FORGOTTEN BATMAN #3

The Forgotten Batman Book 3 of 3
Published January 2024
The conclusion to this three-part story, started in July 2020. The first instalment appeared in 2021. In this conclusion, we see our hero make a triumphant return from the past and successfully puts everything right in Gotham City. The defeat of each colourful criminal is given at least a half page of exciting graphic action, as Illegal Batman devises even more ingenious methods to outwit the foe, including (my personal favourite) transforming himself into a giant computer punch-card.

For this book, I went back to writing the script with a biro and paper. For me, this is a good way of writing that is both speedier and more spontaneous – good ideas are set down on the page much more instantly. The previous parts, written using the word processor, may have ended up a bit too verbose. I liked the eccentric dialogue and captions of books 1-2, but this time I made a conscious effort to return to the “big pictures” that (some say) are one of my trademarks. For a recent example of big pictures gone mad, see “The Imbalance of Nature” in a recent issue of Ugly Mug. In book 3, this trend culminates in a double-page action spread in the Jack Kirby tradition (sort of).

Book 3 also continues the time-travel elements of this story, with views of the past rendered as ink-and-wash halftones, and even more convoluted time-paradox moments – including an apparent “alternative timeline” device. This has become an over-used trope in animated TV shows (e.g. Family Guy, Rick and Morty) so I didn’t want to over-think it. There’s also a nod to Weird Tales and Robert E. Howard, in a little coincidence which is noted on the back cover.

It has taken the character over three years to move from being “forgotten” to “remembered” – the remembering happens in this volume, by degrees, with different characters in different ways, and in Latin. The front cover visualises his re-ascension, in a world now free from the infection of the cloud, and equipped with extra eyes.