Stephen King on Batman?

[Bobthegoon89]

I own a 1986 anniversary issue of Batman in which horror master Stephen King wrote a special introduction into his liking for the Batman comics since he was a kid. The man has impeccable taste to say the least. Not only is he an avid fan of rock band AC/DC (another favourite of mine) he also roots for Gotham's Dark Knight which I always had a feeling he may be a fan of. As with Tim Burton he no doubt saw the horror imagery present in Batman and perhaps it served his imagination for his own works later in life.

Having read this I was wondering why can't King write a one off Batman comic as he would envision it? I think it would be great seeing his versions of the classic characters. He's also had experience in the comic field in adapting his novels into comic books and even I believe worked on a special X-Men book. So it strikes me as peculiar nobody at DC has ever offered him the chance to work briefly on his favourite character.

Batman has even drawn on a subconcious level from King. Batman Returns Penguin is more Stephen King's IT (sewer dwelling creature, a hand in child killings, twisted circus henchmen) than Bob Kane/Dick Sprang incarnation. Part of me wonders if Returns, with it's horror inspired imagery, is King's personal favourite Batman movie even.

[Silver Nemesis]

I remember King's 'Why I Chose Batman' article from Batman #400. My edition of The Dark Knight Returns features a quote from it on the back:

"...probably the finest piece of comic art ever published in a popular edition..."

I suppose Pennywise could be seen as King's take on the Joker/killer clown concept. I'm not sure how good a Batman story he could write though. He might relocate Gotham to Maine and turn Batman into an alcoholic writer grieving over the death of his wife/son/dog. Actually, now that I think about it, that could still work...

Truth be told, I'd much rather read a Dean Koontz Batman story. Koontz's novels tend to be more humorous than King's, and he specialises in suspenseful mystery thrillers. His Frankenstein novels have a lot in common with the Batman comics, with New Orleans standing in for Gotham, Deucalion standing in for Batman, Carson O'Connor standing in for James Gordon, and Victor Helios standing in Ra's al Ghul.

Check out his novel Life Expectancy. The main character in that one is born with syndactyly (the same defect Burton's Penguin was born with in BR) and the plot concerns a killer clown and a travelling crime circus. Koontz even directly references the 89 film when he describes the grotesque face of the crime circus ringleader, likening it to women who've had too much Botox (Page 507):

"Their nostrils have a permanent flare, as though they are perpetually testing the air for an offensive odour, and their enhanced lips are pulled and puckered into a permanent pouty half-smile that inevitably reminds us of Jack Nicholson playing the Joker in Batman."

Knowing Koontz's affinity for dogs, he'd probably end up reviving Ace the Bat-Hound. But if anyone could update Ace for the 21st century, Koontz could.

[Silver Nemesis]

Truth be told, I'd much rather read a Dean Koontz Batman story. Koontz's novels tend to be more humorous than King's, and he specialises in suspenseful mystery thrillers. His Frankenstein novels have a lot in common with the Batman comics, with New Orleans standing in for Gotham, Deucalion standing in for Batman, Carson O'Connor standing in for James Gordon, and Victor Helios standing in Ra's al Ghul.

Check out his novel Life Expectancy. The main character in that one is born with syndactyly (the same defect Burton's Penguin was born with in BR) and the plot concerns a killer clown and a travelling crime circus. Koontz even directly references the 89 film when he describes the grotesque face of the crime circus ringleader, likening it to women who've had too much Botox (Page 507):

"Their nostrils have a permanent flare, as though they are perpetually testing the air for an offensive odour, and their enhanced lips are pulled and puckered into a permanent pouty half-smile that inevitably reminds us of Jack Nicholson playing the Joker in Batman."

Returning to Koontz, I'm currently reading his 1993 novel Mr Murder and have noted a couple of references to the 1989 Batman movie. The psychopathic villain is obsessed with movies, and at one point compares his suffering to that of the following characters:

He had endured abuse and anguish and betrayal and loss like Omar Sharif in Dr Zhivago, like William Hurt in Accidental Tourist, Robin Williams in The World According to Garp, Michael Keaton in Batman, Sidney Poitier in The Heat of the Night, Tyrone Power in The Razor's Edge, Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands. He is one with all of the brutalised, despised, down-trodden, misunderstood, cheated, outcast, manipulated people who live upon the silver screen and who are heroic in the face of devastating tribulations. His suffering is as important as theirs, his destiny every bit as glorious, his hope of triumph just as great.

(Pages 187-188)

Later in the book, the protagonist's two young daughters have the following exchange:

Emily shook her head. "Not Mrs Sanchez. She's nice."
   'Nice people go berserk.'
   'Do not.'
   'Do too.'
   Emily folded her arms on her chest. 'Name one.'
   'Mrs Sanchez,' Charlotte said.
   'Besides Mrs Sanchez.'
   'Jack Nicholson.'
   'Who's he?'
   'You know, the actor. In Batman he was the Joker, and was totally massively berserk.'
   'So maybe he's always totally massively berserk.'
   'No, sometimes he's nice, like in that movie with Shirley MacLaine, he was an astronaut, and Shirley's daughter got real sick and they found out she had cancer, she died, and Jack was just so sweet and nice.'

(Page 199)

Batman 89 obviously made quite an impression on Koontz.