Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke's Batman/The Spirit Review

Batman/The Spirit
Written By: Jeph Loeb and Darwyn Cooke
Artwork By: Darwyn Cooke

In a year in which the comic book world has seen various Crises, Civil Wars, Clone Sagas,Decimations, Liberations,and the rebirth of Onslaught, it becomes easy to forget that one-shots can bring readers just as much pleasure as any mega-event. And some of them can be just plain fun. One such issue was released on Wednesday, November 29, as DC Comics brought outa special crossover event between the classic Batman and Will Eisner's equally classic character, the Spirit.

Simply titled "Batman/The Spirit", this one-shot from upcoming"Ultimates" scribe Jeph Loebis what it is. It brings together the worlds of Batman and Spirit in a plot on par with that of an average Saturday morning cartoon. Commissioners Gordon and Dolan are attending a police event in Hawaii, which brings the rogues gallery of both Gotham and Central City out of the woodwork to kill off the top cops in each city. This naturally brings Batman and the Spirit to Hawaii in order to beat up some bad guys and save the day. It is touted as the first meeting between Batman and the Spirit and what a meeting it is, including various points throughout the issue in which Spirit expresses skepticism as to Batman's existence.

The best thing about this issue is the tone it carries throughout the issue. The story never takes itself too seriously and readers can sense that it is what it's meant to be, which is a light-hearted romp. It even features Robin with some of his 60's-trademark "Holy fill-in-the-blank, Batman!" phrases scattered throughout the issue. And each character is at his or her campy best, especially the Joker and Harley Quinn. In a year in which Joker has leaned towards his darker roots, it's refreshing to see the Clown Prince of Crimeaim for that sweet combination of creepy villain and comic relief.