The Just Imagine series was one that I had always wanted to read through. I mean it was a historic moment to get Stan Lee to redo DC characters in his trademark way. I’ve been on record, many times, saying that I felt like Stan Lee was a visionary character in the history of comics but his dialogue can be tough to read. While I appreciate those early Marvel titles, and the great collaborators he worked with the create the Marvel Universe as we know it, they can be tough at times. So when I thought about reading this series I wondered how Stan Lee’s writing style would fit in a more modern lens. Short version of that question is that it works, but is definitely dated, at least for the first issue that I read. This will be something I plan to talk more about as I go through the Just Imagine series of comics.
Just Image Batman is about a black man, living in a bad neighborhood, who’s father is gunned down on the job. After an unfortunate run in with a local mob boss he, Wayne Williams, is framed for armed robbery and sent to prison. There he meets some new people and tries to grow as a person through this terrible experience. When the prison doors open and the prisoners try to kill the warden Wayne comes to his rescue and is then granted a pardon. Upon leaving prison he becomes the famous wrestler known as the Batman, and becomes very wealthy over time. After a stint in wrestling he reaches out to an old friend who makes his Batman suit into something that he can use to patrol the streets and fight crime. Wayne then decides to use this suit and power to take down the mob boss that framed him, killing him in the progress. The legend of the Batman grows from there, scaring criminals all over Los Angles.
There are many differences between DC’s original Batman and this one. The one difference I found the most interesting is that Wayne Williams does not have the same code of ethics that Bruce Wayne does. This is shown when he decides to kill the man he swore to stop. It makes for a interesting twist on the mythology.
While I have some issues with the title as a whole I did enjoy it. It can be slow throughout and have Stan’s classic over explanation moments throughout. One thing with this issue is that Stan Lee is paired with Joe Kubert for the issue but still writes as if he needs to explain every action that the characters make. I thought a more modern writer would have given the art more room to breath, and speak for itself. But going into it I knew to expect a lot of this, as that is just how Stan writes comics. Getting past all of that I enjoyed his take on Batman, and even like that he built up moments to make him like Spider-Man then subverted my expectations by taking the origin in a different direction. This is definitely a comic worth checking out for any fan of the medium, simply due to it’s historic nature. I look forward to diving deeper into the series, with next week’s Wonder Woman issue.
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One last thing! Travis Gibb was nice enough to give me a chance to write a short story for his comic anthology based on characters he created. The comic is based in the Broke Down and Four Dead Bodies universe, and I hope you’ll check it out!
I've never read Stan Lee's take on DC comics, but it certainly sounds interesting. I'm looking forward to your insights on the other characters.