COMIC BOOKS: Batman-Doc Savage Special

May 1—Whether it's one of the big companies such as DC or Marvel, or one of the smaller comics companies, comic books are always trying to revive the pre-Superman and pre-Batman characters of the 1930s ... whether radio characters such as The Shadow or pulp heroes such as Conan the Barbarian or Doc Savage.

If it's DC doing the reviving, these characters seem to inevitably meet up with Batman.

Several years ago, DC linked Batman with Doc Savage in the special issue bearing their names.

The Dark Knight teamed up with pulp fiction's Man of Bronze.

Though big in pulp books and the subject of one fairly lame movie, Doc Savage never really took off in comics. The character has a devoted, aging following, but Doc Savage's appeal never really caught the fancy of comic book readers.

And the medium never seemed to attract enough of Savage's fans to carry the character long in comic books.

There were some semi-memorable forays. A few decades ago, Marvel had Doc Savage briefly. There was a memorable mini-series teaming Doc Savage with The Shadow.

But even Batman apparently couldn't get people interested enough for DC to really pursue a Doc Savage series. Though Dynamite Comics has since given it a go.

Here, readers can expect the easy-to-predict battle between Batman and Savage before they make a compromise and work together.

This whole issue could have devolved into predictable pap, if not for writer Brian Azzarello and artist Phil Noto. The creative team keeps the action flowing and the characters' relationship developing.

It's a fun one to dig up.