Writer: Chuck DixonPlot: After receiving the Holy Grail from an ancient benefactor, Bruce Wayne risks everything, to ensure that the life-sustaining artifact doesn't fall into the hands of his immortal foe, Ra's al Ghul.
The question of the worthiness of HCs came up a little while back, and while I wasn't as pleased with Batman: Crimson Mist as I would've liked to have been, I can say with much confidence that The Chalice is definitely HC-worthy.
Not having been exposed to much of John Van Fleet's work, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but what I found inside was almost an artifact in itself. His art deco paints, combined with photorealistic images, and lighting tricks all meld together and enhance Dixon's tale, which itself was exciting!
Starting the story off with medieval stuff got me jazzed, and in the perfect mood for some quality reading. The first person we see is a knight with a bat-like symbol on his hauberk, in search of the Holy Grail.
Later in the story, we learn that Bruce is a descendant of the House of geVain. How dumb was I, that it took me so long to figure it out! Not until I remembered one of my medieval studies classes did it strike me that geVain was none other than Sir Gawain, the Green Knight, of Round Table fame!
I mean, I knew the knight in the opening was one of Arthur's knights, because the text said as much, but I was just a little slow. So knighthood has long been in Bruce's family...
The lighting that Van Fleet uses on the Grail when Gawain finds it really accents the whole holy aspect of the object, but I don't quite get who was telling that tale. It ends with a famous part of a manuscript on page 9 (whose image I can't quite recall the origin of), and the speaker says, "As it was then, so it was today."
But who is that guy? deWettering (the late keeper of the Grail), Shuram (Ra's' librarian), or some storyteller dude, like Chuck Dixon? We're never really told, but if it's Dixon, I think that's a neat way to open up this story.
It took me a while to really appreciate everything that was going on on page 10. I didn't see the shooters for a while, and I almost missed seeing Batman, until I found his shadow, and then his visage, subtly displayed in the background. Van Fleet handles the bullets like rays of light, so that we see exactly where they're going and where they came from, and that's cool. And he does a neat bit of blurring at the bottom of the next page, when Batman punches out one of Two-Face's henchmen.
After Batman returns to the Cave, Alfred asks him how he fared. Bruce says, "I recaptured Two-Face with no loss of life." Really, Bruce? Then who were those two guys who were very visibly shot through by Two-Face, at least three times a piece? People tend not to survive from wounds like that.
Alfred with glasses? Okay. But that's a big switch. Actually, several characters weren't exactly the way they're more commonly portrayed in the regular Bat-books, and here, I truly applaud Dixon's creative extension.
The first noticeable proof of this comes up after Two-Face is captured. Bruce has been known to question his unending quest before, but he never seemed to reconsider his actions like he does here. He states, "I should feel victorious, but I don't," and he later twice admits that what he does isn't enough.
Further into the book, Bruce notes that the endless crime wave in Gotham is a "war with no victory in sight...a disease with no cure or vaccine." This doesn't sound like the obsessed/possessed Batman of the current day. It sounds like a guy who's not the pillar of stone he always seems to be, and for giving us that kind of emotional insight, Chuck should be congratulated.
Ra's' fortress is a sight all its own. I had a feeling it was his before he even stepped onto the page. That's how great Van Fleet develops the mood: the building is elevated, but deathly dark, save for a seemingly tiny fire alit at the base of the cliff, where the Demon's Head hones his skills.
Since Ra's is one of my favourite Bat-villains, I was quite pleased to see more of his history being developed here, and considering what happened at the end of the book, I'm wondering just how much leniency Chuck was given by Denny to write all this stuff about the immortal Bat-foe.
One unexpected, neat moment came on the neon-bathed roof, where Azrael shows up in his older, and cooler duds. I totally didn't expect to see him there, but it was most welcome. He doesn't come across as a wimp, talking as if he's Batman's serf. He actually talks down to Batman!
Since Chuck wrote it, I wondered if the GCPD would show up, and to my delight, they did. Not just the regs, like Jim, Bullock, and Renee; he threw Hendricks in there, too. Montoya's sporting one groovy beret.
Then who shows up? Who else! Babs! We're not really told what it was that Babs was given to figure out, but I'm assuming it was the Old English runes situated on the cover of the box which held the Grail.
The third character alteration comes through in the personage of Catwoman. She's more playful than usual, and that comes through in not only her speech, but her body language.
The Catwoman/Alfred confrontation, and eventual team-up is priceless! I'm just surprised he didn't get mad at her for calling him Jeeves.
One of the defining moments in the book occurs when Batman fends off Ra's' goons against the moonlight, and thanks to visual force from Jack Morelli, the letterer, Batman swears that Ra's will "never" acquire the Grail from him.
The fourth and greatest character shift comes right near the end, with Talia. She's no longer her father's darling daughter; she actually stands up to him for once, and lays down the law. It's about time!
At this point, Ra's still doesn't press Batman for the Grail for a few reasons: he's suffering from fatherly defeat, because his daughter just told him off; he might've realized that even the Grail can't regenerate his already dilapidated body, as a result of his constant use of the Lazarus Pits; and he's got a severe concussion, and is in no shape to continue the battle.
This book was well worth the money I spent on it, and with Dixon and Van Fleet's next project already in planning, called Batman: The Ankh, I'll definitely be looking forward to it!
