Back Issues from the Box: BATMAN SPECIAL #1

Batman Special #1 1984

“The Player on the other side”

I'm not a big Batman fan, mind you. I'm not one of those idiots online that claims that he can beat anything with a bit of prep time. I only just recently saw THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. So, my Batman back issues are not very plentiful. But when I saw something different, I picked it up. And Batman Special #1 was definitely different and I'm glad I bought it...back in 1984!

This issue was written by Michael W. Barr and owes it's theme, at least, to a couple of writing legends. Thomas Henry Huxley wrote "A Liberal Education and Where to Find It" where he talked about the opposites in life playing the game of simply living. Although the 'player on the other side' seemed to be an unseen opponent in Huxley's piece, Barr took lessons learned from this and meshed it with Ellery Queen's book, THE PLAYER ON THE OTHER SIDE, and the idea that the hero had an exact opposite who was the antithesis of everything he stood for.

“Yet it is a very plain and elementary truth, that the life, the fortune, and the happiness of every one of us, and, more or less, of those who are connected with us, do depend upon our knowing something of the rules of a game infinitely more difficult and complicated than chess. It is a game which has been played for untold ages, every man and woman of us being one of the two players in a game of his or her own. The chess−board is the world, the pieces are the phenomena of the universe, the rules of the game are what we call the laws of Nature. The player on the other side is hidden from us. We know that his play is always fair, just, and patient. But also we know, to our cost, that he never overlooks a mistake, or makes the smallest allowance for ignorance. To the man who plays well, the highest stakes are paid, with that sort of overflowing generosity with which the strong shows delight in strength. And one who plays ill is checkmated—without haste, but without remorse.”

Thomas Henry Huxley; A Liberal Education and Where to Find it

This opened the door for Barr to create a villain who could be that 'player on the other side' for Batman. Batman has tons of villains. Not one could say, at the time, that he or she was an anti-Batman. So, Barr's creation of THE WRATH was unique at the time. Taking parts of Batman's past and turning them on their heads, he created a character who's criminal parents were gunned down right in front of him by a rookie cop. To add drama, this 'rookie' was Jim Gordon.

I remember for the longest time that I wanted the Wrath to make one of those miraculous returns from the dead and totally missed it when they attempted to retcon him back into the DC universe. In Batman Confidential #13-16 in a story called WRATHCHILD, the caped crusader found himself against a foe he thinks is the Wrath back from the dead. He comes to find out that his 'sidekick', unmentioned in the original comic, Elliot Caldwell, has taken his mentors place and donned the suit to take revenge against law enforcement.

With the reboot of the NEW 52, Caldwell is now CEO of Caldwell Tech in a buy out attempt of Wayne Enterprises. He is, of course, the new Wrath with an army to boot. The convergence leaves us wondering if we will ever see him again.

BUT, honestly, another of DC's creations should have taken the mantle of 'Player on the other side' but something happened along the way. Probably a tragic plotting accident. PROMETHEUS was a character introduced by Grant Morrison during his run of JLA. Debuting in his own stand-alone for NEW YEARS EVIL in 1998, he had a great potential to be as dangerous as Batman himself. His background was similar with the witnessing the dead criminal parents and growing up to destroy the 'forces of Justice'. But he had a lot more tech and savvy going for him. In Morrison's run, he proved him self a capable villain for all the JLA. Using the deductive and reasoning powers Batman was so well known for, he laid out scenarios to destroy each and every member. But, as is usually the case, he made miscalculations and failed.

Another run I missed, but am definitely going to go pick up now is JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRY FOR JUSTICE (#1-7). Once again Prometheus goes toe to toe with Justice Leaguers and does pretty good. But, in the end, he gets the point via Green Arrow and that's all she wrote. Or is it? As comics are prone to do, they pulled a fast one and made him 'mentally disabled' instead of allowing him to die and brought him back to kill an imposter.

I don't know. I don't think DC has EVER used him right. If Morrison or any other great Batman writer would make the effort, Prometheus could be the most challenging opponent Bruce Wayne has ever seen. In other words, I think he just needs to be written right. But that's my two cents.

But go check out, at least, Batman Special #1 and the debut of the Wrath. It's worth having and absolutely worth reading over and over again.