And since the holiday season was on the minds of people recently, I thought I'd look at one such Batman team-up that focuses on a holiday celebrated this time of year. So, let's take a look at my final comic review of 2018: All New Batman: The Brave and the Bold #14!
The cover is pretty awesome, showcasing Ragman front and center. It does have a bit of a spooky vibe to it, which is a bit unusual for the holiday season. I think its because of the tilted angle, and the way Ragman's eyes are drawn. I also like that the dude on the cover is like, "Yeah, maybe we should not get involved in this." Yeah, it's a great cover.
"Small Miracles"
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Penciler: Rick Burchett
Inker: Dan Davis
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Dezi Sienty
Editors: Sarah Gaydos, Jim Chadwick
Executive Editor: Eddie Berganza
The story begins with the supervillain known as Crazy Quilt announcing his return.
In a rather...obvious yet brilliant move, he has teamed up with Doctor Spectro and the Rainbow Raider to somehow prevent another white Christmas. Luckily, Batman has some backup in the form of the Jaime Reyes Blue Beetle. What is this terrible trio's evil plan to prevent another white Christmas? Well, they plan to color the snow. No, I am not kidding.
Color the snow. So to prevent another white Christmas. Batman and Blue Beetle are naturally...unimpressed. So they give the three a thrashing. Well, Batman does, because he's a gloryhog who won't share. As such, Christmas was saved...if it ever really was in danger from those three. So, we shift our scene to a small shop in Gotham.
A rabbi named Samuels is talking to the shop's owner, one Rory Regan. Samuels is selling his father's old watch. Regan doesn't want to take the watch, instead offering to just give the rabbi some money, and he can pay it back when he can. You see, the rabbi is trying to raise some money because the synagogue needs some repairs and there's a big Chanukah celebration tomorrow.
Samuels notices a dust and cobweb-covered menorah on a shelf. Samuels recognizes it as belonging to Rory's father. He suggests Rory take it down and light it. Chanukah is almost here, after all. Rory says no, as he's not really a religious man. Samuels thinks it's nonsense. He knew Rory's late father, Jerry Regan, an immigrant who was born Jerzy Reganowicz. Despite that, he still would light his menorah. A cry for help is heard outside. Samuels goes to investigate, telling Rory to call the cops. The shop owner decides to help in another way, as magical rags wrap around him.
A man is running off, stealing a shopping cart full of items, thinking nobody's going to help her in this neighborhood. Well, he's wrong. This neighborhood does have a protector: The Ragman.
Ragman downs the thief with a Mighty Punch, and gives the items back to the woman, whom he knows as Lucy. She's happy that Ragman got her stuff back, as she spent all day looking for those bottles. There's ten dollars' worth in there. Batman comes by and compliments the Ragman for his good work. However, Ragman isn't exactly too happy to see the Caped Crusader. Batman is wondering what the Tatterdemalion of Justice is mad about. After all, he just fought for justice.
However, Ragman doesn't see it that way. You see, Batman mainly works in Uptown Gotham, stopping supervillains and other criminals there. In Ragman's part of Gotham, though...people don't have it so good. People in Ragman's part of town don't have much. Poor Lucy has to find bottles just to get enough money to get herself some dinner for the night. Where's the 'justice' in that? Funny enough, this makes me think of another thing Batman once said to Green Arrow in Justice League Unlimited: "Those monsters you don't fight? They tend to step on little guys." In a world where such monsters do exist, someone had to deal with them.
Batman finds himself recalling his debates with powerful heroes who fight planet-level threats. In those cases, he finds himself in Ragman's position. Who fights for the little guys? Ragman explains his origins, without revealing his identity. His father owned a junk shop in this part of town. It didn't make him a rich man, but he still was very charitable. Ragman himself got the shop when his father died. He also inherited a mystical costume made of rags, which is why he's the Ragman.
Batman tries to console him with some advice he heard once: We can't always save everyone, but we do what we can. Ragman wonders what point is there to being a superhero in a part of town in which people have to go to soup kitchens to get a meal. He points out a building with a sign on it announcing that it's being developed by the MacGuffin Group. Ragman points out that crime in the area has gotten worse lately. The MacGuffin Group has also been buying buildings in the neighborhood and refurbishing them into luxury apartments that the people in the neighborhood can't afford to live in. Where are they supposed to go if only the rich can live in town?
A gunshot forces Batman and Ragman to table the discussion for now, and they go seek the source.
A pair of goons bother Rabbi Samuels in his synagogue. They want him to leave town, but the old rabbi says he isn't going anywhere. The goons say that the neighborhood is theirs now. However, the two heroes and some of the neighborhood residents disagree with that. One of the goons fires, but Ragman is able to use his cape to protect people from the bullets, and the two of them deal with the goons. Amusingly, Batman notes that next time he meets up with Blue Beetle, he'll have to tell them that he left one for Ragman to punch.
Batman asks the rabbi why they were bothering him. Samuels is unsure, as the synagogue has anything worth stealing in it. A despondent Ragman asks the old rabbi why he stays in this part of town. He explains he stays because he's needed there. However, Rabbi Samuels senses that Ragman's more asking about himself. He then tells the story of Chanukah.
Over 2,000 years ago, the Greeks had taken over the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. However, the Jewish Maccabees were able send them packing, despite the Greeks having more men and better weapons. As they repaired the Holy Temple, they found a problem. The temple's menorah, being a symbol of their faith, was supposed to remain constantly lit. However, the Greeks ruined much of the oil the menorah needed to light up. There was only enough to light the menorah for one day...and it would take eight days to get more oil. However, a miracle happened. That oil was able to keep the menorah lit for eight days.
Ragman scoffs at the story, saying miracles aren't exactly in great supply around here. The rabbi points out that all the people who are helping clean up the synagogue are miracles in their own way, and so is Ragman. The Tatterdemalion of Justice finds that hard to believe, as he doesn't consider himself a real superhero. The rabbi points out that the point of the Chanukah miracle is that God always gives us what we need.
Batman finds one of the goons' phones, and notes something odd: They've received a dozen calls from the same phone number...the number of the MacGuffin Group, the same real estate company that has been buying up the neighborhood and building luxury apartments. Rabbi Samuels recalls they wanted to buy the synagogue, but he refused, saying it was not for sale. Ragman puts two and two together, realizing the MacGuffin Group must be causing the increased crime rate in an attempt to drive people out.
He decides to go pay them a visit, but Batman convinces him otherwise, basically saying "Hey, I mainly work Uptown, I'll look into it for you." Besides, Ragman has a neighborhood to protect. Batman is able to track down the evidence needed for the head of the Group to get arrested. It was a good day. Justice was served, and the old neighborhood had their hero back.
Later, Rabbi Samuels comes to Rory Regan's shop, returning the money Regan lent him. Regan is confused by this. Samuels explains that an anonymous Good Samaritan *coughBruceWaynecough* made a generous donation to the synagogue.
I like the little detail of the Batman-shaped shadow. The donation was not only enough to pay for the synagogue's repairs, but also enough to fund the big Chanukah celebration that night. As the Chanukah miracle says, we always get what we need. He's hoping to see Rory there. And with that, the old rabbi wishes him a Happy Chanukah. Rory eyes his father's old menorah, high on the shelf, colleting dust and cobwebs. The story ends with him bringing it down and cleaning it up. He puts a couple candles in it. The shop owner lights one of the candles and says a prayer in Hebrew. Outside, Batman notices the menorah through the window of the junk shop.
This was a wonderful little one-shot tale. It gives a bit of spotlight to lesser-known heroes (something the Brave and the Bold animated series and comic tie-in was very good at), and it's a very heartwarming little story in its own way. It's also really neat learning about the origin and meaning of Chanukah. I also like that it showed that there are problems out there that costumed heroes can't easily solve, but they still try to, as Batman says, "Do what [they] can." The art is really good, rather reminiscent of the cartoon, but also has a bit of originality to it, like the cartoon's art style underwent an evolution.
This was a nice little story to enjoy at this time of year, and I highly recommend you check it out for yourself. I have it collected in the 2013 trade paperback The All-New Batman: The Brave and the Bold: Small Miracles. An appropriate title considering this story. Next time, to kick off 2019, we stick with the Dark Knight as he faces the madness of Hugo Strange...
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