First Issue | Batman & the Monster Men is an American comic book limited series written and drawn by Matt Wagner with colors by Dave Stewart, published by DC Comics and starring the superhero Batman. It, along with its sequel Batman and the Mad Monk, are set in between the events of Batman: Year One and Batman: The Man Who Laughs. It is the first part of Matt Wagner's two part Dark Moon Rising series, which are expanded and modernized versions of early Batman stories.
Batman and the Monster Men is developed from an early Hugo Strange story from Batman #1. In Wagner's version, this is Batman's first encounter with Strange. The story depicts a young, optimistic Batman shortly after the events of Batman: Year One. Julie Madison, historically Bruce Wayne's love interest in early comics, is reintroduced in this series. Madison had not been seen as a regular supporting cast member since 1941, in Detective Comics #49. Batman and the Monster Men also gives a retroactive role to Sal Maroni, a character closely tied to the character Two-Face, as a crime-boss funding Hugo Strange's experiments on Arkham Asylum patients. This story is intended to depict the first time Hugo Strange is involved in creating violent giants out of human patients.
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