| Welcome to the world of Tangent Comics — where you only know the names. Parallel Lines: A DC Comics Tangent Universe Podcast is a bi-weekly, issue-by-issue exploration of DC Comics’ Tangent Universe events, hosted by Shawn Engel and Michael Bradley.
“An innocent was wrenched from my grasp — and must be returned, lest salvation elude me forever.”
The second wave of Tangent books begins with THE BATMAN as an brooding crusader from days of yore stalks modern-day streets in the name of justice. But when a woman is abducted, can this dark knight atone for his own past sins and save the damsel before experiencing a knight … fall (sorry)? Find out as we look at “Covenant of Iron,” courtesy of comic book legends Dan Jurgens and Klaus Janson!
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NEXT TIME: The reign begins with THE SUPERMAN #1!
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Greetings, gentlemen!
With the holidays over, I finally had a chance to catch up on these Tangent podcasts! A few thoughts on this episode:
1) Regarding the underwhelment you felt with this issue… I wonder if a different artist may have helped? With Klaus Janson’s strong association with the DCU Batman (and the Dark Knight Batman), it may have made it tough to not think of Bruce Wayne and the then-recent Azrael storyline. Certainly, the sketch page above shows a nice design sense that might have been helped by having someone different on art chores to further help differentiate the Tangent Batman from the one we are more familiar with.
2) I remember liking this story and character design MUCH more than I did the “Just Imagine… Stan Lee’s Batman” book. Even though that issue was drawn by Joe Kubert, the ugly character design did nothing for me and popped me right out of the story. At least the Tangent Batman had an intriguing design. (In fact, now that I think about it, I might have preferred Joe Kubert on the Tangent Batman story.)
3) Even though this is an alternate depiction of Batman, it seems to herald alternate futures for Bruce Wayne. Sir William’s confinement and use of a surrogate to do his work is awfully reminiscent of Bruce Wayne in “Batman Beyond” and in “Kingdom Come”. In “Kingdom Come”, Wayne uses robot drones to patrol Gotham City, much like it’s been rumored that Ben Affleck will be doing in the upcoming Batman v Superman movie.
4) The lobster-red appearance of the Batman’s armor seems a funny choice. I wonder if it was influenced by that other bat man, Dracula, from the Francis Ford Coppola film. In that movie, Dracula wears reddish armor to battle the Turks in the pre-vampiric scenes.
Thanks for another fine episode. I’m looking forward to listening to the Superman episode.
Keep up the good work!
Parallel Podcasters (PPs?),
Towards the end of the episode, Shawn mentioned the Tangent comic books could be tracked down pretty easily, but he didn’t know that they would be found in the quarter bin. I just wanted to brag that I found Batman and other Tangent books in the comic book clearance section at Half Price Books for a quarter a pop! The only downside is that they have a price tag sticker stuck directly on the cover. I just left most of the stickers on because I will have that pleasant reminder that I got a great buy, but I did peel off the sticker if I felt the art was affected. For instance, the sticker stuck on Black Orchid’s cleavage on the Nightwing: Night Force cover had to go! All that blank space, and that is where they put it. I was able to get most of the first two waves as well as all of the Superman’s Reign issues at Half Price Books, although most of those were half off the cover price, not a quarter. I ordered Green Lantern, the Flash, Superman, and Power Girl from Midtown Comics.
I passed on the Tangent phenomenon when it hit initially, probably because it took place outside of regular DCU continuity. When I heard your podcast promo, I thought it would be a great show with you two at the helm. I wanted to read the comic first, then listen to the corresponding show. I picked up the books because of Parallel Lines and I have not been disappointed so far. I love the show. Keep up the great work!