Voici un premier aperçu de Batman : Creature of the Night, une mini-série de Kurt Busiek et John Paul Leon présentée comme le « compagnon spirituel » du Superman : Secret Identity de Busiek et Immonen.
BATMAN: CREATURE OF THE NIGHT #1
Written by KURT BUSIEK
Art and cover by JOHN PAUL LEON
Young Bruce Wainwright lost his parents in a violent crime…and in the real world, no superheroes exist to save the day. But as grief and rage builds inside Bruce until he feels he can’t keep it inside anymore, something strange starts taking wing in the Gotham night! Perhaps Bruce’s grief isn’t inside him after all?
Modern masters Kurt Busiek and John Paul Leon unite for the spiritual companion to the beloved SUPERMAN: SECRET IDENTITY, putting a new spin you’ve never seen before on the legend of Batman—and the dark emotions that drive him!
On sale NOVEMBER 29 • 48 pg, FC, 1 of 4, $5.99 US • RATED T+
À noter qu’il s’agit d’un projet sur lequel les auteurs travaillent depuis 2010 ! Le site Newsarama a republié une interview de Kurt Busiek datant d’il y a 7 ans :
Yes. I call it a thematic sequel. It’s a natural companion book. Superman: Secret Identity is about a young man named Clark Kent in a world where Superman is a comic book character. Batman: Creature of the Night is about a young man named Bruce Wainwright in a world where Batman is a comic book character. And both of them get involved in fantasy adventure scenarios that involve these characters.
But where Superman: Secret Identity was much more about self-identity and science fiction, Batman: Creature of the Night is a lot more about horror and dark things, because… he’s Batman!
When I was doing Superman: Secret Identity, the only characters that I was interested in were Clark and Lois. But people read into it and they’ve decided that this character is represented by this. Y’know, “The government scientists are clearly stand-ins for Luthor” and so forth. And they’re building that more into it.
In Creature of the Night, we have a Batman, and we have his parents, we have an Alfred, who is not quite — he’s not a butler. We have Robin, who is not a superhero. I look forward to people reacting — oh, and we don’t have a Commissioner Gordon, but we have an Officer Gordon. Gordon Hoover.
What I didn’t want to do with this kind of book is do the typical Elseworlds, where it’s a different setting, and everything happens the same. So, we have characters that Bruce reacts to because he decides this is his Alfred, this is his Commissioner Gordon, this is his Robin. It doesn’t necessarily work out that way because real life isn’t like the comics. But there isn’t … I guess people are gonna read the first issue and decide that guy’s the Joker, but he’s not the Joker, he’s just a criminal.
Description: Young Bruce Wainwright lost his parents in a violent crime…and in the real world, no superheroes exist to save the day. But as grief and rage builds inside Bruce until he feels he can’t keep it inside anymore, something strange starts taking wing in the Gotham night! Perhaps Bruce’s grief isn’t inside him after all? Putting a new spin you’ve never seen before on the legend of Batman-and the dark emotions that drive him!
Je ne sais pas encore quoi penser de ce numéro.
D’une part, c’est beau, superbe même. De l’autre, quel plaisir d’enfin accéder à cette histoire. Enfin, quelle superbe plongée dans la psyché d’un gamin anéanti, détruit par le drame.
Mais… ça ne fonctionne pas pleinement, sur moi. Pas l’histoire, pas la psychologie, pas les dialogues ; non, le coeur même du truc, le ressort scénaristique par lequel un Batman intervient.
Si Busiek avait déjà esquissé une origine « différente » pour son Superman (mais on s’en détachait rapidement, ce n’était pas l’important), il y replonge ici - mais, cette fois, cela fonctionne moins bien ; l’origine du truc sera déterminante, car le cheminement est différent, et je dois avouer que… je suis déçu.
J’imaginais autre chose. J’imaginais vraiment un gamin qui se forme pour devenir Batman dans la vraie vie, certes dans la veine d’un Kick-Ass mais avec la vista d’un Busiek plutôt qu’un Millar. Et, je l’avoue, je suis déçu… déçu qu’on aille dans ce coin-là de l’imaginaire, déçu d’avoir espéré autre chose, déçu d’être déçu d’une BD qui est quand même bonne - mais pas ce que je voulais lire.
In a world where Batman is only a comic book character, young Bruce Wainwright is starting to feel a surprising strength and power grow inside him…and after years of mourning the loss of his parents, that power feels good–intoxicating, even! The question is, to what use will he put it?
Bruce Wainwright isn’t a child anymore—but the trauma that shaped him, and the monster he created, is still with him! Has Bruce grown enough to deal with the shock when he learns that one of his most closely held beliefs was a lie?
Written by: Kurt Busiek
Art by: John Paul Leon
Cover by: John Paul Leon
Le quatrième et dernier numéro de Batman : Creature of Night a été repoussé à une date indéterminée (ce sera peut-être pour mai 2019, selon Bleeding Cool)…
