The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 Review: Pulp Batman, Remixed

Writer Dan Jurgens and artist Mike Perkins revisit Batman in the Golden Age with a new story that reflects both the real world issues of the time and the pulp roots of the superhero. In The Bat-Man: First Knight #1, Jurgens and Perkins bring back the gritty, pulp Batman that first appeared in Detective Comics #27, a powerless crimefighter with few friends and only a handful of resources. While the comic seems to relish showcasing Batman's roots and how different the Golden Age Batman was from his modern incarnation, Jurgens and Perkins still tell a compelling pulp tale that excites and intrigues on its own merits. 

Batman has changed significantly over the past 85 years, morphing from a street-level loner superhero whose villains stood on the edge of the occult, to a hero with seemingly limitless resources and no lack of allies. But in the earliest Batman stories, even some of era-spanning fundamentals were missing – Alfred wasn't around, nor was the Batmobile, or even Gotham City. Instead, Batman prowled New York City in a red sedan, and barely survived encounters with the strange crooks he faced (well, that last part remains consistent). There's a certain... atmosphere found in the earliest Batman comics and one that's often missing in attempts to recapture Batman's pulp roots in various prestige miniseries that DC has published over the years. Some of that is due to excising Batman away from some stories that touched on Yellow Peril themes, but DC often overwrites the periphery of those older Batman stories with elements from modern comics. 

The Bat-Man: First Knight goes the opposite route by relishing every detail from those early Detective Comics stories. There are tons of little nods to early Detective Comics, from the purple gloves that Batman wears to Julie Madison (Bruce Wayne's fiancee, although it appears this story is meant to be her first meeting with Bruce) to the red sedan that Bruce would drive during his stints as Batman to even Batman's monologues to himself filling the empty air (and making up for his lack of supporting cast). Many of these little details have been referenced in countless other Batman comics, but usually as some passing nod or easter egg. In First Knight, these details serve as contrast, working as little ways to remind readers that Bat-Man is very different from the modern day Batman or even common conceptions of what the Golden Age Batman was. 

Another interesting touch is how Jurgens and Perkins utilize the real-world New York City as the setting for their new series. The original Batman stories were set in New York City, but Jurgens and Perkins bring in some historical details of the era, specifically tied to the unease over the rise of Nazism (and how even some in the US seemed swayed by its cause). The comic itself is set in the spring of 1939, just a few weeks after the Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden, and Batman at one point encounters a friendly rabbi who shares his fears about Gotham being overrun with the same anti-Semitism that's overtaken Germany. 

The story itself is a new one that feels at home with the other Golden Age pulp Batman stories, with Gordon and Batman investigating a series of grisly murders of politicians. Batman finds a valuable clue after a confrontation with the brutish murderers, although it leads to an even stranger theory that Batman investigates with electric consequences. Perkins' artwork is a perfect fit for this story. He's always been one of the best artists in terms of capturing the essence of pulp and horror and he seems to take it up another notch with this story. I can't stress how much Perkins adds to the comic by providing a proper mood and capturing a Batman who is both brooding and dangerous, but also very human and vulnerable. 

The Bat-Man: First Knight #1 is a loving recreation of the earliest days of the Batman, one that excels in capturing the mood of those first stories in a way that other comics never quite hit. The comic book celebrates the differences between the original Batman and the modern-day and finds ways to use those differences to tell a story that modern ones would struggle with. At the same time, this series also acknowledges the realities that comes with setting a comic in 1939, not shying away from the ugliness of that era nor presenting a version of New York that simply never existed. The result is a fun pulp comic book and altogether compelling read. 

Published by DC Comics

On March 5, 2024

Written by Dan Jurgens

Art by Mike Perkins

Colors by Mike Spicer

Letters by Simon Bowland

Cover by Mike Perkins