Batman: Dark Allegiances

I haven't bought any Howard Chaykin books since he was such an @$$ to me a couple years ago in Charlotte at Heroes Con, but I was recently flipping through my bookshelf Batman titles and figured I'd give some a re-read.

Chaykin's Elseworld story is set in pre-WWII America, with all the normal bat-characters involved, but everyone's a bit different. Penguin, Two-Face, Joker, and Catwoman all appear, but they have different names and more "realistic" looks. They aren't super-criminals, they're all fascists out to destroy America. Batman is an industrialist out to clean up the streets and enjoy himself.

Chaykin can't resist smutting things up a bit, so of course Catwoman has a dirty past. There are multiple references made to "stag reels" in her past where she acted inappropriately with both multiple men and a dog. I don't think it is really necessary, but just about everyone in Chaykin stories is depraved in one way or another. I liked the alternate take on Penguin as a Hollywood producer, and Two Face is neat as a Senator with a face for radio, but Joker gets lost in the shuffle as the leader of a gang of fascists. In the end, the plot gets foiled by Batman and Catwoman. It's not really much of a challenge, the bad guys are simply outmatched by the power couple.

Chaykin's art is pretty fun. The brown and black batsuit looks great, and the idea of a big solid helmet for the mask looks great. Chaykin incorporates a bunch of fun variations into the bat mythos like glider wings, a new batmobile, and a rolling batcave on a train car.

Fair