Batman & Green Lantern: "Made of Wood"?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Well, I remember browsing through an issue of Detective Comics somewhere in 2003, noticing a story arc titled "Made of Wood" about a murderer who was out for James Gordon. The story featured Batman and Alan Scott (the WW2-era Green Lantern, who also lives in Gotham). I just mindlessly flipped through pages, but the story looked promising. What made me interested is that it seems the story involves some of the Gotham's dark past (IIRC it was a murder that happened many years ago in Gotham).

Too bad I didn't buy the issue, and didn't buy the subsequent issues either. :sad:

I've googled a bit, and all I found out is that the story ended in Detective Comics #786. Anyone knows more about this particular story arc? Is it available in Trade Paperbacks? Otherwise, where's the best place (on the net) to buy back issues of Detective Comics?

[Batman]

I can't help you WRT getting your hands on a TPB unless you want a german one but the story WAS featured in its entirety in Batman Monster Edition 2, so where the story as such is concerned I can defintely help out. What you wanna know?

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

I can't help you WRT getting your hands on a TPB unless you want a german one

So there is actually a TPB? What's the title, then? Maybe I can find an English version once I identified the title.

but the story WAS featured in its entirety in Batman Monster Edition 2,

Batman Monster Edition 2? Thanks! I'm gonna' looking for it.

so where the story as such is concerned I can defintely help out. What you wanna know?

Well, I think the story is quite interesting, and I want to know the entire plot. However, not now. I'm gonna' try to find the book first before reading any spoilers.

[Batman]

Don't bother. The Moster Editions aren't translations of english TPBs, they're purely german creations. They simply took a sequence of connected comics (in the case of Batman, Detective Comics for Monster Edition 2 and Batman:Gotham Knights for Monster Edition 1) and rolled them into one monster paperback.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Don't bother. The Moster Editions aren't translations of english TPBs, they're purely german creations. They simply took a sequence of connected comics (in the case of Batman, Detective Comics for Monster Edition 2 and Batman:Gotham Knights for Monster Edition 1) and rolled them into one monster paperback.

:sad:

Well, I understand German a little, but I guess it's too much effort to browse ebay German for the Monster Edition.

How is the "Made of Wood" storyline, then? Who's the killer? And how is it related to the WW2 Green Lantern?

[Batman]

The story kicks off with Jim Gordon chasing off a couple of bums stripping a supposed drunk of his belongings close to a statue of the first Green Lantern.
Turns out the supposed drunk is dead, and has been for some time, and has the words 'Made of Wood' cut into his chest. Jim muses that this seems somehow familiar, in which he is correct. 50 years before, then-Mayor Thorndyke was found at the base of that statue, with those same words cut into his chest, and four more murders like that followed before the series stopped. The murderer was never found. After I -persuaded said bums to give up the belongings of the deceased, it turns out the yarn in the seams of his shoesoles turns out to be of a make that isn't produced since the 1930s.
Together with the last credit card purchases of the deceased (one James Sime) this leads me to an abandoned tailor shop, and lo and behold, in the cellar is a chamber with the words 'Made of Wood' and newspaper articles about the old murders plastered all over the walls AND the ceiling.
Cue the arrival of Alan Scott, who found out about the murder in the news, and like myself concluded that
a)'Made of Wood' refers to his inability to affect wood, and
b) this murder is connected to the ones 50 years before,
and decides-unsurprisingly over my vocal dissaproval-to join the hunt for the killer.
Apparently, because of the reference Alan feels somehow responsible for the murders and is adamant about being part of the search.
Lots of general mayhem, basic detectoring and one additional corpse later,
we find out that
a) the current killer is apparently targetting the irish mafia, and
b) the original killer was apparently the kid of one of the workers at the tailor shop, the manager of which let them play in the cellar so they wouldn't be out on the street alone.
With a list of the names of those kids and a few more terrified hoods later, we have a name to go on.
Meanwhile, Jim Gordon, retirement or not, decides to do a little digging of his own, and muses that maybe the serial killer of '48 (the original 'Made of Wood' killer) maybe didn't stop his killing spree voluntarily, but was incarcerated or, being a serial killer and thus not exactly mentally stable, put in an-asylum? Lo and behold, a technically illegal but this is the Commish so I guess it's okay search of the relevant records from Arkham
turns up three potentials. The second turns out to be it, alas the hard way.
He knocks gordon out, ties him up in his basement, and in the manner of stupid media villains everywhere, tells Jim all the details.
Turns out the original killer, one Seamus Sullivan, lost his grocery store to collateral damage in a battle between the Sportsmaster and Allan Scott, which Alan lost due to the Sportsmaster clobbering him with a baseball bat (which was, surprise, made of wood). Embittered that his hero would go down so easy, Seamus collected the bat (which the villain dropped for reasons unexplained) and used it to kill Mayor Thorndike for, in his view, lying about the protection Green Lantern would grant them, and in Seamus' case hadn't (Mayor Thorndike was the one to have the statue put up). The other murders were intended as a message to Green Lantern, to remind him that he, too, was only human.
The current killer, Francis Sullivan, is Seamus' grandson,and found about his grandpa's doings via notes he found in a suitcase he inherited.
Inspired by that, Francis decided to take his revenge on the irish mafia in the same vein, for which both he and his father worked in a very minor and apparently much derided function.
Enter me and Alan, Alan making a highly moving speech about how everybody makes mistakes and nobody's perfect, and unsurprisingly (this was in Detective Comics) me saving the day.
Turns out both Seamus and Francis suffer from a chemical imbalance in the brain that turned their perception of reality into a pretzel and drove them to the extremes they went to just to make a point.
The story basically ends with Alan leaving me the baseball bat that once beat him as a trophy.
Feel free to ask for more details or elaborations.

[frigidmagi]

Who in their right mind asks to keep a weapon that beat them sensless as a trophy?

[Batman]

Who in their right mind asks to keep a weapon that beat them sensless as a trophy?

1. The DCU superheroes sort of count on me as a failsafe should any of them ever go bad (and remember, in my neck of the woods being taken over/hypnotized/possesed/whatever isn't exactly unheard of) so that would actually make sense even if
2. it actually mattered. There was nothing special about that baseball bat, it was simply made of wood, so it's not like I gained anything from it. It was basically Alan admitting that yes, even those of us with superpowers are vulnerable.

[frigidmagi]

Makes me wonder who suppose to save them from you when you go apeshit.

[Batman]

Makes me wonder who suppose to save them from you when you go apeshit.

That's a very interesting question, actually.

[frigidmagi]

I ask because Tower of Babel in Justice League (I think that was the storyline...) showed a damn good example. In it Al Ghul stole the files Bats kept on the other members and kicked the living shit out of them with it.

Makes me wonder what kinda damage Batman could do if he snapped one fine starry night....

[Cynical Cat]

Makes me wonder what kinda damage Batman could do if he snapped one fine starry night....

Maybe that's why no one has pulled a Punisher on the Joker. He's like a canary in mine. When Bats snaps, the first person to take a dirt nap with be Mr. J, thus warning everyone else.

Really, the DC universe is filled with all sorts of stupidity. Like Batman building Brother Eye and then losing track of it. Yeah, he just forgot about the superhero monitoring AI he built and didn't worry about it until heroes started dying.

[Kreshna Aryaguna Nurzaman]

Thanks, Bruce. It was quite an interesting storyline, and I always like the idea of 'real life' story elements (serial killer, long-time grudge, etc) in superhero stories. "Made of Wood" is an example: for long we have witnessed collateral damages during superhero battles, but none of them has serious repercussion like this one.


However, this story has several weaknesses:


(1)

Turns out the original killer, one Seamus Sullivan, lost his grocery store to collateral damage in a battle between the Sportsmaster and Allan Scott, which Alan lost due to the Sportsmaster clobbering him with a baseball bat (which was, surprise, made of wood). Embittered that his hero would go down so easy, Seamus collected the bat (which the villain dropped for reasons unexplained) and used it to kill Mayor Thorndike for, in his view, lying about the protection Green Lantern would grant them

I don't mean to undermine Sullivan's loss (losing your store is bad indeed), but was there any of his family killed during the battle? A loved one being killed will enhance the 'dramatic' aspect of the story, and more reasonable than being embittered because his favorite hero (Green Lantern) went down so easily.


(2)

The current killer, Francis Sullivan, is Seamus' grandson,and found about his grandpa's doings via notes he found in a suitcase he inherited.
Inspired by that, Francis decided to take his revenge on the irish mafia in the same vein, for which both he and his father worked in a very minor and apparently much derided function.

This is my second objection. So Francis' killing actually has nothing to do with the tragedy in the past, save the style? This part disappoints me a bit.

I initially hoped that this story is about a long-time grudge; something from the past that haunts Alan Scott for the tragedy he was responsible for. But it turned out that the new victim is merely an Irish mafia, which has nothing to do with the tragedy in the past.


(3)

Turns out both Seamus and Francis suffer from a chemical imbalance in the brain that turned their perception of reality into a pretzel and drove them to the extremes they went to just to make a point.

This is the cheapest part. DC writers made the murderers (Francis and his ancestor) simply mad men with 'chemical imbalance in the brain'. It shouldn't have to be that way; instead, they could have made Seamus a 'normal' and happy person.... until the collateral damage made by Green Lantern, which is so bad that it is being carried over to the next generations. That way, Francis would have been holding a grudge to Green Lantern (and maybe James Gordon too) instead of some unknown Irish mafia.


Well, I don't know whether I'm being objective, but when it goes to thriller, I always love the 'sins of the father' storyline; a tragic event in the past which has long-time repercussion that it haunts back the person who was responsible for it (although the responsible person didn't necessarily do it out of malicious intention). I'd like to see more of such storyline in superhero stories, where the superhero is the person being haunted by his misdoing.

[Elheru Aran]

Makes me wonder who suppose to save them from you when you go apeshit.

That's a very interesting question, actually.

Basically? Everybody else. Allow for a certain amount of collateral damage as well.