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BATMAN: THE ANKH #1

A first part of a stylish Batman two-parter is just as good as it looks

By Tony Whitt December 07, 2001

BATMAN: THE ANKH takes the Dark Knight into stylish territory.
© 2001 DC Comics

In the days of Ancient Egypt, a pharoah's son is killed by a fever, and the pharoah's vizier is charged with bringing the boy back to life. The vizier's daughter, Khatera, helps him to create a formula to do so, but when they visit the young boy's tomb, they are accidentally sealed in. Hoping that they will eventually be rescued, the vizier forces his daughter to drink the serum to keep her alive when the air runs out. As her father and his servants die around her, Khatera waits in the darkness for her release. It's a release that will not come for several centuries...

And that's just the beginning. This year has been a good one for BATMAN one-offsone only has to look at Darwyn Cooke's BATMAN: EGO to see how good it's beenand Chuck Dixon's addition to the pile is no exception. Dixon's script truly rises to the occasion, making the most out of the Egyptian material and infusing the entire story with a mythic quality, even when the action inevitably moves forward to modern times. Reading the first part of this one may remind you of the Hammer Films version of THE MUMMY with Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, and that long but beautifully filmed flashback sequence in which we learn the origins of Kharis. Dixon tells Khatera's story with the same sort of gravity and quiet reverence, and he never hits a wrong note. By the time the Batman finally appears, you may well have forgotten this was a Batman bookand that alone should tell you how captivating the storyline is. Luckily, Batman's appearance (and even Robin's) are not the intrusive elements one would think they'd be, and Dixon seamlessly brings the two plot threads together. What would have looked like a simple "immortal Egyptian woman turns super-criminal" story in the hands of anyone else becomes something special here.

What makes this book even more special is John Van Fleet's incredible artwork. The cover, depicting a mumified Batman, is simply not enough to go byyou'll have to open this one up and take a look at the miraculous combinations of watercolors and photo collage that Van Fleet uses. This is artwork to be lingered over and savored, and one can only hope that the second issue will provide the same amount of visual delight as the first.

I have one other big fear about the second issue: that it's going to degenerate quickly into that "immortal Egyptian woman turns super-criminal" story that Dixon has so far managed to avoid. The fact that she's teamed up with Killer Croc is a bit worrisome on that score, though even he looks pretty amazing. All fears aside, I'm looking forward to seeing where Dixon and Van Fleet take this storyand once you've read this issue, I'm sure you will too.