InsaneJournal

The Men Who Would Be Gotham's Rogues (also, a little Darth Revan)
so, Kia Asamiya.

Guy drew/wrote a lot of stuff I mean to get around to.

one of those works, in particular?

Batman: Child of Dreams, published in Kodonsha's Monthly Magazine Z in about ten installments, I think; at any rate, since DC (obviously) commissioned it, we got a hardcover edition two years later, translated by Max Allan Collins.



A DNA-altering drug, one that transforms its users into genetic duplicates.

What draws Batman into the story is seeing that drug used to create genetic duplicates of several of his villains out of... well, you'll see.

So, here's the first duplicate: Harvey " Two-Face " Dent.

We join him in the middle of a monologue: " [The coin] decides whether to acquit or convict-- "



meet Yuko Yagi, the abovementioned reporter, sent to America so that... they can do a news report on the Batman.

as you will, foreign news, as you will.

however, they've decided that the best way to catch the Bat is to be at ground zero of the kind of thing the Bat'd be involved in- like Harvey taking hostages for no apparent reasons, despite apparently being safe and sound in an Arkham straitjacket.

Unfortunately, that is not the smartest idea ever, as Doppelharvey's just flipped a coin:



Not-Harv's pleased as punch to see these guys:



somebody's really in love with the inherent duality of man, isn't he?



Yuko tries reasoning with False-Face over here:



who else, but..?



ZA BATMAN!

who wonders why " Harvey " is doing this thing; it seems so strange for him, after all, to up and randomly take innocent men and woman hostage.



Batman drops Big Bad !Harv's gun, but " I'm TWO-FACE -- I've got TWO of everything -- "



Lie-Face and the Bat have a pretty neat battle, ending rather unexpectedly:



Batman hies Cloneface off to Arkham, before brusquely brushing off Yagi and co.

So they try to seek an audience through Jimmy Gordon, who's not gonna help 'em at all:



when suddenly, the morgue calls:



I don't think we need Senator Vreenak to tell us that that Two-Face WAS A FAAAAKE

so Yuko and co retreat and regroup. She takes the long way back to the hotel, only to be accosted by thugs, and saved by...



heh.

the two hit it off well, and:



and so Yuko and co have an extra day to try and salvage their news story.

not that there's a lack of Bat-action going down, as Batman stops another doppelganger, but not before he's set off some bombs in Gotham:



no, it's not.

and another:





but it's only in installment three that the best fake of all shows up, interrupting Bruce and Yuko's dinner date:



oh, and he's gonna advance the plot:



Batman, however, crashes the party:



and the false Joker bows out, covering his escape with a bomb:



amusingly, real Joker accepts no substitutes, as Batman discovers while questioning him in Arkham (amusingly, Joker compares himself to Hannibal Lecter earlier in this scene, equating Bats to Clarice... which I think makes Hugo Strange Francis Dolarhyde):



anyhow, the second Joker in the deck kidnaps Yuko and lures the Bat to a boat on the seafront:



rather less sane than the others, isn't he?



oh, very much less!

but degeneration kicks in, as it has for the others:



acknowledgement. lawl.



who is this mysterious benefactor? why is he transforming sadsacks into Gotham rogues, and what does he have planned for the Bat? Why am I writing solicit text?

Find out by tracking down the rest of Child of Dreams- it's worth one read, at the least. It's good stuff, if not great.

there's three more doppelgangers down the pike, two Batmen and a Catwoman; there's a brilliant powerful man with a small agenda; and there's death by lots of drugs.

bonus: Darth Revan always enjoyed the obscuring look...



Jedi Master Ed Asner is very gruff.



this stuff's set before KOTOR, and it's basically what happens when proactive Jedi misread prophecies and mediocre Padawans have to defend themselves from the wrath of said Jedi.

there's a couple of one-who-would-be-Revan cameos; amusingly, the future Malak's also a minor character in the whole debacle, even helping our hero escape some wacky Mandalorians. Fun times...