I've written before about how I find DC's revived tabloid-sized books irresistible. Seeing that beautiful art in larger dimensions enhances the reading experience, especially when the book was designed for that size (like the Superman vs. Muhammad Ali and Superman vs. Wonder Woman releases last year).
But even when the stories were originally published at the standard comic-book size, seeing them bigger is a revelation. It allows the reader to become more immersed in the story and scrutinize the art in a new way.
Case in point: The Untold Legend of the Batman, a three-issue limited series originally published in standard size in 1980 and newly given the 10" x 14" treatment. I've read this is the first time current DC management has re-released a book at the bigger dimensions that wasn't originally published that way, leading to speculation about what other treasures in the vault might merit this upgrade. Bring 'em on, I say.
I first read issues one and two of Untold Legend back in 1980. The third issue, alas, never made it into my collection. It wouldn't be until years later that I ran across a paperback-sized, black-and-white reprint and read that last installment.
The Untold Legend of the Batman is a solid book, even when I discount the nostalgia factor at work. Writer Len Wein summarizes the Darknight Detective's career to that point, streamlining his origin so that it is easy to digest, even as he includes some of the more esoteric plot points of earlier decades—Bruce Wayne's father wore a prototypical version of the Batman costume when Bruce was just a boy, Bruce was the first person to wear the Robin costume while he was training to be a detective, etc.
Wein could've phoned in a standard "album" issue of greatest hits, but he was always a more ambitious writer, so he also gives readers a mystery. An unknown enemy is destroying souvenirs and assorted bric-a-brac in the Batcave, and Batman and Robin must find out who it is. Each new destruction prompts a flashback, so eventually readers are treated to all the salient events that make Batman who he is. Or was—forty-plus years of history have since occurred.
The art is top-notch. John Byrne, at the time a mainstay of Marvel Comics, pencils the first issue, covered by the inks of longtime Batman artist Jim Aparo. It's a pleasing collaboration. Again, the bigger size caused me to study a birds-eye-view image of the Batcave on page one longer than I ever have before. Ditto the splash page that follows—Batman pulling a shredded costume from a box.
Sadly, Byrne hung around only for the first issue. But Aparo takes over all the art chores for the next two, so visual continuity doesn't skip a beat. As pieces and parts of Batman's past are systematically assaulted, our hero increasingly loses his equilibrium, and nobody draws Batman losing his shit quite like Aparo.
The flashbacks are tidily arranged. Issue one covers Batman's youth and his tragic origin; issue two introduces Robin, Alfred, and select members of the Rogues' Gallery; and issue three deals with the supporting cast (the man who designs and builds the Batmobiles, Commissioner Gordon, Lucius Fox, Batgirl).
The mystery, such as it is, is also resolved in the third issue, albeit implausibly. When the mystery villain and his motivations are revealed, readers are left to wonder why Batman isn't more upset that his memorabilia has been destroyed (especially his father's costume).
Still, it's all great fun. Add seven pages of Batcave schematics, a gallery of the original covers, and house ads for other DC books of the time, and it adds up to $12.99 well spent.
