BENDIS, BRIAN MICHAEL 55
of these works continued the unique storyline of Batman & Dracula and allowed
Moench and Kelley to incorporate other elements of the Batman mythology into their
tales. Bloodstorm features the vampire Batman, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, and
Catwoman (transformed into a “werecat”) battling the remnants of Dracula’s horde,
which is now led by the Joker. Crimson Mist adds more Bat-villains to the storyline
as a now mad and decaying vampire Batman drains and decapitates many of his old
adversaries such as the Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, and Poison Ivy. Ultimately, Alfred
and Commissioner Gordon are assisted by the villains Two-Face and Killer Croc in a
plan to destroy Batman. As in the previous graphic novels, the violence is gruesome and
relentless. Crimson Mist concludes with the vampire Batman walking into the sunlight
in an attempt to fi nally fi nd the solace that has eluded him since his transformation.
Although the vampire Batman was created to exist outside the mainstream DC
Comics universe, the character has occasionally been seen outside of the Elseworlds for-
mat. He appeared in Batman/ Superman #25 (2006) alongside other alternate versions
of the Dark Knight. Another appearance came in Justice Society of America #5 (2007)
where he was a nightmare fi gure of an Arkham Asylum inmate. In 2007, DC Com-
ics published Red Rain #1 as part of its Countdown series of one-shots. Kelley Jones
returned to illustrate Peter Johnson’s story of vampire versions of Batman, Robin, and
Batgirl. Moench and Jones’s horror-infl uenced version of the Batman legend has even
been seen beyond the graphic novel format as elements of their work were incorporated
into the animated movie Batman vs. Dracula (2005).
Moench and Jones’s vampire Batman was successful in that it allowed DC Comics to
present Batman through the lens of the horror genre. Th ose accustomed to the Caped
Crusader as a conventional superhero were intrigued by this new perspective off ered by
the Elseworlds imprint.
Charles Coletta
BENDIS, BRIAN MICHAEL (1967–). Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Bendis is a prolifi c
Jewish American writer and illustrator of comics. Coming from a background in jour-
nalism, he nevertheless aspired to be a professional comic book creator from an early
age, an aspiration that led him to study for fi ve years at the Cleveland Institute of Art.
Although Bendis’s best-known work has been as a writer of books published by Marvel
Comics , he has also done much work on independently-owned titles.
Bendis’s fi rst professional stint as an illustrator and writer came in the form of small
jobs for local newspapers and magazines in Cleveland. He later found work at Caliber
Comics, and by the mid-1990s was writing and drawing creator-owned titles such as
Spunky Todd (1993), Fire (1993), A.K.A. Goldfi sh (1994), and Jinx (1996). Th e latter
of these would make the move to Image Comics in 1996, where Bendis would fi nish
the series. Th ese early creations show the strong infl uence of pulp crime novels and fi lm
noir on Bendis’s work, infl uences that are also apparent in the writer’s work on Image
Comics’ Sam and Twitch (1999–2000) as well as his later superhero noir series, Powers
(2000–).
