime. In Secret Identity, Clark Kent found himself dealing with the same issues as Superman, a role model he didn't particularly admire. With Creature of the Night, the author goes the other way, trying to explain that even a Batman can't do anything about the many injustices of life. In doing so, Busiek is unique in his ability to forcefully expose Bruce's trauma, the counterpart of the madness that awaits this pop culture figure.

The story is harsh, violent, difficult. The anger and the never-ending mourning become more and more heartbreaking as Bruce grows up and believes he is acting for the good alongside his nocturnal alter-ego (?). Starting from a desperate point of view, Creature of the Night is actually, through the use of Batman, an ode to coming of age. A way for the author to show that one can face his demons, and tend towards an internal appeasement. This aspect of the story is all the stronger as we know that Kurt Busiek suffers from serious health problems, and that during the publication of the series, his artist, the talented John Paul Leon, was fighting cancer. Even though the wait was long, the two comrades fought with all their strength to offer this story, which also speaks of an inner struggle; and one can only feel this tenacity throughout the four chapters that make up the story. The artist is there to bathe us in an atmosphere that starts from the film noir to ogle towards a deaf horror when the Creature appears to us. As a form of homage to old monster movies or to Batman's less human designs, like Kelley Jones' Batman Vampire.

The inking is thick, but the line is never confusing, and the mastery of the solids commands respect. That's why we won't be able to decide between recommending the black and white version of the album or the colour version. In both cases, Batman: Creature of the Night is a must-have. A superb exploration of the myth of the Black Knight in relation to its human dimension. A horrific story that honours Bruce Wayne's tortured psychology without giving it that name, and a call to overcome the traumas that everyone can encounter in their lives. With or without Batman at his side, an album to put in everyone's hands.

by Arno Kikoo

Batman: Creature of the Night by Kurt Busiek and Stuart Immonen at Urban Comics "Bubble click and collect"

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