Spider-Man And Batman: Disordered Minds
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Penciller: Mark Bagley
Inkers: Scott Hanna & Mark Farmer
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colorist: Electric Crayon
1st Printing: September 1995
Rating: 
This week, I’ll take a look at “Spider-Man And Batman: Disordered Minds” from 1995; This was back during the days when Marvel and DC began their second wave of crossovers and this one is by far the best one to come out of that union. Seeing two of the most iconic street-level heroes unite was a beautiful thing to behold and with J.M. DeMatteis and Mark Bagley (The then-creative team for “Amazing Spider-Man” at the time) at the helm, this was an absolute winner.
A behavioral psychiatrist named Cassandra Briar used both Carnage and The Joker as patients to test out a chip that will cancel out their homicidal tendencies but as it turns out, Carnage’s symbiote shorts out the chip so he kidnaps The Joker
and I love the part where he comes face-to-face with Batman, especially when Spidey comes in the mix. Now when we get to the part where Batman and Spider-Man meet for the first time. I always liken it to one of those old low-budget cop movies from the 90s where the bad cop comes off as standoff-ish and the good cop wants to help and try to find the good in the
antagonist and while that plot element may have been used so many times, it works here but it never becomes the main focus where it takes over the plot.
The showdown between the heroes and the villains is another great part of this special because of the intensity of it all and how both Carnage and The Joker are viewed as the pure definition of evil from a psychological standpoint, plus seeing as how both Spider-Man and Batman are heroes that have overcome both tragic events in their early lives that, for better or worse, help define them as heroes was a nice way for the two of them to share something in common.
J.M DeMatteis has proven time after time what a master storyteller he is and this special showed that; The fact that he knows how both Spider-Man and Batman very well is a plus for this type of story as it never gets too dark and the personalities work very well with Spider-Man and Batman, as well as Carnage and Joker as the four of them, are basically day and night (No pun intended); Mark Bagley’s artwork is phenomenal as yes, he draws a fantastic Batman and the action sequences and built-up to them are just astonishing to see and the inks supplied by both Scott Hanna and Mark Farmer really give it a wonderful touch.
This is a great special for any Spider-Man or Batman fan and after reading this today, it will take you back to those days when the two biggest comic book companies came together to deliver such great crossovers stories and one might wonder why they don’t unite to do that again but for now, this special is an amazing work of art, both on a cinematic and artistic level.
I’ll be back to take a look at another classic comic book so thanks for sticking around and I’ll see you all next Tuesday.
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