When a prosecutor dies in Bruce Wayne’s arms, Batman follows a trail of poison, lies, and shadows to protect a blind man whose memory could topple a criminal empire. But with assassins closing in and time running out, justice must strike before midnight… and three.
Based on DC Special Series No. 15 by Dennis O’Neil with art by Marshall Rogers.
I admit that Neuverse Creative just gives me an excuse to adapt my favorite Batman stories for different movie Batmen. This story is my favorite noir/thriller Batman story. No supervillains or major Rogues Gallery members. It fits the world of The Batman like a glove. And like Blowback before it, this was a prose story more than a comic.
The February date in the opening is due to the comic stating that was the month it was set in.
With Bruce being more of a recluse in The Batman, I had to find a way to justify Bruce being out in public with Bernie in the opening. But it wasn’t too hard to have him go to a function as Bruce solely to get the update on the case for his Batman side, like in the movie with the Mayor’s funeral.
I also alluded a little more to the growing rift between Alfred and Bruce. One of the issues I had with the film was how Bruce’s relationship with Alfred felt underdeveloped. We weren’t really given much exploration on why they seem so contentious in the beginning while at the same time, they weren’t contentious enough for their reconciliation later on to have much emotional impact on me. With more prequel stories like this, we can potentially fill in the blanks so that part feels more earned.
You might notice that I had to include the slow walk here when Batman confronts Milo at the end. Again, it just fit this version of the story.
Unexpectedly, Tim asked me to voice another character and while I was tempted to play Milo Lewes, I had already voiced other villains with Flass in The Batman: Year One. I thought it would be a nice change to voice Anthony Toombs instead with a different type of vibe and voice to him compared to my other villains.