Batman #348 is the end of an era for the Batman group of comics being published by DC Comics in the '70s and early '80s. It was also the beginning of a new era. Let me give you some background information on this period of Batman's publication history in case any of you don't know.
In 1969 sales for the Batman comics had begun to drop. Mostly because the 1966 TV show was done, and people were sick of the campy nature of the comics at the time. So, editor, Julius Schwartz, who had revitalized the Flash and Green Lantern in the '50s and Batman in 1964, two years prior to the start of the TV show, went about the task of revamping the character yet again. In Batman #217, cover date December 1969, Dick Grayson went off to college and Bruce Wayne and Alfred moved out of Wayne Manor and into the penthouse apartment of the Wayne Foundation building. Bruce decided that being in the heart of Gotham City meant he could get to crime scenes much quicker as Batman, so he set up a smaller but still effective, version of the Batcave. With Robin no longer with him every night, though he still showed up from time to time, Batman returned to the lone figure of the night that he had been in 1939. While Frank Robbins was the writer and Irv Novick was the artist on Batman #217, this new era would be kicked into high gear with Neal Adams, Dennis O'Neil, Steve Englehart and Marshall Rogers.
Marvel Comics seemed to have an influence as well, at least in the way stories were told. While DC rarely had stories than ran for more than an issue, two at the most, most, if not all, of Marvel's books had a continuing storyline where events in one issue would have consequences in an issue further down the line, as we had been seeing in books like The Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men and Fantastic Four. For a while in 1969 and in the early '70s, there'd be a continuing storyline that weaved it's way through both Batman and Detective Comics, then eventually they would split off into separate storylines until the '80s when they would be interwoven again pretty much until right before Crisis On Infinite Earths started in 1985, with side stories in books like The Brave and the Bold and Justice League of America. This allowed for better management of the stories, because the events in one book could have consequences in the other book and it forced the writers of each book to work together and really coordinate on the story they're telling. Something that modern comic book writers don't do anymore.
The '70s is a great decade for Batman, because it gave us the stories that would inspire the tone of Batman: The Animated Series, with many of the characters who appeared on that show making their first appearances in the Batman comics of the 1970s and early 1980s. Harvey Bullock, Hamilton Hill, Lucius Fox, and Rupert Thorne are all characters who were created for the comics of this era that would later make their on screen debut on Batman: The Animated Series in the 1990s. Which brings us to this issue.
1982 was the year where transitions were about to happen in the Batman books, with Dick Grayson nearing the end of his time as Robin with the introduction of Jason Todd, his successor in only nine issues after this one. And with Dick Giordano having replaced Julius Schwartz as the editor of the Batman comics in 1979, it was time for Batman to return to his roots with him and Alfred returning to Wayne Manor and the original Batcave in this issue.
This issue feels really small, which is what I like about the Batman comics of the '70s and the early '80s. Unlike today, where anybody from the DC Universe can show up and the stakes are extremely high, the Batman stories of the '70s and early '80s felt smaller, more intimate. Which I appreciate because the smaller stories are what I grew up on with the reruns of the '60s TV show, as well as Batman: The Animated Series. So I tend to prefer these smaller stories rather than the giant universe threatening ones of modern day. Mainly because the smaller stories tend to be about the characters, whereas the bigger ones tend to be more about the plot than they are about the characters.
As strange as this may sound, Man-Bat is one of my favourite Batman villains. Trying to give a backstory to the Joker or the Penguin doesn't work, but Man-Bat is a villain who has a great background built into the character and I think it works wonderfully. Sure, it's similar to a lot of mad scientist characters, whose experiment goes wrong, transforming them into a grotesque monster, but they've always kept the Human side to the character and that fascinates me, since Kirk Langstrom isn't evil. When the serum takes over and transforms him into Man-Bat, he can't help but hurt people. Because of this, Batman isn't as harsh as he is on criminals like the Joker or Two-Face or even Mr. Freeze. Which absolutely fascinates me because Batman is usually strict on his war on crime, so for him to make an exception in Man-Bat's case is pretty cool.
The other thing I like about this issue is the subplots going on in the issue as well. The first one concerns Commissioner Gordon, who is no longer Commissioner anymore because Mayor Hill fired him. He's feeling depressed and Barbara Gordon, a.k.a. Batgirl is wanting to help him get back to his old self. This subplot is interesting, but we don't get more than a page of it because, again, it's part of the larger, ongoing, narrative but isn't super relevant to what's going on in the main plot with Batman and Man-Bat.
However, the secondary subplot is something that I am extremely interested in for some reason. So Vicki Vale has photographic evidence of Batman's secret identity, but won't give the evidence to her boss until she can confirm that the evidence is 100% accurate. However, her boss, Morton, is on the take with Rupert Thorne, and informs his boss of Vale's evidence, which Thorne is very interested in, given that Batman is his greatest enemy. This is the kind of drama that I love. It comes from external sources rather than infighting between the main characters. Something that is all too prevalent in the comic book based TV shows being produced today. But this? This is the kind of stuff that I love.
Gene Colan and Klaus Janson are the artists on this book. Though Janson only does the inks, while Colan is the primary artist. Their artwork combo is pretty good. Though it doesn't stand out from other Batman artists of the time such as Neal Adams or Marshall Rogers. It's still really good artwork though.
There's a backup story starring Catwoman in this issue, but I don't really have anything to say about it. It's not bad, but it isn't as interesting as the Catwoman comics from the '90s are. It's also the first part of a story too and I don't have that much experience with these backup features as they were an on and off thing throughout the '70s and '80s and most of the comics from the '80s that I have don't have the backup feature in them.
Final Thoughts and Rating: Overall this is a very good issue of Batman. The story is fantastic, the art is good, and there's real tension because back then you didn't know if any of the characters would be okay or not. Not like today where you know Batman isn't going to get killed or if he does, his death isn't going to be permanent. Which takes a lot of the tension out of the situations even if the rest of the stories are good. I'm giving Batman #348 9/10 stars.
Links
DC Universe Wiki: https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman_Vol_1_348
*cover image taken from the DC Universe Wiki, DC Database.
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