The Batman Sequel 35 Years in the Making: Batman Resurrection
Who knew that one of the best sequels of the year would be a novel to a thirty-five-year-old movie?
Batman is my favorite hero. I consider the day the first Tim Burton film with Michael Keaton as Batman/Bruce Wayne debuted—23 June 1989–to be the real Batman Day. No matter what kind of Batman movie has been made in the years since, the ‘89 Batman was special.
So when I heard John Jackson Miller was writing a direct sequel to that film, I was thrilled. And boy did Miller deliver.
A Direct Sequel
Batman: Resurrection starts in Gotham City right as the Joker is flooding downtown with Smilex gas. That would be the climactic sequence from the movie. But it’s not downtown. It’s in another part of Gotham, a theater district that feels like off-off Broadway. It is there we find (a particular character that I’m going to name and as soon as I do, those who know who he is knows a villain in this novel) Karlo Babic, an actor who has never had the break he thinks he deserves. He’s been tapped by the older, arrogant lead actor to be in the play with a caveat: Karlo must test the makeup he has purchased on the black market.
If you remember the movie, the Joker infected cosmetics and, after a given combination is applied, the victim starts laughing and their face constricts into a Joker-like grin. Well, Karlo puts the makeup on, and he has a reaction, but not one you’d expect.
Cut to six months later and the story proper begins.
More Scenes Between Characters in the Movie
One of the best things about this book is that we get scenes we would have liked to have seen in the movie. A key one is with Alexander Knox, the reporter played by Robert Wuhl. We get a number of scenes with him, doing some investigating about a gang of Joker acolytes, the Last Laughs, and, most importantly, interacting with Batman himself. You see, in the film, Knox and Bruce Wayne met, but never the reporter and the Dark Knight. Miller, a former college reporter, gave Knox some great content and retained Wuhl’s trademark sarcasm.
As the story progresses, you get a sense of how Commissioner Gordon began to accept the help of the vigilante dressed up as a bat. There are some wonderful moments between Batman, Gordon, and Knox. They actually form a sort of team.
There’s even a co-starring role for one of Joker’s henchmen.
In the Minds of the Characters
In a movie, everything is action. In a novel, the author can put the reader in the heads of the characters, and this is one of the places where Miller shines. Specifically, he puts you in Bruce Wayne’s head, the Michael Keaton version. He’s still new at this costumed hero thing and he struggles with what he has to be, why, and what’s next for him. Miller shows us how Batman uses the tools on his utility belt, and how, during longer conflicts, he can run out and must rely on his fighting skills.
I particularly enjoy the relationship between Alfred and Bruce. There’s that paternal instinct in Alfred, and yet he still questions why Bruce does what he does. In a Batman world without a Robin, Alfred is very much a partner.
Karlo gets a lot of time in this novel and it’s well worth it. Sometimes, villains (or adversaries) are just bad guys. The best bad guys are ones with whom you can relate (think how Mr. Freeze was reimagined in the animated series). Karlo and what happens to him falls squarely in this vein. A nice touch by Miller.
A Grounded Universe?
In 1989, we thought the movie was dark, just like in the comics. In the decades since and in light of the movies that have come out this century, the ‘89 Batman feels more light-hearted. Miller takes considerable time to give Burton’s world a reality that we can understand. He states things explicitly even if you’ve never thought about it from a certain point of view. The Smilex attack at the end of the movie? That’s a chemical attack against a major metropolitan city. DNA testing? Now quite there yet. What really was Smilex? Miller gives you a reasonable answer. It’s verisimilitude in prose.
The Easter Eggs
They are everywhere, and they are a blast! Since this takes place before 1992’s Batman Returns, we actually see Max Shreck (and his assistant). The Red Hill gang has taken residence in the sewers of Gotham, and they answer to ‘the boss.’ Knox is still asking Bruce Wayne for a grant.
But you also have fun little tidbits just tossed into the mix. Bruce decides that he’s not going to be the foppish playboy, but an active member of the Gotham community. In fact, he sees Batman as the means to an end when Bruce’s money and influence has no sway. You learn that there was an anonymous donation to the museum to fix the skylight that Batman destroyed when he saved Vicki Vale. A reference to infecting the water supply with chemicals (see: Batman Begins).
The Narrator
Like most of the books this year, I listened to the audiobook, and narrator Will Damron knocks it out of the park. When he’s doing Bruce, he’s normal. When he’s doing Batman, he has the deeper voice (but not nearly as deep as Christian Bale). When he’s doing Knox, the wry sarcasm of Robert Wuhl is right there in your ears.
But the biggest surprise is his reading of Jack Nicholson’s Joker. In Bruce Wayne’s nightmares, he still relives the events of the movie. As such, Joker talks with him. Damron doesn’t do an impression of Nicholson so much as he modulates his voice in such a way that sounds really good.
The Verdict
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and it was one of the books I was most looking forward to. As of this weekend, I’ve read 27 books. This is easily in the Top 10, likely in the Top 5, and is one of the leading candidates for favorite book of the year. If you love Batman and the 1989 movie, I think you will really enjoy this novel.