Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight, commonly referred to as simply Legends of the Dark Knight is a DC comic book featuring Batman. It was launched in 1989 with the popularity of the Batman movie. It differs from other Batman titles in that it has constantly rotating creative teams, and the stories are not necessarily part of the current events of the other Batman comics. Initially the title was promoted as running only stand alone self contained five issue stories of graphic novel quality. However, after issue 20, stories of different lengths started to appear. Three to five part stories are still the staple of the title. While some stories have tied in with the other titles, generally this has not been the case.

Most of the stories featured in Legends are set in the early years of Batman's career, though a few have been set in the present and even the future. Stories set at the beginning of Batman's career are referred to as taking place during Year One, meaning Bruce Wayne's first year of crimefighting as Batman. Again the title had been initially promoted as only doing stories from before Robin, Dick Grayson, the first Robin, did appear in issue 23, though he was still a circus performer.

Some of the creative talent who have worked on the series include Dennis O'Neil, Grant Morrison, Mike Mignola, Bill Willingham, Matt Wagner, and Doug Moench.

The series will end in October 2006 to make way for a new title Batman Confidential, which will have the same concept of telling the early years of Bruce Wayne as Batman.

Collected issues

Several of the stories from the title have been collected into trade paperbacks including the following:

• Batman: Shaman (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 1 - 5)
• Batman: Gothic (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 6 - 10) ISBN 1563890283
• Batman: Prey (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 11 - 15)
• Batman: Venom (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 16 - 20) ISBN 1563891018
• Batman: Faces (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 28 - 30) ISBN 1563891263
• Batman: Collected Legends of the Dark Knight (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 32 - 34, 38, 42 - 43)
• Batman: Dark Legends (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 39 - 40, 50, 52 - 54)
• Batman: KnightsEnd (reprints Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 62-63)
• Batman: The Ring, The Arrow and The Bat (reprints Legends of the DC Universe 7 - 9 and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight 127 - 131) ISBN 1401201261

Awards

Issues 116, 117, 119, 120, 121, 125, and 126 of the series were parts of the No Man's Land storyline, which won the Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Award for Favorite Story for 2000.

Specials and Spin-offs

There are three annual Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials written by Jeph Loeb with art by Tim Sale; the popularity of these led to the limited series Batman: The Long Halloween.

A short lived series Legends of the DC Universe was based on the concept of Legends of the Dark Knight. But instead of Batman, it featured a rotating roster of other DC superheroes.

The Mitefall special used a modern version of Bat-Mite who first appeared in Legends of the Dark Knight to parody the Batman Knightfall storyline.

Trivia

"Legends of the Dark Knight" is also the title of an episode from The New Batman Adventures era of Batman: The Animated Series. The title refers to the Batman comic book of the same name. In the episode, three Gotham City children tell each other stories of Batman. Each one has the vision of different Batman writers: one displays a rather distinctive Batman from the Golden Age, another one puts him as a massive powerhouse similar to his appearance in The Dark Knight Returns, and another one believes Batman isn't human and has powers, such as flying. However, only two of the 'alternate' Batmen (the Golden Age Batman and the Dark Knight Returns Batman) were actually depicted in this episode. In the end, the three kids actually watched Batman in action, and they realized the 'real' Batman shared some characteristics of all the their visions of Batman.

Also, in this episode, the three kids met another one named Joel, who apparently believed Batman's suit is made of rubber and the Batmobile can climb up walls, an obvious parody of director Joel Schumacher and his rather unique depiction of Batman in the movies Batman Forever and Batman and Robin.