If you had told me my favorite book I would read this year would be about Batman, I would have believed you because I have been obsessed with the Dark Knight since I was four years old. However, if you continued to tell me the reasons it would be my favorite, I would have told you such a book doesn't exist. What do you mean there was a focus on Batman's detective skills? What do you mean one of the themes is unethical experimentation on people with disabilities, and it's done well? Not to mention, it takes place between the two Michael Keaton films, giving it the exact same gothic vibes those movies are known for.
The story takes place in the aftermath of the 1989 Batman movie. The city is still recovering from The Joker's reign of terror. The hospital is overrun with people who had strange side effects to the "Smylex" concoction the Joker had tainted their toiletry products with. Some are in comas, some cannot stop having laughing fits, and some are eerily silent children who are terrified of the laughter that killed their parents. And one is Basil Karlo, who fans know by another name: Clayface. He wakes up from a months-long coma, terrified of his new appearance and his strange abilities. Meanwhile, our hero is doing his best to help people in and out of the shadows. Bruce Wayne had devoted the money to the hospital's Smylex ward, doing everything he can to help the victims of the Joker's attack, while Batman is tracking down and capturing what's left of the Clown's criminal gang. However, a mysterious person starts to manipulate both Basil and Bruce from the shadows, determined not just to finish what The Joker started, but to raise the villain from the dead.
One of the things I truly loved about this book is that we got to spend quite a bit of time with both Bruce Wayne and Batman. While we know they are one and the same, the relationship between Bruce and his secret identity changes depending on the version we see. Sometimes Bruce is a playboy and philanthropist, using the persona to hide his true personality of Batman. Other times, Bruce is a recluse, with everyone being shocked when he comes out in public. But one of the things I've always loved about the Keaton version of Batman is how the mild-mannered Bruce Wayne and Batman effortlessly were two sides of the same person. And this book gives us time to really deep dive into all parts of his duality. We see that every single thing this version of Bruce does is to help people, whether it's forcing the city's elite to care about the common person, or beating up criminals in an alley. But only that, we see how not only are Bruce and Batman able to help each other, but they also cause problems for each other. Bruce is constantly exhausted by their late-night activities, and Batman forces him to leave important engagements where the reputation he needs to keep the more legitimate parts of his persona takes a hit. I feel like this allowed us to see exactly who Bruce is as a person, and giving us time with all aspects of his personality gave readers a much more nuanced take on the man.
In addition, this book broke what is probably one of the most problematic tropes in superhero fiction. So often we see the trope of being disabled meaning you're an evil person. This book could have played into the trope when it came to Basil Karlo - however, John Jackson Miller went in a different direction that made the story so much stronger. He's gaslit and coerced into villainy, by a doctor who doesn't see him as a man, but as a test subject. Each crime he is coerced into committing comes with a promise it's the last crime and then he'll get a cure for his condition. And as a result, Karlo is failed by so many systems that should have protected him. Through Karlo, we get a scathing critique of how the world treats people who are different. How they've been used as unwilling test subjects, how they've been mistreated by people who should have protected them, and how the government and its programs have constantly failed them. We see his humanity, we see how much he is hurting, and most importantly, we see the man he is and not only the condition he developed. Karlo is a victim instead of a villain, and through his struggle, we see the humanity in a character most have only seen as a monster.
Another thing I loved about this book was how it went back to Batman's detective roots. This has been something that hasn't quite been shown as much within the modern Batman iterations, to the point Robert Pattinson didn't even know the character he was playing was known as "The World's Greatest Detective" when he first signed on to play him in last year's The Batman. By sitting down and having him look into clues, follow leads, and put the puzzle pieces together, this characterization of Bruce shows why it is important to show Batman as a detective. It's part of his appeal, just as much as the theatricality and fun gadgets, and I hope to keep seeing this trend in all Batman media.
Overall, this is one of the few books I consider perfect. It deconstructs harmful tropes, it gives me all of the Batman content I didn't know I wanted and also is the perfect bridge between the two Michael Keaton Batman movies. I could envision him perfectly throughout the book, and you could see the love John Jackson Miller has for these movies on every single page of the novel. Between the inclusion of characters like Max Shreck and Selina Kyle, to the locations and descriptions that describe the version of the city we came to know in the movies, this book very much should be included in the canon of these movies. And with a second book coming out in Fall 2025, I'm already planning on picking it up the day it comes out.
Batman: Resurrection is available through Penguin Random House